Building an effective team
TEAM CONCEPT
A team is a group of people who work together. This leads to amazing results! Team building is a process that involves getting to know each person, including their strengths, weaknesses, areas of difficulty, passions as well as their mannerisms and goals. Building positive relationships with one another leads to greater understanding, trust and cooperation.
Key Features:
- Spend time getting closer to each other (social, non-work-related activities can be great ways to build team spirit).
- Understanding your contribution as an individual will help you to see how your daily contributions can be a positive influence on your business.
BENEFITS WORKING IN A TEAM
Working together effectively in a team brings out six key benefits.
- Collaboration people want to work together, identify with each other
- Communication information can flow in all directions
- Application Skills and Ressources: individuals bring and have the opportunity to use their strengths.
- Decisions & Solutions: increased creativity with ideas leading towards more effective outcomes
- Commitment People who feel empowered in making decisions have a higher tendency to be committed and do the work needed to achieve their goals.
- Quality concern about accuracy and quality through a sense of personal ownership
Are YOU FULLY Achieving the Benefits On Your Team?
WHO PLAYS ON THE TEAM YOU CHOOSE?
Every company has an organization structure. No matter how you refer to your teams, they each have roles that contribute to the organization’s mandate. We are not able to work alone. It is important to recognize how much we rely upon each other and to respect and understand what is happening with other teams and individuals. Sometimes, we might feel like there is a lack or service. “If they would only do their jobs it wouldn’t affect us so much,” we may say. To understand if you feel this way, first seek to understand. Are they experiencing staff turnover, are they making mistakes and forgetting to communicate, or do they know the process (have you communicated effectively with them). What is the issue? Can you support or judge them?
Key Features:
- Everybody relies on one another.
- Engagement with external customers is only possible if all the players are working well together.
- Understand first.
Communication is the act of transmitting or passing information via speech, writing or any other medium. Every moment we communicate through our body language, tone, voice, words and body language. You can communicate your feelings and thoughts by smiling, laughing, smirking, confused looks, crossing of the arms, and many other ways without saying a word. Memos, phone, radio, and email are just a few of the many mediums we use to share our thoughts and express ourselves. Climate is one of the most important skills required to be a good team member. Climate refers to team members being open and honest with one another. All team members should feel free to be open and honest with each other without fear or backstabbing. There are three crucial elements to team communication (climate).
- Communication skills that foster openness, trust, and respect are essential.
- Each other’s performance feedback is important (not as a joke).
- Together, build each other up.
UNDERSTANDING INTERPERSONAL COMUNICATION
Communication is a skill you can improve through practice. Take a look at these strategies.
Understand
Everyone has a different style or preference in communication. Some prefer to communicate face-to–face with people, while others prefer email. Some prefer detail and facts, while others prefer emotions. It is important to remember that we all have different preferences. Communication is difficult. Effective communicators take the time to get to know others and recognize their preferences. They accept differences and understand that adaptability is key to their effectiveness.
Example: I need a way to communicate with someone who is more comfortable asking questions than talking face to face. I prefer facts and e-mail as my preferred method of communication. My communication objective was to ensure my coworker understood a new procedure. I send him an email explaining the procedure and inviting him to visit me to ask any questions. It is possible to be effective when everyone seeks to understand each other. We show respect for each other while also valuing our uniqueness.
CONSIDER COMMUNICATING NOW WITH A TEAM WHICH YOU ARE NOT AS EFFECTIVE. MIGHT BE YOUR PREFERENCES ARE SIMPLY DIFFERENT. SEEK TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER.
Get Out
We all share and receive information about each other and ourselves every day. Sometimes we choose not to reveal all the information we have, and other times we keep it to ourselves. Each member of performing teams works together to create a safe environment for the free and open exchange information. The sharing of more information, especially the personal information each party finds helpful, increases trust.
Is there an area where you are holding back information that could be shared with the team?
Be Respectful
The last strategy is about how you say it. Respect is communicated by assertive, responsive communication. This is when you share your thoughts, feelings, and ask questions to the other person in order to help him or her express his feelings. Talking about disagreements means you will share your feelings and thoughts on the subject, as well as what you think the situation is.
A commitment is about shared leadership within a team, and creating a sense that you are responsible for the success of the group. Each member of the team has equal power, but in certain situations, one person may have more influence because they have particular skills or have experience.
A team’s cohesiveness is directly linked to its commitment. It is important to understand what the team does and how they function before you can commit. A team’s approach to functioning might be described as: honesty, trust, empathy, helping people with their problems, hard work, appreciation of each other’s contributions, etc.
Commitment doesn’t mean showing up at work on-time and performing the basics of your job. Performance team members know that their actions and behaviours have an impact on the whole team. Therefore, the “bar for performance” is set at a lowest common denominator. Passionate about your team’s success, you show respect for others and take accountability to help them share their problems with peers and the entire team.
