A team needs to be put together for a joint purpose. While leadership is crucial in establishing purpose it is equally important for team members to participate in creating purpose so they have personal ownership of it. The manner in which the purpose is to be achieved must be identified. Finally, execution of the outlined manner for achievement of goals needs to be completed. Building a team is a necessary part of any business plan.
Forming the Team, Effective Leadership
Effective leadership is a critical component of good teamwork. The team’s leader needs the skill to create and maintain a positive working environment. The ability to identify and recruit talent is the first element of leadership. The leader must be able to motivate and inspire team members once they are chosen. There are innumerable qualities needed for this task, but knowledge of the art of persuasion is vital.
The leader will form his team and instill a positive approach to work and be highly committed. An effective team leader will promote a high level of morale and make them feel supported and valued. During the team formation stage the leader will be highly directive. In a business setting the leader's preparation in building a team includes creation of job descriptions.
Storming with the Team, Identifying Goals and Ideas
Once the team is formed, the leader recedes a bit and encourages team members to participate in identifying the real problems to be solved and each member’s function in the problem solving. This requires clear communication among the members so each can express plans and goals, sharing and understanding each member’s viewpoint. This is group brainstorming.
Each member must understand their role within the team and their responsibilities. This can be facilitated by the team leader by establishing roles during formation and directing each member toward the functions for which they are most suited.
A system for resolving inevitable conflicts between members must be established and each member understand the mechanics of conflict resolution. All members should be able to voice concerns in a defined and accepted fashion. An approach to resolve conflicts that is in place before a conflict arises will be accepted better than an ad hoc approach taken as each situation arises.
Norming, Behavior Adjustments for Teamwork
As the team commences its work, each member will learn what behavior brings out the best results when working together. A good example set by the team leader is crucial for good teamwork to come about. The norming of behavior will make the work more fluid and natural. Motivation and productivity will increase as each member develops instincts that move toward the goals and understands how the goals and ideas agreed upon in the storming stage come to fruition in actual practice.
Performing, Actual Movement on Meeting Goals
This is when the creation of the team moves toward accomplishing the objectives for which the team was formed. The objective may be winning games, it may be selling a product or it may be delivering a service. A team formed to meet an objective, which then agrees on methods to meet the objective and modifies individual behaviors to create a fluid product will reach that objective through performance and steady leadership.
David J. Shestokas - Mr. Shestokas is a former prosecutor & writes on the Constitution & legal issues for the Save America Foundation & Suite 101.
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