Corporate Team Building Techniques | Team Building

Definition

Team building is the technique of getting this diverse group of individuals to work together effectively as a team. The project manager brings them the “big picture” perspective, and facilitates to concentrate on overall project goals.

Where applied ?

Description

Conducts activities that enhance the team’s social relations and build a collaborative and cooperative working environment. Team building activities can vary from a 5-minute agenda item in a status review meeting to an offsite, professionally facilitated event designed to improve interpersonal relationships. The objective of team-building activities is to help individual team members work together effectively. Team-building strategies are particularly valuable when team members operate from remote locations without the benefit of face-to-face contact. Informal communication and activities can help in building trust and establishing good working relationships. While team building is essential during the initial stages of a project, it should be a continuous process. Changes in a project environment are inevitable, and to manage them effectively, a continuous or renewed team-building effort may be applied. The project manager should continually monitor team functionality and performance to determine if any actions are needed to prevent or correct various team problems.

Develop Team

What are the attributes of an effective team?

• Sharing a common goal
• Striving to get a job done together
• Enjoy working together and helping each other
• Making commitment to achieve the goals of the project by accomplishing their portion of work
• Having a high team spirit and morale

  

Team building is used as one of the critical tool in Develop Team Process. While we discuss on the technique of team building, we shall understand some of the objectives of developing the project team:

• Improving the knowledge and skills of team members to increase their ability to complete project deliverables, while lowering costs, reducing schedules, and improving quality;
• Improving feelings of trust and agreement among team members to raise morale, lower conflict, and increase teamwork;
• Creating a dynamic, cohesive, and collaborative team culture to: (1) improve individual and team productivity, team spirit, and cooperation; and (2) allow cross-training and mentoring between team members to share knowledge and expertise; and
• Empowering the team to participate in decision making and take ownership of the provided solutions to improve team productivity for more effective and efficient results.

Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development

One of the models used to describe team development is the Tuckman ladder [19, 20], which includes five stages of development that teams may go through. Although it is common for these stages to occur in order, it is not uncommon for a team to get stuck in a particular stage or regress to an earlier stage. Projects with team members who worked together in the past might skip a stage.

Forming. This phase is where the team members meet and learn about the project and their formal roles and responsibilities. Team members tend to be independent and not as open in this phase.

Characteristics: Milling around, polite and superficial conversation, guarded/watchful

Questions they ask:
1. Why was this team formed?
2. What will get me rewarded? In trouble?

Storming.  During this phase, the team begins to address the project work, technical decisions, and the project management approach. If team members are not collaborative or open to differing ideas and perspectives, the environment can become counterproductive.

Characteristics: Milling around, polite and superficial conversation, guarded/watchful

Questions they ask:
1. Why was this team formed?
2. What will get me rewarded? In trouble?

Norming. In this phase, team members begin to work together and adjust their work habits and behaviors to support the team. The team members learn to trust each other.

Characteristics: Willingness to solve problems, confronting issues, constructive feedback.

Questions:
1. What’s acceptable? What’s not?
2. What are the standards and deliverables?
3. What are the goals?

Performing. Teams that reach the performing stage function as a well-organized unit. They are interdependent and work through issues smoothly and effectively.

Characteristics: Collaboration, enthusiasm, trust, self-motivation, and “clean” fights.

Questions:
1. How can we do our job better?
2. How can we ensure high quality?
3. What’s next?

Adjourning. In this phase, the team completes the work and moves on from the project. This typically occurs when staff is released from the project as deliverables are completed or as part of the Close Project or Phase process.

Constructive Team Roles

Identify and nurture the following constructive team roles within your teams

Destructive Team Roles

Identify the following destructive team roles/practices within your teams and correct them timely

Try the Quiz on Team Building

Other useful links
https://youtu.be/CYRpK9HBlIY
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm

Quiz results are collected and analyzed

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