#215: 60 One-Liners on What Makes Teams Great

Introduction

In today's "People Skills" newsletter, we're doing something a little different from the norm.

We're giving you a masterclass in Teambuilding one-liners.

We reckon that these 60 one-liners are a great way to review or learn the key points in the skill of Teambuilding.

And, what's more, they'll only take you a few minutes to read.

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So, stopwatch ready? Off you go...

01. The Nature of Teams

1. Teams are the building blocks of organisational life.
2. A team is different from a group because it shares a common purpose.
3. In an age of global communications, the team can exist without ever meeting one another face to face.
4. Belonging to a team can satisfy people's needs at a range of different levels.
5. The informal workplace team may be of more importance to how we work than the formal team.
6. The distinctive feature of teams is that they can grow and develop.

02. Team Development

1. All organisations change: some grow through phases of development, others decline and die.
2. Organisations need leaders to ensure that teams can grow and managers to ensure that teams can survive.
3. As an organisation moves through its phases of development, it requires different styles of managing.
4. One-off teams have similar phases of development as organisations and are also subject to crisis points.
5. A team's development can be aided if the right interventions are made as it grows.
6. The general direction of team growth is towards interdependence and an outer focus.

03. Teamwork

1. Acts of teamwork are the daily habits that encourage the team to work together and rely on each other.
2. The team's goal should be simply stated and meaningful.
3. Team-builders re-state the team's goal at every available opportunity and in every possible way.
4. Strong teams have a positive direction and belief that they can achieve any goal they set themselves.
5. Teams should share not just goals and visions, but also setbacks and failures.
6. Acknowledging, appreciating and accepting each other are the cornerstones of daily acts of teamwork.

04. Team Cohesion

1. A cohesive team is one with strong ties of teamwork and interdependence.
2. A team should never become so big as to lose its flexibility to respond to change.
3. Teams are more cohesive when people are in daily contact.
4. Tall team structures with many layers and levels are likely to lead to less cohesive teamwork.
5. Teams whose members like one another are likely to be more cohesive than those who do not.
6. Teams whose members have things in common are likely to work more closely than those that don’t.

05. Threats to Teamwork

1. A strong team recognises the individuality of its team members.
2. Individualism begins the moment a team member puts themselves before the team.
3. Conflict is healthy and productive in strong teams and unhealthy and destructive in weak teams.
4. When there is an outside threat, weak teams collapse but strong teams unite.
5. Team rewards don't have to be in monetary form; they can include daily strokes from others.
6. Stars can motivate the team by their example as well as destroy it if they believe they are indispensable.

06. Team Leadership

1. Team leaders need to constantly balance the competing demands of the team's needs.
2. When the team comes first, it is the team leader who must persuade others to give up their own interests.
3. The different needs of the team create different leadership styles in the leader.
4. A team leader may know intuitively what style to use or may use the one he or she is comfortable with.
5. The best leaders are those who vary their style to suit the make-up of the team and their stage of growth.
6. In a good team, the leader knows how to manage the task, the group, and individuals one-to-one.

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07. Team Roles

1. How effective someone is in a team is usually due to the role they play rather than their job or status.
2. Research shows that people assume various roles in a team to meet their task, team and individual needs.
3. Teams that perform well invariably have a mix of complementary roles .
4. Successful teams require a co-ordinator to keep everyone together.
5. A creative player in the team can play devil's advocate and challenge complacency.
6. No role is more or less important than any other team role.

08. Team Meetings

1. Teams cannot function at their best without meeting frequently.
2. A good team meeting requires planning and the involvement of the team.
3. In a team of equal status, the chair can be rotated around each team member.
4. The chair of a team meeting should neither confront nor control.
5. Teams should meet when they need to be briefed and when decisions need to be made.
6. In a team briefing, hold back some good news to the end.

09. Unshared Certainty to Shared Uncertainty

1. The measure of a team is how confident it is in facing an uncertain challenge.
2. A group of people are just a group where there is certainty about the result and no need to share.
3. The first stage in teambuilding is to make it necessary for people to interact to achieve a goal.
4. A team that only shares information is not as strong as a team that shares ideas, feelings, and successes.
5. A team rarely becomes a powerful team without an outside challenge to its identity.
6. The feeling of being in a team that works together to overcome uncertainty is one of the highs in life.

10. Teambuilders

1. In a workshop, a team exercise should be chosen to meet the team’s current development needs.
2. A team exercise should have a sufficient level of challenge in it.
3. For most value, give the team the greatest amount of control over design, implementation, and review of a team exercise.
4. A team-building exercise is one which requires the team to work together to achieve a result.
5. A team role play is an opportunity for the team to practice the real thing.
6. A self-assessment exercise can be given to the team at any time to measure its development.

What Next?

If you have worked through each one-liner in this presentation, you will now have a great set of resources to help you become a skilled teambuilder.

Remember, if you need help with building great teams, we, at Manage Train Learn are here for you.

With over 22,000 learning resources on our 6 websites, and 2 sites offering free downloads, we are here to help you achieve the insights, skills, and behaviours you need to manage successfully.

With just 15 minutes a day of reading, practise, reflection, and review of MTL learning materials, you will be amazed at how quickly you can master your people skills.

Thanks for reading this newsletter and happy learning!

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Are You Interested in Acquiring a Highly Profitable and Successful E-Learning Business As a Going Concern?

Due to Eric's forthcoming retirement, we have now decided to put KSA Training Ltd, (parent company of Manage Train Learn), up for sale.

This sale comprises all 6 websites, over 22,000 soft skills learning items, and optional sale of all 37 e-books which have earned over ￡1 million in global sales through our publishing partners.

We have been leaders in Soft Skills e-learning since the late 1990's and, today, there is unprecedented demand globally for "People Skills" learning and training.

Uniquely, we currently offer our materials for free use and download but a new owner can easily commercialise our offering through a wide range of options.

There is a time limit on this offer when we will sell to the highest bidder.

So, if you're interested in owning a successful e-learning business with huge potential in a huge market, email us in the first instance at [email protected] for further information.

Eric Garner

Managing Director

KSA Training Ltd