Team
building strategies are an important part of working effectively with other
individuals in the modern work place. Whether you are a CEO, manager, or entry
level employee, you will need the skills that will allow you to efficiently
interact and work with other members of your team. Team building in a broad
sense is defined as a philosophy which sees individuals as members of interdependent
teams as opposed to individual workers. In any corporation there are many
different inter-connected groups that all work together towards a common
goal. In order to work together at the
maximum potential, team building strategies of various categories can be
implemented. There are various types of team building strategies depending on
how in-depth you would like to delve into the process.
In order to
effectively implement team building strategies into a group, team building
professionals have come up with the system of Five C’s: Clear Expectations,
Channels of Communication, Conflict Resolution, Consequences, and Celebrating
achievements. Clear expectations refer to having clear roles defined for each
member of the group. One of the biggest roadblocks that groups run into is when
roles are not defined clearly, leading to miscommunication and jumbled
work. Channels of communication are also
extremely important in team building strategy. To create and maintain open
channels of communication with employees will do wonders to aid your
organization in working together.
Conflict
Resolution is a team building strategy centered on resolving issues within your
company. People are naturally very different and have very different points of
view. To get everyone in your company on the same page can be a very difficult
task. Developing effective resolution skills among employees and creating some
kind of process for dealing with grievances is an important part of addressing
conflict resolution. Team building strategies for conflict
resolution may also include hiring professionals to give workshops
and other classroom-based learning.
The fourth
C of team building strategies, Consequences, is built around making team
members feel responsible and accountable for both their achievements as well as
well as their shortcomings or missteps. To this end, implementations that focus
on enabling individual team members to understand that each contribution is a
vital piece of a larger picture. To
accomplish this, various programs can be implemented that promote individual
creativity by instituting various rewards and recognition programs.
The final
C, celebrating achievements, is about implementing team building strategies
based around valuing the successes and achievements of the group. This can be
as simple as something like a pizza party to something like a group retreat.
Celebrating collective achievements adds to the morale and can improve the
results that your group produces. By implementing these team building strategies
you can empower and instill a powerful sense of belonging in your employees
that will strengthen their bonds and improve their ability to work with their
team.
Susan Cain,
Ed. D.
Corporate
Learning Institute
1-800-203-6734
