Tips for Team Effectiveness
Four main elements affect how successful teams will be
when working together. First, teams need goals that focus their skills. Second,
good parameters are needed to help the team stay on track. Third, a good
environment is needed in which to work, one in which correction and objections
can be heard without insult. Last, and arguably most important, a good leader
is needed to help create all three of these things. When you implement these
four things in your businesses’ teams, they will become happier, more
productive employees.
Goals
give great motivation
Goals and
rewards give teams incentive with rewards to go beyond what has been previously
done and really push for the best possible results (Heathfield). One set of goals may not be right for your
employees. A tiered structure of goals may better fit your employees’ needs. A tiered
structure will give new and inexperienced employees a chance to succeed on some
level while giving them room to grow. This would also give other employees the
chance to push themselves and go for those really high reaching goals and
rewards.
Parameters
keep teams on task
Parameters are like the banister on the staircase; they
are sometimes needed to keep the team on the right track, but they must also
not get in the way of creativity. These guidelines keep teams out of lawful
trouble or already explored areas that have failed. Anyone can come up with a
bunch of rules, but a harder challenge is creating good parameters that guide
the teams while not constricting them into doing what has always been done.
Leaving room to grow is important for any company looking for better and more
efficient ways of doing things.
Environment
fosters better ideas
The leader is
primarily in charge of crafting the environment to be conducive to good group
habits. In order for a teams to work well together they must be able to freely
share ideas, thoughts, plans, and goals (Steps…). If a good environment is not in place around
the team, then symptoms of groupthink may take place. This could lead to bad
ideas, which seem to be supported by everyone, becoming the accepted approach.
Leaders must set the standard of respect amongst the team. They must also
encourage constructive criticism and set the example of receiving this
criticism well.
Team
leaders guide the team to success
Team leaders are the driving force that pushes the team
forward with their good people skills. Leaders have many different roles in the
group. They match people and their skills to tasks in a project that produces
the best results. They act as mediators to convey ideas between different people
with different backgrounds or as an intermediary to resolve disputes. A good
leader must also be able to step down when another takes the lead in a specific
area.
Challenging goals, structured parameters, respectful
environment, and a good leader are attributes that can be applied to any team
no matter its purpose. When your business implements these elements in your
teams, you will see the results of hard working employees that are supported
and driven to accomplishing their projects.
References
Heathfield, Susan M. 12 Tips for Team Building. Retrieved from About.com: http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/twelve_tip_team.htm
Steps
to building an effective team. Retrieved from
University of Berkley HR: http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/guides/managing-hr/interaction/team-building/steps
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