Team building magic, part 5

Drake Editorial Team

This is the final post in a 5 part article courtesy of Drake International.

Where to Start Creating Magic

If you are leading or a member of your organization’s executive or leadership team, take action to transform your own team. Nothing speaks louder than the action you take. You cannot expect your organization to have high performance teams if the team you are on is consistently struggling. Start by role- modeling the desired behaviours you want in your own team. Know your own team’s strengths and weaknesses by assessing your team’s composition and personality profiles. Your actions will speak volumes throughout your organization.

Return on Investment

A successful team building program will result in employees who are more engaged and committed. In addition to many other benefits, including increased productivity and morale, the minimum outcome will be a reduction in turnover. Most companies believe that approximately 60% of their operational costs are spent on human capital. This emphasizes the importance of optimizing this valuable resource to its utmost.

Conclusion

Team building magic isn’t about waving a magic wand. Real team building is a process that works - starting with the definition of a clear, unifying goal. With a goal in place for your team, it is critically important to have the right people in the right roles. Remember, when teams aren’t functioning well, not only do organizations lose synergy, they actually find the whole to be less than sum of its parts. This situation has a suffocating effect on productivity that directly affects bottom-line performance.

If you are unsure if your team has the optimal composition, then use a proven assessment tool like Drake Picasso to help you understand your team’s strengths and weaknesses. With clear goals and the right people, you’ll be able to teach your team to function at their maximum potential - to play well together. Creating a Charter of Agreements, building trust, being more proactive, and generating feedback are all aspects of playing well, when done in the spirit of continuous improvement.

Tips and Checklist

To build your high performing team, remember:

• Define a clear, unifying goal for the team — a reason for being
• Select the right people to be in the team — based on the goal, their skills, ability and passion
• Understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team with a proven assessment tool like Drake Picasso
• Determine if there are any gaps in the composition of the team
• Identify a great leader who has the right balance of task orientation and relationship orientation
• Teach the team how to play well together
• Create a Charter of Agreements and ensure it is practiced and enforced consistently
• Build Trust
• Be Proactive
• Ensure honest and timely feedback is ongoing
• Develop an environment where there is conflict over ideas, not over personalities
• Treat the process as one of continuous improvement