To create effective teams is a challenge for every organization. Work environments tend to foster rugged individuals working on personal goals for personal gain. Typically, reward, recognition, and pay systems are all designed for the achievements of individual employees. Appraisal, performance management, and goal setting systems most frequently focus on individual goals and progress, not on team building. Promotions and additional authority are also bestowed on individuals. Given these factors, is it any wonder that teams and team work are an uphill battle in most organizations?
Employee involvement, teams, and employee empowerment enable people to make decisions about their work. Employee empowerment is a strategy and philosophy that enables employees to make decisions about their jobs. Meanwhile, their loyalty to the organization is increased. Here is the information you need to develop effective teams in your organization. Use this information for your team building.
Clear Expectations
Your organization needs to demonstrate support for the accomplishment of clear performance expectations in three key ways.
Firstly, you need to show constancy of purpose in supporting individuals and teams with the resources of people, time and money that will enable them to accomplish their goals. When you provide the resources teams need, you ensure the development of teamwork and team’s best chance for success.
Secondly, the work of the team needs to receive sufficient emphasis as a priority in teams of the time, discussion, attention and interest. All works are directed by executive leaders. Meanwhile, employees need to know the organization which they care.
Finally, the critical component in continuing organizational support for the importance of the accomplishment of clear performance expectations is the reward and recognition system.
Culture
When the organization culture supports teamwork, team members understand how the strategy of teams fits in the total context of their organization’s strategic plan and success goals. Team members understand why teams will help their organization attain its business goals.
Commitment
The depth of the commitment of team members to work together effectively to accomplish the goals of the team is a critical factor in team success. The relationship team members develop out of this commitment is essential in team building and team success.
Competence
The teams can feel that their members have the knowledge, skill and capability to address the issues for which the teams were formed. Once their members don’t have, the teams have to arrange relevant training for them. In short, the teams must feel they have the resources, strategies and supports needed to accomplish their missions.
Charter
The team has to take their assigned responsibilities and design their own missions, visions and strategies to accomplish the mission. The team also has to define and communicate its goals.
Control
First the organization defines the team’s authority. Once the leaders are recommended, they must set project plans for their teams, then implement their plan. There has to be some defined review processes to make sure both the team and the organization are consistently aligned in direction and purpose. Team members hold each other accountable for project timetables, commitments and results. Meanwhile the organizations have plans to increase opportunities for self-management among organization members.
Collaboration
All teams must understand team and group process, the stages of group developments and roles and responsibilities. The team leaders are not exceptions. The team should approach problem solving, process improvement, goal setting and measurement jointly. The teams can establish group norms or rules of conduct in areas such as conflict resolution, decision making and meeting management etc.
Communication
The organization need to regularly provide important business information to all teams as well as team members, which can make the teams understand the complete context for their existence. It is better that team members communicate clearly and honestly with each other, even bring diverse opinions to the table. If any conflicts are raised and addressed, solve them together. Remember communication is the most important thing for any team.
Creative Innovation
The valuable creative thinking, unique solutions, and new ideas are what all organizations are really interested in. How to motivate team members to be creative thinkers? It is necessary for organizations to reward those who take reasonable risks to make improvements. Besides, to provide the training, education, access to useful materials and field trips is also necessary to stimulate new thinking.
Cultural Change
There are three major steps involved in changing an organization’s culture. Firstly, before an organization changing its culture, it must understand the current culture. Secondly, once you understand your current organizational culture, your organization must then decide where it wants to go, define its strategic direction, and decide what the organizational culture should look like to support further success. Finally, the individuals in the organization must decide to change their behavior to create the desired organizational culture. This is the hardest step in culture change.
Poorly planned and executed team building brings disillusionment, low morale and negative motivation. It will fail to achieve the results expected. Instead, successful team building and planning activities have the potential to bring the team members a strong sense of direction, a powerful feeling of being involved, workable plans and solutions.