Building Successful Teams

By Author: Amos Bragg
Total Articles: 5
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In every organization, individuals work in small teams because it is a common belief that together works better than working alone. Yet, not all teams achieve success or even work peaceful. Most teams turn into battlefields when individuals compete amongst themselves. When such things happen, it is impossible to build effective teams.

Most human resource professionals believe that it is a challenge year on year to create effective teams, Teamontwikkeling and achieve talentontwikkeling. Work environments are so competitive and fierce that they tend to promote bleak persons working on personal goals for personal gain. Typically, incentives, recognition, and salary systems single out the accomplishments of individual employees and therefore leave no area for Talentontwikkeling. Every quarter, individuals are appraised and not the teams. Therefore, employees don’t bother about their performance within the team and are focused on their individual progress in the company. At times, they even quit their existing team to move to other teams that may offer them better recognition. Given this current scenario, it is a battle ...
... for human resource department to focus on teamontwikkeling.

To foster team building, following actions should be implemented:

Team leaders should clearly communicate to their teams what is expected of them as they work towards a common goal. Individuals within a team need to be open about sharing ideas with each other and accepting criticism if it means the team is progressing.

No matter the work circumstances, the team must follow decorum and not turn their backs against each other. Instead of competing amongst themselves, they should compete with other teams.

The values of the team, the nature of their interactions and the working pattern can be discussed openly amongst the group so that everyone agrees and follows the same. If a new member joins the team, he or she too should be briefed about the same and should be encouraged to share ideas that could make the team’s performance better.

Celebrate team’s success in public. Do something that would make the team feel that they have achieved something significant. Teamwork should be rewarded and recognized. It does not need to be in monetary terms. At times, a simple poster recognizing the efforts of the team or a group photo can make all the difference.

Go for retreats, picnics or fun activities together as a team. Perhaps participate in some competitive sport like bowling or basketball as a team. Or attend training together or an informal class like salsa. These activities work great as ice breakers amongst the team and team members treat each others like humans instead of just colleagues which makes them considerate towards each other.

You can create a successful team of your own by just following the above mentioned tips.