Manish Chauhan asked:
Team building is essentially a process involving participation, collaboration and nurturing of team spirit amongst the team members. This sense of team spirit is inculcated amongst participants in the team through interactive team exercises and group discussions. Team building is required in most of the organized group activity, even as the modern work sphere is increasingly getting specialized with division of labor and the global market is powered by communication revolution.
A successful team building requires a number of steps, which include the following:
1-The first and foremost requirement for team building is the recruitment or selection of the participants. Since participants ensure the success of a project, a team leader looks for certain specific traits in them. They must have confidence and the ability to generate trust amongst the fellow members. A participant must possess leadership qualities and must be positively oriented at all times.
2-Next to selection of participants, it is imperative in team building to have well defined team goals and the same must be communicated to the participating members. The participants in a team must be aware of the reason for their participation so as to remain motivated and to develop inter-group trust. Defining the goal in advance makes the participants feel worthy and competent, while at the same time giving the team a direction to work. Otherwise, the team members become disoriented, directionless and demotivated
3-Team building must be considered in context of the team goal. It requires multiple and balanced skill sets to achieve the goal. A right combination of theoretical and practical skill sets ensures the successful goal achievement. Individuals with technical and theoretical expertise as team members go a long way in coming up with a solution that benefits every one. Each member must be allocated a role appropriate to his or her skill or personality. The task assigned to each of them must be flexible enough to take on new assignments or relinquish the previous one, if required. The members must be willing enough to help team -mates and cooperate with them in ensuring success of the project.
4-A team leader has a great role to play in team’s overall performance. The leader must have leadership skills to command respect from his or her team. Team building is likely to suffer in absence of positive and effective personality of the team leader, who must be able to positively influence the working environment.
5-Apart from what has been discussed above, successful team building requires training the team in group dynamics, communication skills, conflict management and resolution, goal setting, listening skills and other skills to turn the members into effective participants in a team.