subject: Derek Elliott – Team Building Training Tips [print this page] Derek Elliott Team Building Training Tips
The Stronger teams produce some better results. This is something that management professionals know, and as a result try to create within their organization. Essentially, team building is all about creating trust, cooperation and efficiency within a group. Team building takes time, so it is important to try and make the most out of any team-building initiatives that you put into place.
Focus Your Team Building
When you are trying to build stronger teams in a company, you should know which goals you are trying to achieve with yourexercisesand focus on them. For instance, if you are trying to create teams that trust and rely on one another, you should look for team-building exercises that focus on building trust among team members. There are many exercises with this specific goal. Targeted team building helps you build the types of teams that will function most effectively in your work environment.
Emphasize the Complementary
The true strength of a team lies in the way the members complement one other. Every member of a team is going to have certain strengths and certain weaknesses. With enough team members, you should have teams where any area of yourbusinessis an area of strength for at least one member of that team. This allows teams to work together to be far more effective as a group than they are individually. The more a team is aware of its component strengths, the more the members can rely on one another to accomplish tasks effectively.
Provide Time for Team Building
When you are trying to build effective teams within a company, you cannot assume that this is something that will happen by putting a bunch of people together and ordering them to work with each other. You should dedicate some time each day, week or month to team-building activities. Also, scheduling team breaks to allow people to get to know one another socially is important. Encourage teams to come together in as many ways as possible.
Employ Team-Building Activities
Keep two things in mind with team-building activities. First, try and make them fun. This is going to help members of the team relax. The messages being taught through the exercises will be better absorbed if they are enjoyable. Second, vary the types of exercises that you use. Different people learn in different ways. The more varied you can make team-building activities, workshops or lessons, the better the chances are that all employees will benefit from them.
Emphasize Teams Always
Team building is not a static concept. You do not do it once, and then have a team. Use regular team-building exercises, team rewards, team social activities and team assessments to always keep focus on the effectiveness of the team as a group. This is important to keep members of the team engaged in working as a unit, but it is also important because in many business environments, teams are fluid. Ongoing engagement in the team-building process helps to fold new members into the group as they join.
