5 STEPS TO TEAM BUILDING

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” – African proverb

That’s what the teams are, Together Everyone Achieves More.

Working in a team is part of everyday life, be it at work, home, social life. Each of us works as part of team knowing our role in each team. When it comes to building teams at work, there are some simple steps that need to be followed.

Forming the team

The first and foremost is selection of individuals who would be part of the team. You need to have right mix of skills that are required on the team. It is necessary to have individuals who are team players and who would put the team’s goals on higher priority than individual’s. You need to have people who would be helpful to others and contribute to other’s success. It is important to have right attitude to be good team player, ego has no place in team. It is always great to have enthusiastic individuals who are willing to go the extra mile for team.

Understanding individuals

Teams don’t win by heroic work of individuals but collective contribution from everyone on the team. This does not mean to discredit the heroes on the team. They, off course, are needed to be role models for others.

Every individual has strengths and areas of improvement. It is important for the leader to know the individual and use their strengths at the same time working on areas of improvement. There might be someone who is great at understanding customer’s requirement but may lack experience. Such person when paired with a senior on the team can become great requirement gathering team. This will also give the required experience to the junior member as well as he/she feels important in the team.

Team bonding

As humans we are social creatures, all of us need to have work/life balance. It is great to have some fun while working. This is possible only when you have team bonding where team members interact with each other at personal level (not only professional).

You can have team lunch/dinners, outings to improve team bonding. Sports events is great way to do this. Once the team bond is strong, sky is the limit for the team.

Be the enabler

As we know everyone is not same, each one has different motivation level and capabilities. As a leader, you need to be supportive of the team member to their individual needs. Giving them right amount of motivation, training / mentoring will help them give their fullest to the team.

Celebrating success

When you have teams who are constantly working towards team’s goals, it is great motivation when you celebrate their small successes. Be it achieving an intermediate milestone or some extra ordinary achievement, celebrate it. This gives the required recognition and moral boost, which helps in the long haul.