Team Building
Definition: Team building is a management technique
used for improving the efficiency and performance of the workgroups through
various activities. It involves a lot of skills, analysis and observation for
forming a strong and capable team. The whole sole motive here is to achieve the
organization vision and objectives.
Now, you must be
wondering; How to Build a Great Team?
Forming a great team
requires a lot of skills and presence of mind. Usually, some managers
specialize in team-building skills and are hired by the companies on this
parameter.
The manager
responsible for team building must be able to find out the strengths and
weaknesses of the team members and create the right mix of people with
different skill sets. He must focus on developing strong interpersonal
relations and trust among the team members.
The manager must encourage communication and
interaction among the
team members and also reduce stress with the help of various team-building
activities.
He must clearly define
the goals and objectives of the organization to the team members. He must also
specify the role of each member in the team to direct them towards the
achievement of the organizational goals.
Team
Building Process
Team building is not a
one-time act. It is a step by step process which aims at bringing a desirable
change in the organization. Teams are usually formed for a particular task or
project and are mostly for the short term.
The various steps
involved in team building are as follows
Identify
the Need for Team Building
The manager has first
to analyze the requirement of a team for completing a
particular task. It should find out the purpose of the work to be performed,
required skills for the job and its complexity before forming a team.
Define
Objectives and Required Set of Skills
Next comes the
chalking down of the organizational objectives and the skills needed to fulfil
it.
Consider
Team Roles
The manager considers
the various aspects, i.e. the interactions among the individuals, their roles
and responsibilities, strengths and weaknesses, composition and suitability of
the possible team members.
Determine
a Team Building Strategy
Now, the manager has
to understand the operational framework well to ensure an effective team
building. He must himself be assured of the objectives, roles, responsibilities,
duration, availability of resources, training, the
flow of information, feedback and building trust in the team.
Develop a
Team of Individuals
At this stage, the
individuals are collected to form a team together. Each member is made familiar
with his roles and responsibilities within the team.
Establish
and Communicate the Rules
The rules regarding
the reporting of team members, meeting schedules, and decision making within
the team are discussed. The individuals are encouraged to ask questions and give
their views to develop open and healthy communication in the team.
Identify
Individual’s Strengths
Various team-building
exercises are conducted to bring out the strengths of the individuals. It also
helps in familiarizing the team members with each other’s strengths and
weakness.
Be a Part
of the Team
At this point, the
manager needs to get involved with the team as a member and not as a boss.
Making the individuals realize their importance in the team and treating each
member equally is necessary. The team members should see their manager as their
team leader, mentor and role model.
Monitor
Performance
Next step is checking
the productivity and performance of the team as a whole. It involves finding
out loopholes and the reasons for it. This step is necessary to improve the
team’s performance and productivity in the long run.
Schedule
Meetings
One of the most
crucial steps is to hold purposeful meetings from time to time to discuss team
performance, task-related problems and discuss the future course of action.
Dissolve
the Team
Lastly, the manager
needs to evaluate the results and reward the individuals on their contribution
and achievement. Finally, the team is dispersed on the fulfilment of the
objective for which it was formed.
Team building has
radically evolved as a technique to develop and manage effective teams in the
workplace.
The aim to achieve
long-term organizational objectives developed the need for carrying out team
building activities frequently.
Let us now discuss the
various benefits of team building to an organization:
Identify Strengths and
Weaknesses: Through
team-building exercises, the strengths and weaknesses of each member can be
identified. In day to day routine work, such an analysis cannot be done. These
competencies can be used by the managers to form effective teams.
Direct Towards Vision and Mission: Team building activities define the
role and importance of the team for the organization to reach its vision. It
makes the individuals understand the organization’s goals, objectives, mission
and vision very clearly and motivates them to contribute towards it.
Develops Communication and Collaboration: Team building activities enhance the
interpersonal relations of the team members. It makes individuals comfortable and
familiar with one another. Collaboration develops trust and understanding among
the team members.
Establishes Roles and Responsibilities: It defines and clarifies the role of
each member of a team. Moreover, the members are given individual responsibilities, along with
the motivation of performing as a team.
Initiates Creative Thinking and Problem Solving: In a team, individuals are motivated
to give their views, opinions and solution to a particular problem. It leads to brainstorming and exploring
their creative side.
Builds Trust and Morale: By conducting team building activities, the organization makes the
employees feel valued. It encourages them to develop their skills and build strong
interpersonal relations, ultimately boosting the morale and trust of the team
members.
Introduces and Manages
Change: The
technique of team building makes it easier for the managers to incorporate an
organizational change by making the individuals familiar with the change and
its necessity. It also helps in managing such change and its impact over the
working and team’s performance.
Facilitates Delegation: The managers find it more suitable to delegate the work to a team
rather than an individual. Therefore, team building helps the managers to efficiently and
adequately delegate the task to the team.
Better Productivity: If the team is wisely formed and all
the team members work collaboratively to achieve the objectives, the
productivity of all the individuals improve. Thus, increasing the productivity of the team and the organization.
Disadvantages of Team Building
Team building is not
an easy task. A high-performance team can fulfil the organizational objectives.
However, an inefficient team can lead to wastage of time and resources of the organization.
Therefore, we can say
that there are multiple adverse effects of team building too, which are as
follows:
·
Develops Conflict: Sometimes, the team lacks coordination
and understanding among its members. This leads to conflict and clashes within
the team and hence decreases the efficiency and productivity. A lot of time is
wasted in such conflict management.
·
Unproductive or Freeride Team Members: At times, some of the team members do
not contribute much to team performance. Such individuals are considered to be
freeriding team members. They prove to be inefficient and less productive for
the team.
·
May Lead to
Non-Cooperation:
Every individual is different from one another. The team members sometimes lack
cooperation and unity. This non-cooperation among the team members leads to
wastage of efforts and hinders the performance of the team as a whole.
·
Difficult to Evaluate
Individual Performance: Whatever the result or the outcome the organization gets by team
building is the team’s achievement or failure. Usually, the organization
overlooks the contribution of each member individually while rewarding the
efforts of the whole team.
·
Involves Cost: Team building activities require time
and money. Moreover, a lot of time, cost and resources are consumed in ensuring
coordination, balance, feedback, decision making and conflict management within
the teams formed.
·
Accountability and
Credibility Issues: In case of failure, it becomes difficult to find out the reason. The
team members sometimes do take up the accountability of their work, holding the
other members to be responsible for the unfavourable outcome.
·
In case of success,
the team members get busy in taking up the credit themselves, ignoring the
efforts of the whole team together.