Building A Better Team

There is a lot of lip service given to the importance of working as part of a team, especially in the working world. We are treated to the same old homilies like "There's no 'I' in team", "Check your ego at the door," and other words to that effect. While this is all well and good, sometimes the team is, well, pretty bad. The problem with a poor team is that no one wants to join it, preferring instead to watching the train wreck from a safe distance.

You too can create an enthusiastic, effective team!

But it IS possible to build a better team. How, do you ask? By implementing ideas like ...

Picking The Right People
Right off the bat, make sure that the team is composed of people who actually have experience and skills relating to the task at hand. If, for instance, you're putting together a team that's responsible for creating your company's Bring Your Own Device policy, make sure you have good people from relevant departments like IT, sales, and legal. Think of your work team as the ultimate fantasy baseball team.

Recognize The Importance Of Location
The article "The Campfire Principle is Reflected in Group Brainstorming" advises you to set aside a proper meeting space for your group, a place away from the usual office distractions. But on the other hand, sometimes you need to shake things up and take the team clear out of its usual confines. Do something different, like holding the meeting outside, weather permitting, or perhaps take an extended lunch and stake out a space in a favorite restaurant.

Define Roles, Delegate Tasks
Like the earlier referenced baseball team, each of the members of your work team have a particular role or position to play. Make sure everyone on your team knows what they're supposed to be doing. Furthermore, appoint someone as the leader, someone who has the skills to direct conversations, keep things on track, and delegate responsibilities.

Set Your Goals
Why is this team getting together in the first place? What's the point? That's why goals, milestones, and objectives need to be established and relayed to everyone. Without these elements, no one can tell whether or not the team is actually succeeding at its purpose.

Get To Know Everyone
This is of particular importance for the team leader. People need to have a good idea of what skills and talents their teammates bring to the table. You don't want belatedly discover that someone on your team was well-versed in a particular skill that was crucial towards completing the project in a timely manner. By getting to know the people on the team, you have a better idea of what kind of resources are in your toolbox.

High-Fives All Around!
Finally, whenever your team meets a milestone or succeeds in the overall project, you need to recognize the accomplishment, acknowledging and rewarding those responsible. Successes are meant to be noticed and made a fuss over. Not only is doing this a way of boosting morale and giving credit where credit is due, it also heads off certain forms of negative behavior that come about because people feel like they're being ignored, under-appreciated, or taken lightly. Have you ever seen someone who is quietly convinced that they have to show everyone else how smart they are, so they end up asking long-winded stupid questions during meetings, dragging things out until everyone's ready to run away screaming? Noting achievements helps do away with such insecure behavior.

By implementing these strategies, you will build (and hopefully retain!) your dream team. If you want more ideas, why not check out "The 10 Ingredients Of A Highly Effective Team"? Now, get out there and play ball!