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Know Your Team

Playing solo is playing slow. To reach the top and get there fast, one needs to belong to a
team. Successful teams recognise that contributions of each team member will yield better
solution and it requires predefined goals, purpose and effective communication to build such
teams

People in every workplace talk about building the team, working as a team, and `my
team, but few understand how to create the experience of teamwork or how to
develop an effective team. Belonging to a team, in the broadest sense, is a result of
feeling part of something larger than oneself. It has a lot to do with ones
understanding of the mission and objectives of the organisation.

The Efficient Team


An effective team is one that accepts the strengths and weaknesses of its members
and seeks to capitalise on each member's strengths. The team takes ownership of
the project and sees that each member's ideas are applied into the design process.
Members realise that everyone's contributions to the project are important. Even
though team members perform different tasks during the project, there is a clear
understanding that all tasks contribute effectively to the end goal.

Team Construction and Team Building


Building a perfect team is an enormous task. It involves identification, initiation,
motivation, inspiration, and solidification of diverse team members. Different people
are bound to have different notions and cultural backgrounds, although use of
intranet and other effective modes of communication have made knowing and
understanding each other a much easier task.
A team building session is the first step that aims to forge relationships and establish
strong communication between team members.

Secrets Of Team building The 12 Cs


The key to effective team building lies in the12 Cs. 12 simple, universal but
amazingly effective concepts that can help any organisation create the best of
teams. The magic Cs are:

Clear Expectations
The executive leadership must clearly communicate its expectations for the teams
performance and expected outcomes. The questions that must be answered are: Do
the team members understand why the team was created? Is the organisation
demonstrating constancy of purpose in supporting the team with resources of
people, time, and money? Does the work of the team receive sufficient emphasis as
a priority in terms of the time, discussion, attention, and interest directed its way by
executive leaders?

Context
Each team member must understand the relevance of his/her participation in an
activity.
Understanding how working in a team will help the organisation achieve its
communicated business goals helps in bringing people together.
Commitment
A core question that needs to be answered is `Do team members want to participate
in the team and do team members feel the team mission is important? There has to
be a sense of commitment to accomplish the team mission among all the members
and they have to perceive their service as valuable to the organisation and to their
own careers to perform effectively.
Each member has to expect his skills would grow as a result of participating in a
team and know that his contributions would be recognised properly this is what
provides excitement to sustain the activity being undertaken by the team.

Competence
Team managers must constantly try to know view of team members. This is critical
for selecting the right people for the team, identifying the skills and knowledge
required for addressing the issues and meeting the goals for which the team is being
formed.

Charter
Drawing a team charter is vital. There has to be a clear vision, mission and detailed
strategies that need to be chalked out for avoiding confusion among team members.
Deadlines have to be set, transparent performance measurement mechanisms have
to be established so that there is no scope for complaints at any stage.

Control
The level of decision making powers and responsibilities for each team member
have to be clearly ascertained and communicated at the onset of building a strong
team.
Limitations, monetary and otherwise, need to be defined at the very beginning of the
project before the team experience barriers and feels frustrated.
All members of the team must understand the reporting structure and line of
accountability. A team leader must also allow space for self-management for each
team member.

Collaboration
Working in a team means working in collaboration. The team should be briefed on
team and group process. The team should be aligned with various stages of group
development. It builds a combined team approach in solving problems, process
improvement, goal setting & measurement. Effective measures to ensure that the
teams work in collaboration brings team closer and also helps them in devising
appropriate strategies to accomplish its action plan. Also, knowing interpersonal
roles & responsibilities of each team member leads to steadier accomplishments of
desired goals.

Communication
Identifying priorities and communicating these to the team members is the next step.
Efforts to obtain honest performance feedback should constantly be made. A regular
updating on important business or technical information, discussing team problems
and accomplishments, bringing diverse opinions on the discussion forum, raising and
addressing necessary conflicts & barriers are some of the best ways to ensure an
effective communication between the team members.
Creative Innovation
Teams that dare to innovate must be rewarded for implementing new solutions as
these stand as inspirations for everybody in an organisation. To facilitate this, training
and learning opportunities also have to be provided for ensuring the necessary
stimuli for creative thinking is available for those who want to come up with fresh
ideas. The idea is to generate the concept of contributing newer and fruitful inputs in
all the team members.

Consequences
To stick together through thickn thin has to be the driving mantra. Team members
must feel responsible and accountable for their collective achievements or failures.
Accepting rewards has to come with acknowledging risks involved in participating in
a team activity. A sense of combined success or failure can only be built when the
team members live for team success and not individual accomplishments.

Co-ordination
To ensure cohesiveness, teams must be co-ordinated by a central leadership team
that assists the groups to obtain what they need to accomplish their goals. The
central team has to be responsible for providing the direction, resources and vision
for leading the smaller teams across departments. Cross-functional and multi-
department teams can also be used effectively for achieving faster and better results
through a focus on customer orientation, moving away from traditional departmental
thinking.

Cultural Change
Replacing traditional, hierarchical organisational structures, teams in todays
workplaces must account for cultural diversity and take into account ways of
introducing newer ways of rewarding and recognising talents. Constant innovation in
ways of developing skills, motivating and supporting the team helps in fostering trust
in the team. The idea is to realise the fact the more the organisation can change the
more it will get back in terms of effective and open teams. Change from traditional
ways and concepts refreshes team members and help them innovate newer ways of
working. Successful teams consist of individuals who `connect to achieve common
goals and creating such teams a big challenge. However, understanding the principle
of purpose, people and presentation can help in generating a sense of belonging and
responsibility among the team members - its essentially about nurturing a feeling of
we sail and sink together!

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