How to build a better team

April 24, 2008

We’ve all been involved on a team at one point in time. This team could have been family, sport, education, business, etc. focused. Each team member brought unique skills that may or may not have been relevant to every task at hand. Some members were more experienced, some less, but all had a common goal they were driving to. Hopefully someone had the map and directions though. A team is unable to perform optimally if they are going fast or working hard, but for the wrong reasons. In addition, to help team members understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, a certain amount of team bonding or better phrased team building is often warranted.

Team building comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. It can be as simple as coordinating team meetings where each member has the turn to “take the wheel” and share his or her ideas and concerns on the current direction. Perhaps building comes in the form of regular gatherings ranging from daily lunches to off-hour social events. Teams really interested in strengthening their interaction may benefit from a formal team building event run by professionally trained organizations/individuals. In any case, some form of team building should occur.

I recently attended a team building event conducted by an organization specializing in team development. We had the opportunity to bring together two teams in order to help improve our daily interactions as well as quash any of the “us vs. them” mentality. This event involved a day and a half of activities at a facility away from the distractions of the daily grind. Placing these teams in an unfamiliar setting (with BlackBerries off!) allowed us to better concentrate at the task at hand and more importantly, each other.

The event started with your typical icebreaker to get people warmed up and engaged, followed by some relevant discussions pertaining to our business. Because this was an overnight retreat, we were able to get to know each other on a more personal level and discuss a variety of topics while enjoying a campfire through the evening. The following day consisted of continued business discussions broken up by various team challenges. In my opinion, it is in these challenges where you get to see the real team building occur. Challenges ranged from mental puzzles to physically demanding events. Depending on the challenge, we either worked as a collective team or were paired into smaller groups. It was interesting to see how these teams worked towards a solution to the problem or challenge at hand. Did the solution require brute force strength, mental stimulation, prior experience, or delicate handling? One wasn’t sure at the start, but when you get a team of individuals throwing ideas around (or in some cases not throwing ideas around), the team begins to understand how they work best together and where they have room for improvement….thus strengthening their team resolve. In the end, one gets a great sense of accomplishment working with others to solve a common problem.

After the team building event concluded, did we have an answer for all of our current business challenges…no. Did we have a better understanding of how each person approaches a given situation…you betcha. We also learned that when you’re in a pinch, “The Hand of John” may just reach down and help you out!

Your team member,

Dave

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