Techniques that successfully build a team spirit are an important key to continued business growth. A good team has a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts with members who have commitment to shared goals and who understand their role within the team. This article asks 5 questions whose answers will provide team building techniques that can help to achieve a successful and coherent team.
1. Is each team member’s role clearly defined and established within the team?
This is part of the basic groundwork. Each member needs to know what role they have within the team so that they can understand what is expected of them. They also need to know what the roles of all the other team members are and how they fit in to the overall picture.
In this way each team member can build up a picture of where they stand and where each other person stands. This is a common distinguishing trait of all successful teams. The members know where they fit in and where the others fit in. This can also help to remove conflict within the team.
2. Is there a way to avoid or resolve possible conflicts arising within the team?
There needs to be team building techniques in place to eradicate conflicts in a team. A team must be coherent in order to be successful. It is usually best when individual team members know that they alone are not responsible for resolving conflicts involving themselves. They need to know that there is an overall policy to deal with such matters as and when they arise.
3. Are there adequate channels of communications open to every team member?
Communication is one of the best team building techniques. It covers just about everything. Far too many problems arise because someone doesn’t know something that they should know. Keep all channels of communication between members open at all times.
Beware of information overload though. Sometimes those who receive too much information simply shut off. This creates a situation that is every bit as bad as having too little information.
4. Are team members allowed to feel good about team successes?
A job should be more than just a job. Each member should feel part of something vital and important. This is where commitment and engagement comes in. When team members feel an important part of a team they should also feel that they have the right to celebrate any major success that a team has.
After all, they are the reason for the success. Each individual is an important cog in the overall wheel and this fact should be recognised. The celebration of a team’s success can be a simple affair, perhaps just an announcement saying “well done” to everyone. It can of course be something much grander.
5. Does the team have a positive attitude in general?
A positive attitude is important to success. Seeing the glass as half-full is better than seeing it as half-empty. A positive attitude, especially coming from team leaders, will spur on all team members and contribute to the over all success of the team. Make sure that all criticism has a positive edge and always find something good about any failure.