TEAM AWARENESS SMALL BUSINESS

Team Awareness Small Business is a 4-hour team-based training program that integrates team building exercises with peer referral and stress management skills. Understanding the time constraints of small businesses, the training was modified from the original 8-hour SAMHSA model program, Team Awareness, designed specifically to increase the awareness of behavioral health as a group concern rather than an individual burden.

Team Awareness Small Business is highly interactive and uses group discussion, communication exercises, a board game, role play, and self-assessments. The objectives of this program are to examine and address the role that work group culture and social dynamics play in enabling substance use and how use by any member of the work group can negatively impact every other member. The training addresses five areas of workplace culture associated with substance use and other behavioral health concerns: occupational subcultures, drinking climates, tolerance/enabling, group cohesion, and the social context of policy.

This program has been shown to increase employee help-seeking for and supervisor responsiveness to, troubled workers, enhance the work climate, and reduce problem drinking. These results are achieved by:

• Promoting social health
• Promoting increased communication between workers
• Improving knowledge and attitudes toward alcohol- and drug-related protective factors in the workplace (such as company policy or Employee Assistance Programs)
• Increasing peer referral behaviors

The original version of Team Awareness was developed by Dr. Joel Bennett, and colleagues at the Workplace Project at Texas Christian University.  To help assess whether the original program, the Small Business program or some other version of Team Awareness is appropriate, please consult the fidelity outline and complete set of program manuals at www.organizationalwellness.com.   For more information on Team Awareness, visit: www.organizationalwellness.com or SAMHSA Model Programs.

For more information on Team Awareness Small Business or to schedule a train-the-trainer workshop, contact us.