Team Building Skills

Successful Teams

To be on a "successful team" means being a part of something larger than just one person. For example, if all employees in a small company know about and believe in the company's mission statement, then they will all be working toward the same goals.

In a team environment, it is more than the mission statement. It is about employees contributing to the success of the organization. While the individual employees have specific job duties and varying roles within the organization, they work together (unified, if you will) toward the company's objectives. Team members see the "big picture" and work towards it.

Managers see teambuilding as a way to increase profits and improve productivity. While there is a lot of talk about team building, many executives are dissatisfied with team improvement efforts. One reason is that it takes work to keep a team functioning. A good manager cannot assign employees to a group and leave them on their own; he or she must monitor the group's performance. Someone needs to coordinate the team and ensure that its needs are met.

An effective team must have:

• Understandable and measurable expectations.
• Involvement from competent team members.
• Authority and materials to complete the tasks necessary.
• Ownership of their goals.
• Understanding of the team building process.
• Strong communication skills.

Your team may want to review a sample project outline as a way to organize your project.

Team Assessment

What exactly does it mean, "to be a team player"? Does it mean always giving in to what others think, spending wasted time in endless meetings, or socializing with "the team"? Teams must be able to solve problems, create plans, manage activities, develop and maintain relationships, and communicate. These will require members to have these specific skills: listening, planning, evaluating, cooperating, and maintaining relationships.

The following can be used to assess a team.

• Communication
  1. Is discussion proscribed or skewed?
  2. Are only a few select team members allowed to speak?
  3. Do many members speak?
  4. Is discussion open and lively?
• Contributions
  1. Does one member control the team?
  2. Do half of the members contribute nothing?
  3. Do a majority of members participate?
  4. Are all members seen as making valuable contributions?
• Atmosphere
  1. Are members competitive and disrespectful of each other?
  2. Are a few members working together, but not the rest?
  3. Do the majority of team members cooperate?
  4. Do all team members appreciate and respect each other?
• Importance
  1. Are meetings off-track and disorganized?
  2. Do a few members disrupt the meetings and take things off-track?
  3. Are meetings run smoothly with an agenda, but occasionally they get sidetracked?
  4. Are meetings conducted efficiently and handled in a business-like manner?

It is important to periodically review your team to assess how you are doing. A checklist is one quick way to do that. At the completion of your project, you should evaluate the project and each team member's contribution towards the project.

Next section:  John Adair's Model