Team Building free essay sample

Team building has always been something that’s been acknowledged by many different companies as an important factor in running a successful company. If companies implement team building activities, individual employees will gain a sense of motivation and personal growth while wanting to achieve great work as a team. Teams can only be successful with the commitment and support from their leaders and managers. A team is a group of people working towards a common goal. Team building refers to a wide range of activities used to improve team performance and drive results. Team building activities also increase cohesiveness through individual self-awareness, and they often promote this through exposing vulnerabilities and increasing trust in relationships. Team building is important for many different reasons. One being that it enhances workplace efficiency. If you like the people you work with, you’re work will be more efficient. Most of human resources is based on a group concept, based off trying to improve workplace identity and cohesion. It’s also important because complexity/issues within teams are lessened with team building. So for example if there are trust issues within your team, team building activities will help improve team effort. Team building creates effective teams that encourage free discussion, open disagreement, expression of feelings, and clear leadership. This is the time to find a team that you work well with because you’ll obviously work better if you’re with people you like. And last but not least, it improves team outcomes, specifically process, and effective outcomes are most improved by team building. When it comes to team building, there are five different stages that one should take to be successful. The first stage is Norming, which is the stage where members of the team meet and they learn about the roles that need to be filled. This is where ground rules are usually set and the leader is identified. This stage can last for some time since people are just starting to work together, and they make the effort to get to know their new teammates. Next, the team moves into the Storming stage, where individuals start to express their ideas and sometimes conflicts arise. This is the stage where many teams fail. People may work in different ways for all sorts of reasons, but if differing working styles cause unforeseen problems, they may become frustrated. Some may question the worth of the team’s goal, and they may resist taking on tasks. The team leader must remind the group to be tolerant and patient. Gradually, the team moves into the Norming stage. This is where the habits that support the group rules and goals develop. Members start to get used to the norms of the group. Individual characteristics are better understood and utilized. There is often a prolonged overlap between storming and norming because as new tasks come up, the team may lapse back into behavior from the storming stage. The fourth stage they reach is the Performing stage. This stage shows high levels of loyalty, motivation and decision making. The team becomes self directed in order to meet the goals. As a leader, you can delegate much of your work, and you can concentrate on developing team members. The last stage is the Reforming stage. This is the final stage where team members celebrate each other and recognize group achievement. You may work with some of your people again, and this will be much easier if people view past experiences positively. Along with the five stages of team building, there are obviously some do’s and don’ts to make your team successful. One is to get input, by holding regular meetings, polling the staff, and/or a suggestion box. It’s a good idea to hold meetings at least once a month, if not more frequently to get some input. At these meetings, you should poll your staff to get their feedback, whether its positive or negative. Anything helps to better improve reaching your goals. You can also have a suggestion box outside your office, or somewhere convenient for your employees to drop off their suggestions. It is also best to remain organized. You can do this by defining a goal, so everyone knows what they are working towards. Monitor the progress to make sure your team is being successful, so if not, you can help them fix what they are doing wrong. And you also need to follow through on the goal you are working towards. Something you don’t want to do is to let a conflict linger. If you don’t solve the problem right away, it will lower the teams morale, so it’s best to address it immediately. Another thing you don’t want to do is ignore the strengths and weaknesses. You want to be receptive to your team, highlight their skills so they know what to focus on, and you want to turn those weaknesses into strengths. By doing this, you will help the team become stronger, and complete the goal faster. Teams within businesses work for a few different reasons. One of those being that teams initiate change. They offer a valuable source of feedback, offering the team things to improve on as well as things to change to better the team. Teams are also natural problem solvers. The key part to this is communication. Without communication, nothing would ever be solved or accomplished. Teams are collections of the organizations best assets. Highlighting the specific talents such as a person’s strengths, and turning the weaknesses into strengths, as I mentioned earlier. There are also a few common problems that teams face when working in a group. Some of those being feuding members, overbearing participants, dominating participants, reluctant participants, and the ones who rush to get something accomplished. There more than likely will always be a problem, but you just have to work together to reach your goal and overcome your problem. Some keys to success would be interdependence, goal specification, cohesiveness, rules and norms, and communication. Without those, your team would not achieve their goal. Team stands for, together everyone achieves more. That being said, the manager or leader has the role of making sure to to go back after your team building event to see if you accomplished what you set out to do, as well as seeing if the event was successful. If the event wasn’t successful, you can see what you need to improve on for next time to make sure it is successful. There are many reasons to why teamwork is successful. There is no â€Å"I† in team, and thats why teams work. Successful teams can be the most powerful asset for your business. Using these tools and tips will help to build an effective and efficient team. Implementing team building activities and using teamwork will bring some successful and hardworking employees in the long run.