Less Me and More We
Team building is often requested by leaders who intuitively sense a need for their teams to do something to build their cohesiveness and maybe have fun together. In fact, their intuition is right; it just doesn't go far enough. Most of the work in organizations is done by groups of people rather than "lone rangers," and building better teams usually builds better organizations.
Our Analysis:
Putting a group of people together and calling them a team does not make them effective.
For years, research has shown that effective teams outperform individuals in most situations—the key word being "effective". Putting a group of people together and calling them a team does not make them effective. Some of the reasons teams work well—more viewpoints and opinions, different ways of thinking, the ability to coordinate efforts, etc.—also provide the opportunity for conflict, misunderstanding, misdirection, etc. Teams add complexity, but they can also add great value if they are built and used right. There are many factors to consider in building effective teams. Traditional "team building" activities usually focus on short term improvement in a limited range of areas.
Our Approach:
We focus on both short and long term development.
We often use an instrument such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to help team members understand their unique strengths and how the different people on the team can work best together. We also make sure the team understands expectations and agrees on basics such as roles, goals and behavior groundrules. Building on these basics, we then help the team improve performance in ways that are sustainable, and to plan for ongoing growth and development.
Overall we focus on both short and long term development in a range of areas, such as:
- Working with other team members
- Group accountability
- Decision-making know how
- Barriers to team work from the larger organization
- Cross-program, cross-department work