WHY TEAM BUILDING?

“Why Team Building?”. The facilitator asked as he began the class session. Honestly, when I saw the topic, I was also curious.

Why do I need to bother about a team when the goal is just to learn and earn my certificate?

Once you cannot deliver the outcome of an activity by yourself alone, then you have a relationship to cultivate. Thus, everything you know about relationships and service will help.

We are all social beings, and at one point or the other, we will depend on one another to achieve a particular goal or objective. In other words, we are dependent beings and we need each other for services

WHAT IS A TEAM?

A group of people with a variety of strong complementary skills and expertise pursuing a common purpose and collectively achieving more than the sum of individual achievements.

 It is important to note that every team is a group of people, but it is not every group of people that is a team.

The major difference between a group and a team is a common goal.

In a team, there must be a common purpose and a goal. The why, the how and the what must be clearly stated and understood by all the team members.

BENEFITS OF TEAM BUILDING

There are several benefits of team building. I will just state a few of them below:

1. TEACHES ESSENTIAL SOCIAL SKILLS: Working as a team teaches active listening and effective speaking. It will enable team members to respectfully and confidently express their ideas and opinions effectively in a group setting.
2. IMPROVES SELF-CONFIDENCE: Teamwork builds your confidence that your voice is respected and valued. As a result of teamwork, the most introverted and quietest members of the team can become active participants and learn to enjoy team activities
3. CREATIVITY IS ENCOURAGED: Teamwork encourages the use of initiatives thus, increasing creativity.

In a nutshell, team building encourages innovation and synergy. It enables the best of the members, as each member ignites the success of others.

Several challenges arise in a team as a result of diversities. Hence, the need for a common goal, collaboration, and trust. There should be no victims or working over people.

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE TEAM?

• An effective team trust one another.
• Engaging in unfiltered conflict around ideas.
• Commiting to decisions and plans of action.
• They hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans.
• They focus on the achievement of collective results.

CAUSES OF A DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM

Below are some of the causes of a dysfunctional team

• Lack of clarity about team purpose: A team requires a framework. Without it there will be no direction.
• Asymmetric goals: When team members do not see what is in it for them, there can be some sort of resistance.
• Lack of agreement often to do with how things are to be done.
• Competence of team members
• The behaviour of team members
•  Lack of coordination and unclear accountabilities
• Unclear rules, policies, and procedures
•  Resource constraints and competition.

In conclusion, for a group of people to become a team and survive as a team, there has to be cohesion.

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” – Henry Ford.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller.

Thanks for reading.