BUILDING A STRONG TEAMWORK

what is a team and how does it operate? 

It takes great leadership to build great teams. Leaders  who are not  afraid to course correct, makes the difficult decisions and establish standards of performance that are constantly  being met – and improving at all times.   Whether in the workplace, professional sports,  or a local community.  Team building requires a keen understanding of people, their strengths and what gets them excited to work with others.   Team building requires the management of egos and their constant demands for attention and recognition.

Teams have always been, and will always be, an essential ingredient for building a successful business. But building great teams isn't something that just happens. It takes planning and ongoing effort to get them right--and to keep them that way.

A team isn’t just a collection of people. It is an organization with its own dynamics, qualities, and conventions.
 A team is a group where all the members focus on a collective target. A team doesn’t pull together well when each individual member focuses on their own target

You’ll know you have a team when you hear “we” and “us” more often than “I” and “me.” You’ll know you have a team when difficult decisions become easy—because someone says, “It’s OK, we’re all in this together.” You’ll know you have a team when the team tells you it is a team.

Smart leaders know that for their teams to work well, they must accurately identify employees' skill sets and assign them tasks that are well suited to their abilities. When putting together teams, they choose people they sense will work together well. The combined efforts of their team members not only produce superior results, they also build a sense of solidarity within their organizations.

 

Here are signs of a powerful team:

1. Recognize the power of teamwork

Before you begin, take a moment to appreciate the power of teamwork and how you can best utilize this tool. Consider the result you want and the tasks you think are required to achieve it. As you think about your employees, match their skills to the tasks of the project, but also identify personalities you feel complement one another. A successful team project maximizes the talents of its individual members, but the true power of teamwork comes from the group's cohesion and combined energies focused on a common goal.

2. Choose the right people

If you want your team to be really effective, you'll need to get the right people for the job. If possible, try to incorporate employees or departments in your organization that bring varied experience and perspective to the project. If, for example, you're trying to come up with a new way to track customer satisfaction using new social media tools, then be sure to include employees who represent sales, information technology, customer service, and more. Try to choose people for your team who together will provide a broad perspective on your project.

3. Delegate

Once you've chosen your team and outlined your expectations, delegate the authority and access the team needs to complete the project. Industrious, energetic, and creative people will become frustrated very quickly if they do not have the freedom, access to tools, and other resources they need to complete their work. Once you have set forth your guidelines, your job becomes making sure they can do theirs. Avoid telling members of a team what to do and how to do it. Instead, work with them to set goals, and then remove obstacles, grant access, and provide the support your team needs to achieve those goals.

4. Monitor progress

In an ideal world, you'll have chosen exactly the right people for the team, and everything will take care of itself. In the real world, you will have to verify that the team is working well together and that the project is on track. Provide, as necessary, a forum where you and the team can share concerns, successes, and project status on a regular basis. If necessary, you may find you need to assign a team leader, or redefine the project and reassign roles. As much as possible, however, try to let the team work through its own challenges. When a team identifies, addresses, and pushes through obstacles on its own, individuals draw closer together, and their success gives rise to confidence and camaraderie.

 

5. Celebrate your successes

When your team accomplishes or exceeds its goals, then be sure to recognize the win and celebrate it. At minimum, schedule a final team meeting where you can thank the group collectively and describe the positive impact their work will have on your organization and your customers. One hallmark of an outstanding team is camaraderie. The team's success will build on itself, and your team and your organization will be the better for it as the team takes on more responsibility.

6. The team understands its goal.

 It’s important that team members understand the goal they’re working toward, so everyone is moved to the same direction. You became successful as a team the moment you articulated and agreed on the common goal.
It’s one thing to understand the goal but everyone has to be moving in the same direction. It doesn’t help the team when detractors become pessimistic or try to inject doubt into the project. Strong teams stay focused on the goal and find creative ways to achieve it—even when there’s acknowledgment that the current method isn’t working.

7. Problems and changes are anticipated and accepted (without endless complaining).

 If you’ve been in project management for any length of time, then you’ll soon realize the sky isn’t always falling. Problems will occur and they need to be handled proactively. Changes will be introduced and you need to find a way to manage them.
No one likes a complainer and the reality is that the work isn’t going to go away. Strong teams recognize this need and find a way to embrace and adjust to the little “surprises.