ATTITUDES FOR EFFECTIVE TEAM BUILDING

1 When the concept of team building is understood and applied at all levels in an organization, it becomes much easier to transform groups into teams throughout the company.

2 A positive attitude toward team building is essential. Evaluate your attitude by responding to the following statements.

3 The statements support team building, and will help you identify your strengths and determine areas where improvement will be beneficial. Rate each statement on a scale of 1 through 5, with 5 being the highest rating.

1 When I select employees, I choose those who can meet the job requirements and work well with others.

2 I give employees a sense of ownership by involving them in goal setting, problem solving and productivity improvement activities.

3 I try to provide team spirit by encouraging people to work together and to support one another on activities that are related.

4 I talk with people openly and honestly and encourage the same kind of communication in return.

5 I keep agreements with my people because their trust is essential to my leadership.

6 I help team members get to know each other so they can learn to trust respect and appreciate individual talent and ability.

7 I ensure employees have the required training to do their job and know how it is to be applied.

8 I understand that conflict within groups is normal, but work to resolve it quickly and fairly before it can become destructive.

9 I believe people will perform as a team when they know what is expected and what benefits will accrue.

10 I am willing to replace members who cannot or will not meet reasonable standards after appropriate coaching.

(40-50 Minimum Acceptable)

Your management style has a direct influence on employee focus and commitment. Which one of the following styles is most like you?

1 I know best. This person feels work should be done by controlling the people who do it. Employees are told what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. Then they are told what they did wrong and what they did right, where they are weak, and where they are strong. The person in charge feels this is justified because of his superior knowledge and ability. This attitude does not invite new ideas, challenge people, or stimulate a cooperative, supportive spirit. Communication is directed one way only.

2 I’ll set the goals, you meet them. This person feels that because of his or her superior knowledge, ability or experience it is OK to establish goals for others to meet. The employee is given an opportunity to discuss ways to meet goals, but has no input into the actual performance activities. When this happens, commitment is more difficult to obtain from employees because their lack of involvement precludes a sense of ownership.

3 Let’s review the work together. Establish more realistic goals and evaluate performance accordingly. This leader emphasizes work performance, not authoritarian control. The idea is to first communicate organizational needs, then help team members contribute their ideas. The leader acts as a resource and enabler rather than as a judge. Communication is open and flows in both directions. The value of mutual support and cooperation is recognized and employed.

Too many times, managers spend much of their time solving problems that could be better solved or handled by individuals. Problem solving should be taught at every level in the organization. Use this simplified model outlined below:

Step 1 — State what appears to be the problem. The real problem may not surface until facts have been gathered and analyzed. So, start with a supposition that can later be confirmed or corrected.

Step 2 — Gather facts, feelings and opinions. What happened? Where, when and how did it occur? What are its size, scope and severity? Who and what are affected? Is it likely to happen again? Does it need to be corrected? Time and expense may require problem solvers to think through what they need and assign priorities to the more critical elements.

Step 3 — Restate the problem. The facts help make this possible and provide supporting data. The actual problem may or may not be the same from Step 1.

Step 4 — Identify alternative solutions. Generate ideas. Do not eliminate any possible solutions until several have been discussed.

Step 5 — Evaluate alternatives. Which will provide the optimum solution? What are the risks? Are costs in keeping with the benefits? Will the solution create new problems?

Step 6 — Implement the decision. Who must be involved? To what extent? How, when and where? Who will the decision impact? What might go wrong? How will results be reported and verified?

Step 7 — Evaluate the results. Test the solution against the desired results. Modify the solution if better results are needed.

Effective problem solving by teams is better achieved when the following conditions exist:

1 Team members contribute and listen to others.

2 Conflicts from different points of view are considered helpful.

3 Team members challenge suggestions that they believe are not supported by facts but do not argue just to have their way.

4 Poor solutions are not accepted just for the sake of harmony.

5 Coin tossing, averaging, majority vote and similar easy-ways-out are avoided when making decisions.

6 Every team members tries to make the process successful.

7 Team members encourage and support others on the team.

8 Team members recognize the importance and value of time and work at eliminating extraneous or repetitious discussion.

9 Team decisions are never arbitrarily over-ruled by the leader simply because he does not agree with them.

CONCLUSION

There are ten unforgivable mistakes made by leaders that you will avoid.

1. Failure to develop and maintain basic management and leadership skills.

2. Permitting poor employee selection techniques.

3. Failure to discuss expectations or establish goals, which have been mutually set.

4. Inattention to the training and development needs of team members.

5. Failure to advocate, support and nurture team-building activities.

6. Preventing the involvement of team members in any activity where they could make a contribution.

7. Failure to provide and receive feedback from the team.

8. Allowing conflict to get out of control or trying to eliminate it altogether.

9. Depending on someone else to recognize and reward the team and its members.

10. Failure to relieve players who have not responded to coaching.