Team building can be a great way to make progress quickly on projects through the delegation of tasks to certain members of a group. “Brawley and Paskevic (1997) defined team building as “a method of helping the group to (a) increase its effectiveness, (b) satisfy the needs of its members, and (c) improve work conditions” (p.13), (Paradis & Martin, 2012. p. 2).” The effectiveness is subjective to the ability of the members of the group to work together on an ongoing basis. “In essence, in team building, members learn:
- Tolerance of ambiguity, uncertainty, and seeming lack of structure.
- To take interest in each member’s achievement, as well as the group’s.
- The ability to give and accept feedback in a nondefensive manner.
- Openness to change, innovation, group consensus, team decision-making, and creative problem solving.
- To create a team atmosphere that is informal, relaxed, comfortable, and nonjudgmental.
- The capacity to establish intense, short-term member relations, and to disconnect for the next project.
- To keep group communication on target and schedule, while permitting disagreement and valuing effective listening.
- To urge a spirit of constructive criticism, and authentic, nonevaluative feedback.
- To encourage members to express feelings and to be concerned about group morale/maintenance.
- To clarify roles, relationships, assignments, and responsibilities.
- To share leadership functions within a group and to use the total member resources.
- To pause periodically from task pursuits to reexamine and reevaluate team progress and communications.
- To foster trust, confidence, and commitment within the group.
- Sensitivity to the team’s linking function with other work units.
- To foster a norm that members will be supportive and respectful of one another, and realistic in their expectations of each other.
- To promote an approach that is goal-directed, seeks group participation, divides the labor fairly, and synchronizes effort.
- To set high performance standards for the group.
- To cultivate listening skills. (Moran et al., p. 270).”
Participation in decision-making, appreciation of uniqueness and flexibility, and coordination of team efforts, can lead to a high productive close-knit organizational environment.
References
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences. New York, NY: Routledge.
Paradis, K. F., & Martin, L. J. (2012). Team building in sport: Linking theory and research to practical application. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 3(3), 159.
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