Successful team building
Appreciating
interpersonal dynamics in teams can help managers identify the optimal
arrangement of individuals to ensure team success and high performance. When
individuals gather to achieve a common goal, many interpersonal dynamics play a
role in whether or not the team will be successful. Sometimes a team can engage
well together and succeed at anything they attempt; however, other teams,
regardless of available resources, seem to flounder in failure. So, how can
leaders determine whether a team will exhibit effective team performance?
This paper seeks to answer such questions that may rise by analysing factors
that lead to successful team building.
v Communication
Proficient
communication mechanisms are essential to develop effective teams. In order to
understand the scope of a goal and agree upon a path to reach that goal, teams
must develop an effective method of communication. Indicators of effective team
communication include: mellow conversation tones, willingness to consider all
opinions, desire to enhance communication frequency, effective conflict
resolution, and efficient decision-making processes.
Furthermore,
to foster team cohesion, employee satisfaction and motivation, organizations
should execute a formal conflict resolution process in cases where a team
cannot effectively resolve conflict internally. Communication is the key to any
successful team effort. Not only must all team members know the goals and
target dates for accomplishing those objectives, but they must know how the
group is progressing toward meeting those goals. Bear in mind that
communication is the single most important factor in successful teamwork.
Facilitating communication does not mean holding meetings all the time. Instead
it means setting an example by remaining open to suggestions and concerns, by
asking questions and offering help, and by doing everything you can to avoid
confusion in your own communication.
v Cohesiveness
The
first factor to consider in successful team building is how interconnected
members are with one another. Once a team is highly interrelated, a member’s
commitment and willingness to strive for excellence thrives. Team cohesion
affects the extent to which members like one another, get along with each
other, and trust and respect one another’s abilities and opinions. Although
these characteristics are difficult to observe, managers can look for signs
that team members are well-acquainted past superficial meet-and-greet topics.
Managers can also determine whether team members equally participate in group
discussions and activities rather than forming cliques or subgroups of cohesive
units.
Furthermore,
the most critical success factor for a
team is the way in which the team members relate to each other and the manager
and vice-versa. This chemistry between the team members and the manager
and within the team determines to a large extent the success or failure of the
team. Once the elements of trust, integrity and commitment are established
within the team and the manager or the leader communicates the same effectively
to all the team members, the team is well on its way to becoming a high
performing one. The bottom-line here is that the symbiotic relationship between
the team members where each gives and takes from the other team members is the
most crucial aspect that determines the success of the team.
v Groupthink
Groupthink
is a propensity for decision-making teams to suppress opposing viewpoints in
order to preserve group harmony. This observable fact can occur because
individual team members have an overwhelming desire to be accepted and teams
want to minimize conflict. When determining the degree to which a team is
experiencing groupthink, a manager can evaluate whether the team is exerting an
excessive amount of dominating characteristics. Other signs of groupthink
include individual conformity, apathy toward team goals and outcomes,
peer-pressure exerted by leaders within the team, and discussions that tend to be
one-sided. There is need to Emphasize the importance of each team member's
contribution and demonstrate how all of their jobs operate together to move the
entire team closer to its goal.
v Homogeneity
Homogeneity
is the extent to which members are similar or different to one another. The
difficulty for most project managers is finding the right balance between
overly homogenous and overly heterogeneous teams. When evaluating team
homogeneity, a manager can consider similarities and differences in personal
characteristics, education, skills, abilities, generational backgrounds,
cultural background, and income levels.
Teams
that are homogenous tend to be highly cohesive and can easily develop effective
communication methods that reduce conflict. However, too much homogeneity leads
to greater instances of groupthink. Alternatively, teams that are highly
heterogeneous have an advantage because members are highly diverse, which
leads to more instances of creativity, ingenuity, and resourceful productivity.
However, teams that are too diverse may limit the degree to which members can
relate to one another and effectively communicate.
v Role Identity
Role
identity is the extent to which members are capable of assuming different roles
throughout the team structure, thus diversifying efforts and developing subject
matter experts. This emphasizes improving team members' understanding of their
own and others' respective roles and duties. This is intended to reduce
ambiguity and foster understanding of the importance of structure by activities
aimed at defining and adjusting roles. The diverse skills and knowledge that
members bring to a team provide a large range of capabilities necessary to
achieve a goal. Managers can observe the extent to which a team can recognize
the individual potential in each member and identify the role best suited for
that member. If not, a team cannot be expected to be highly functional and
perform well.
v Stability
The
sixth factor that significantly influences team performance is the degree of
stability among members and project leaders. Teams that have lower turnover
rates experience higher levels of group cohesion, better communication methods,
and more effective role identity. In addition to simply evaluating turnover
rates, managers can evaluate the degree to which members are comfortably
interdependent with one another, which comes with stable and trusting
relationships.
v Goals
Each
team must have clearly measurable goals and objectives to function properly.
Whether management establishes the goals or the team sets them collaboratively,
there need to be clear indicators or benchmarks to indicate the progress the
team is making. Once the goals are in place, each team member can perform his
assigned tasks. These assigned tasks might be similar in nature, or they might
draw on the strengths of each individual team member. For this reason, it's
important either to appoint or elect one person to lead the team based on that
person's leadership qualities. That person is then responsible for encouraging
the rest of the team to work to meet the project goals.
v Team Size
By
evaluating a team’s size, managers are able to maximize productivity to ensure
high levels of team performance. The greater number of members within a team
the more resources available to achieve a goal. However, as team size
increases, so does the number of conflicts resulting in decreased levels of
cohesion and inefficient productivity. To evaluate whether a team is too large
or small, managers must consider how effectively and harmoniously members work
together and whether the required tasks are being efficiently accomplished by
all members of the team.
In
conclusion, assigning workers to teams is a good way to maximize the strengths
of each individual. Effective team building doesn't stop with making team
assignments. For any group of individuals to work together successfully, you
need to put a number of team building strategies in place. These strategies
make the most out of the team's efforts to accomplish its assigned task.
