What? When forming a new team, every team will go through many different phases in order to become more comfortable with one another and see who is strongest in what areas. There are also many ways of forming a team, according to MIT, there are six different items to follow. “1. Mission: A mission statement can provide powerful documentation about the team’s purpose. 2. Goals: “Goals should be something worth striving for — important results that the team can provide for the organization. The best goals are S-M-A-R-T goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. 3. Roles and Responsibilities: It’s particularly important in a team environment that team members know what is expected of each of them. Without these expectations, members can’t develop mutual accountability or trust in the team. When a team’s expectations are clear and members meet (or exceed) expectations, trust and an increased sense of “teamness” are natural by-products. 4. Ground Rules: Ground rules are guidelines for specific behaviors. Teams don’t need a lot of ground rules to work together well, but everyone on the team should agree to the ground rules and share responsibility for ensuring that they are followed. 5. Decision making: A clear decision-making model describes who makes the decision and how others will be involved. 6. Effective Group Process: Communication, Mutual accountability, and Appropriate self-evaluation.” (MIT).
So What? Why is making a good team so important? To get projects done? Be able to collaborate well? Well, according to Forbes, team bonding is vital to having a good team: “It builds trust, mitigates conflict, encourages communication, and increases collaboration. Effective team building means more engaged employees, which is good for company culture and boosting the bottom line. It can also be adventurous and enjoyable if you do it with a little pizzazz.” (Forbes). So, with all this team building make my team amazing? Well, it depends… When you have a team, especially a new one, there are some amazing words that will help consolidate what to work on. According to my Team Leadership professor, Dr. Rateau, and Levi, say that communication and trust are the best things you can work off. Communication is simple, if your team can collaborate and express their thoughts and ideas freely you have excellent communication; which brings me to trust, trust is a part of communication, if your team feels like they cannot talk to one another with out worry of offending, correcting, or even helping someone, there’s a problem, make sure your team trusts one another.
Now What? How do I create this amazing theoretical team? Well it all depends on who you are working with, culture, location, what the team is for, and many other points that can change how your team functions. Follow the guide from MIT, and make sure you are focusing on communication and trust. While there are many things you can do to make your team the best, but one way I particularly like is from, yet again, Forbes: “1. Build trust and respect. Nurture a team-oriented environment based on trust and respect, without which there will only be limited success. 2. Be true to your word. If you demand high productivity and quality work, you’d better be as good as your word. You get what you give. If you promise to do something, be sure you will fulfill it. When team members notice that you are a reliable person, they will emulate your behavior. 3. Organize a meeting for all employees. If you want to improve teamwork, help people get to know each other better. Organize in-person meetings for all workers (all teams) at least once a year — more often if at all possible. Informal conversations bring people together and warm up human relationships. 4. Take advantage of conflict. There are no teams exempt from occasional misunderstandings. Somewhere, somehow, conflict will show up. When confrontation between employees gets out of a hand in a startup, the CEO must face it. Don’t complicate the situation by deciding what is good or bad. Listen to all sides carefully and then talk to other team members who observed the quarrel. Brainstorming solutions favorable for both sides may even result in ideas that would never have come to mind in without the conflict. 5. Make hiring a team effort. If you want to hire a new person, discuss this with your team. Let your team members talk with candidate because they will work together and it’s important this person fit into the team.” (Forbes)
References:
Council, Y. E. (2014, July 8). Five Ways To Build An Effective Team. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2013/06/07/five-ways-to-build-an-effective-team/#712de7a1e0ad
Important Steps when Building a new Team. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://hr.mit.edu/learning-topics/teams/articles/new-team
Scudamore, B. (2016, March 9). Why Team Building Is The Most Important Investment You’ll Make. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianscudamore/2016/03/09/why-team-building-is-the-most-important-investment-youll-make/#803d040617fc
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