Online StoreHow Teams are Built
Advertisement
Although there are several ways in which one can define team building, others have come to narrowly define it in an organizational development context. From this point of view, team building can be thought of as the process of making assessments of a group or team to measure its effectiveness and therefore improve its performance.
Team building normally requires goals to be clarified so that the team can have a shared vision. Having a shared vision helps team members build ownership across the team. The team building process also helps identify factors that deter teamwork, as well as help the team formulate ideas and action plans to remove or overcome such restraining factors. Should the deterrent factors be impossible to remove, team building can allow teams to develop ways to counteract their negative effects on the team.
In building teams, obtaining support from upper management is a big plus. Individuals are more inspired to work as teams when upper management encourages team behavior.
Another important factor in building teams is the formulation and development of a team purpose. Team purpose helps define the identity of team, and it gives rise to the creation of mission statements and goals. In goal setting, it is important that the identified objectives are time-bound and achievable.
After the team purpose is defined, the selection of team members comes next. Members of a team may not necessarily be the best - what is important is that they have a clear understanding of their roles and they are committed to give their best to the success of the team. Having a shared vision matters. A team is not team when collaborative effort is absent.
It is also important that team members are able to openly discuss issues that they encounter and might come across with. Open communication is valuable in teams. Having open lines of communication makes it easy for team members to discuss things that they really need to talk about.
Having identified team assessment as a method of team building, it is important that its results be used as means to improve the performance of the team. Team assessments are best made through feedback given on the strengths and weaknesses of a team. And it is always best to use these feedbacks to identify gaps between desired and actual performance or states so that gap-closure strategies can be developed.
