Tips on Building the Right Team!
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Posted by Asma Zaineb, Manager Marketing Communications
Tue, Nov 30, 2010 @ 05:50 AM
Building the right team is the most crucial step that facilitates your work. With this, you can easily lead your team to success with ease. And with the right team in hand, you can build effective coordination and unflinching trust among your team members.
However, building the right team is not an easy task. Moreover, it does not happen by chance. You need to consciously make your strategies in every step, right from analyzing the skill sets required to selecting the team members to putting in the right processes that motivate the teammates to work in one direction. All these steps are interdependent; your success depends on how well you integrate all of them to achieve the desired objective – building a cohesive, efficient and self-motivated team.
Here are a few crucial steps that can help you build such a team.
Develop an Effective Framework: When you have a roadmap, it becomes easy to communicate the same to your team. When you can effectively pass the communication, they can participate in teamwork without much ado.
When you announce a project, everyone will form an assumption about it. They make their assumptions about all aspects of the project such as the project nature, timelines, clients’ requirements, teammates and quality. If those assumptions differ from the reality, they may lead to misaligned actions which, in turn, affect team morale and project success. Therefore, make it clear to them the following:
- Why they are there (project context)
- What they are supposed to achieve (project objectives)
- How they are supposed to achieve their goals (processes, norms, rules, etc.)
- What they are going to get out of it (training, skills, incentives, etc.)
Choose the Right People: Each project needs a different skill set. Picking the people that fit the bill goes a long way in boosting team morale and cohesiveness. The skills, interests and preferences of some people you choose should more or less match those of others. Otherwise, conflicts of interest can affect team compatibility and, eventually, team work.
Involve Team Members in Decision-Making: When team goals are in line with individual needs and preferences, they show better commitment. Therefore, involve them in processes like setting team goals and measuring team success.
Develop and Implement Norms: Individuals show better commitment when they find value to their contributions and when each member shows appropriate attitude. It, therefore, makes sense to create and implement suitable etiquette and norms. It enables team members to act freely without the fear of other members indulging in backbiting.
You can experience the profound advantages of team work by building the right team. The right team is a combination of suitable people and clear processes. Their absence leads to the formation of dysfunctional teams which cost you dearly, though you may not land in a life or death situation. You will have to fight hard to regain your lost energies. So be cautious. Get your act right!
Do share your thoughts in the same.
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Tags: choosing right team, Team Building, team building strategies, team building techniques
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To build a multidiscipline, successful project team. One must first plan a project framework, which includes the team’s project’s objectives, the processes, the guidelines, time and work constraints, careful application of talent balancing techniques for work assignments to top talents. Coaching diversity and inclusion for respect and tolerance for the differencs in team players decision-making and ideas they bring to the table. An incentive program to reward top talent for excellence in performance and accomplishments.
One of the best managers I’ve ever known assembled a Dream Team based on a complementary skill set. For example, she brought me in as a number cruncher because she’s mathematically challenged. The end result was that the hog farm had 6 employees. The company manual recommended 13 workers. In 6 months, we rose from the worst farm in the company to its fourth best. Team building. See how proudly I still write about the place? It happened 15 years ago.
There is no doubt that the best teams are forged by bringing together individuals with diverse skills sets, backgrounds and thought processes. There is no doubt that the best teams are led by people who encourage open debate and discussion and who are not afraid to have their ideas challenged. This doesn’t mean they don’t or can’t expect their teams to act and appear as one to external parties.
Weak leaders often try to build teams of mini-mees (i.e. clones) wanting team members to pretty much think and behave compliantly – needless to say these teams are generally ineffective. If you work for one of these types of people or as part of one of these groups (for they are not really teams), leave and find a new job – otherwise you risk damaging not only your self-esteem but your career.
Training your team in personality type is very beneficial in understanding members’ skills, but assists in development interpersonal relationships of high quality which is fundamental to the successful operation of a team.
For the past 3-1/2 years, I have been conducting a very successful Team Skills Training for a leading drone manufacturer that includes personality type as a major part of the training.
This has some great points on the power in numbers and in good communications. We can all accomplish so much when we work together and build off of our individual strengths!
Thanks for sharing this with us!
[...] on collaboration. Collaboration is possible when team members find value in working together. Your team-building exercises should, therefore, be directed at building a culture where individuals value [...]