Guest Editorial by
Mr. Norman Grant, President, Starclusters
The use of work teams has been described as the most powerful
organizational concept since the Roman Legions. Where teams have been
effectively organized and given experiential training, the resulting list of
team performances has led to dramatic improvement in productivity, customer
service, quality, process management innovation, cost effectiveness, job
satisfaction, morale and financial performance. Business executives, in
companies ranging from small all the way up to the multinationals, have already
recognized the value of building a team-based organization with world class
teams.
At this point, we need to define the term “team”, and what is
real “teambuilding”:
Team: A number
of personnel brought together to achieve a goal, through their collective
talents, within a deadline. Individuals who are part of a “group” do not have a
shared goal and this is what differentiates a “team” from a “group”. The use of
teams is not a new phenomenon but in recent years there has been a growing
urgency for better team performance because of the link between teams,
individual behavior change, and high performance. Teams bring together
complementary skills and experiences that can respond to multifaceted challenges.
However teams do not develop until the people in them work hard to overcome
barriers that stand in the way of collective performance. By surmounting such
obstacles together, team members build trust and confidence in each other’s
capabilities. They also reinforce each other’s intentions to pursue their
team’s purpose above and beyond individual agendas.
Team building: Everyone
knows that a boat won’t go forward if each of its occupants is rowing their own
way. A team is a group of people working toward a common goal. Team building is
the process of enabling a team to reach its goal, and this process involves,
among others, the identification and removal of those inhibitors which prevents
a team from achieving its goal.
In recent years, the terms “team building” and “team recreation”
have been treated as if they are interchangeable but they aren’t and it’s
important to understand the differences. Team recreation is designed to get a
team out of the office for a time of relaxation and recreation. Team members
participate in an activity for fun and to get to know each other better but there
are no specific business objectives or outcomes. It is hoped, however, that if
team members are more relaxed and comfortable with each other, this will
improve interaction and communication at work.
Team building enhances team cohesiveness and performance to
improve business results. While many team building sessions involve facilitated recreational
activities, recreation is a means to an end, not the end. What really sets
team building apart is the facilitated debriefing which follows an activity to
reflect on what occurred during the activity, how the workshop experience
relates back to the team’s real world, and then coming up with an action plan
going forward.
Turning to the recent economic meltdown, it’s been a roller
coaster ride for many industries and organizations, but there are indications
that the economy is slowly but surely rebounding again. Many organizations have
put the brakes on team building initiatives, but a customized, carefully
designed and executed team building strategy can inspire a team’s members to
persist in the face of discouraging circumstances by harnessing its creative
genius to generate new ideas and solutions to seize emerging growth opportunities.
To quote Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping
together is progress. Working together is success.” At a time when members of organizations are
feeling unsure, anxious, and concerned about their future, a well-defined
customized team building process should be adopted.--NG