BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS

The ability to form, guide, develop, resource and support a team to effectively achieve its intended purpose.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An effective team is a unified group of diverse people working effectively together toward a common purpose. Most leaders talk teams, but primarily reward individual achievement. The key to successful team building lies in identifying roles, jobs, tasks, rewards and objectives for the team - and continuously following up to see how the team and each individual is doing.

From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:16

Skilled Characteristics

  • Connector

    Creates strong morale and spirit in one’s own team

  • Share

    Shares the credit for wins and successes

  • Open

    Fosters open dialogue

  • Delegator

    Lets people finish and be responsible for their work

  • Team Goals

    Defines success in terms of the whole team

  • Belonging

    Creates a feeling of belonging (or a sense of community) in the team

Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.

– Henry Ford

Unskilled Characteristics

  • Fails to Unify

    Does not build a sense of unity in a group of people

  • One-on-One

    Only manages people on a one-to-one basis instead of as a group or team

  • No Shared Vision

    Does not create a common mindset, common vision, or common challenge

  • Not Team Focused

    Rewards and encourages individual achievements, but not team achievements

  • Doesn't Meet

    May not hold many team meetings

  • No Celebrations

    Does not celebrate team accomplishments; does not create any synergies in the team; everyone works on his/her own projects

  • Lack Skills

    Does not have the skills or interest to build a team

  • Control

    May be very action and control oriented and does not trust a team to perform well on its own without close supervision

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”

– Kenneth Blanchard

Causes of Weakness

  • Loner

    Prefers to work alone; an individual contributor

  • Lack Vision

    Can’t create a common cause, direction or vision for others

  • Controlling

    A control-oriented person

  • Not a Team Player

    Does not believe in or support teams

  • Action Focused

    Excessively action oriented – wants to take action without talking with the team or others

  • Individual Focus

    Incentives are all based upon individual achievement – not based on team achievement

  • Uninspiring

    Not charismatic or a natural motivator

  • Weak in Processes

    Not skilled in defining processes

  • Unorganized

    Poor time management

  • Singular Approach

    Treats all people the same even when it would be better not to

“Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear or reprisal.”

– Patrick Lencioni

Advice

Review the simple application steps below and choose 1 or 2 things you can do to spur yourself on to further growth.

  • Who Are You?

    WHO ARE YOU? Help everyone on the team get to know each other. What is each person’s passion, vision, experience, gifts, personality, love languages, goals, life testimony, risks tolerance, values, work preferences, etc.

  • Understand Context

    UNDERSTAND CONTEXT: What is the context of the situation you are working in? To what extent have you evaluated, researched and understood the culture, politics, history, problems, opportunities, and needs of your target audience?

  • Share Vision and Goals

    SHARED VISION AND GOALS: Establish a common cause and a shared mindset. It’s best to get each team member involved in setting the common vision. Establish goals and measures. Most people like to be measured. People like to have checkpoints along the way to chart their progress. Most people perform better with goals that are stretching.

  • Plans

    PLANS: What plans have you developed? With your end outcomes in mind, what are the key strategies you will take to achieve those outcomes, what capabilities does your team need, what initiatives and programs will your team offer, what specific plans and actions have you written down and communicated to your team?

  • Expectations

    EXPECTATIONS: How well have you defined and communicated the various roles, responsibilities, policies and processes that each staff member should know and follow? How have you involved them in the process?

  • Support

    SUPPORT: What kind of support does your team and each staff person need? Training? Mentoring? Coaching? Prayer? Physical resources? Finances? Encouragement?

  • Feedback

    FEEDBACK: How often does your team and each staff person receive feedback? How effective is the team? How effective is each person? How are you measuring this? How often do you conduct a performance review? How often do you provide constructive feedback to your staff? How specific is your feedback? Do you say encouraging things your staff 7 times more often than negative things? Do they see it the same way?

  • Recognition

    RECOGNITION: How do you celebrate success? How often? As a team? For reaching team milestones? For individual accomplishments? How do you reward your team and your staff?

  • Promote Learning

    PROMOTE LEARNING/GROWTH: Set an atmostphere that encourages and promotes ongoing personal growth. Role model life-long learning by clearly telling your team what you want to get better at and ask for their input. Allow the team to set team improvement goals (how to work better together as a team), as well as personal development goals. Set aside time each month in a staff meeting for the team to re-evaluate the team’s success in achieving its team goals, and to get more input from each other on how to improve in their personal goals.

  • Use a Team Coach

    USE A TEAM COACH: Because a team coach is external to the team, he or she can objectively help you problem solve and get the team talking about how well the team is functioning and how to improve. This can also be helpful if some of the team’s problems relate to you as the leader.