Team building

Team building refers to a wide range of activities, presented to businesses, schools,

sports teams, religious or nonprofit organizations designed for improving team performance.
Team building is pursued via a variety of practices, and can range from simple bonding
exercises to complex simulations and multi-day team building retreats designed to develop a
team (including group assessment and group-dynamic games), usually falling somewhere in
between. It generally sits within the theory and practice of organizational development, but
can also be applied to sports teams, school groups, and other contexts. Team building is not
to be confused with "team recreation" that consists of activities for teams that are strictly
recreational. Teambuilding is an important factor in any environment, its focus is to
specialize in bringing out the best in a team to ensure self development, positive
communication, leadership skills and the ability to work closely together as a team to
problem solve.

Work environments tend to focus on individuals and personal goals, with reward &
recognition singling out the achievements of individual employees. "How to create effective
teams is a challenge in every organization". Team building can also refer to the process of
selecting or creating a team from scratch.

Team building is an ongoing process that helps a work group evolve into a cohesive
unit. The team members not only share expectations for accomplishing group tasks, but trust
and support one another and respect one another's individual differences.

Reasons for Team Building

 Improving communication
 Making the workplace more enjoyable

 Motivating a team

 Getting to know each other

 Getting everyone "onto the same page", including goal setting

 Teaching the team self-regulation strategies

 Helping participants to learn more about themselves (strengths and weaknesses)

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  Identifying and utilizing the strengths of team members

 Improving team productivity

 Practicing effective collaboration with team members

What are Team Building Exercises and what is their purpose?

Team building exercises consist of a variety of tasks designed to develop group members and
their ability to work together effectively.

Symptoms that Signal a Need for Team Building

 Decreased productivity
 Conflicts or hostility among staff members
 Confusion about assignments, missed signals, and unclear relationships
 Decisions misunderstood or not carried through properly
 Apathy and lack of involvement
 Lack of initiation, imagination, innovation; routine actions taken for solving complex
problems
 Complaints of discrimination or favoritism
 Ineffective staff meetings, low participation, minimally effective decisions
 Negative reactions to the manager
 Complaints about quality of service

Steps to Building an Effective Team

The first rule of team building is an obvious one: to lead a team effectively, you must first
establish your leadership with each team member. Remember that the most effective team
leaders build their relationships of trust and loyalty, rather than fear or the power of their
positions.

 Consider each employee's ideas as valuable. Remember that there is no such thing
as a stupid idea.
 Be aware of employees' unspoken feelings. Set an example to team members by
being open with employees and sensitive to their moods and feelings.

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  Act as a harmonizing influence. Look for chances to mediate and resolve minor
disputes; point continually toward the team's higher goals.

 Be clear when communicating. Be careful to clarify directives.

 Encourage trust and cooperation among employees on your team. Remember that
the relationships team members establish among themselves are every bit as important
as those you establish with them. As the team begins to take shape, pay close attention
to the ways in which team members work together and take steps to improve
communication, cooperation, trust, and respect in those relationships.

 Encourage team members to share information. Emphasize the importance of each

team member's contribution and demonstrate how all of their jobs operate together to
move the entire team closer to its goal.

 Delegate problem-solving tasks to the team. Let the team work on creative
solutions together.

 Facilitate communication. Remember that communication is the single most

important factor in successful teamwork. Facilitating communication does not mean
holding meetings all the time. Instead it means setting an example by remaining open
to suggestions and concerns, by asking questions and offering help, and by doing
everything you can to avoid confusion in your own communication.

 Establish team values and goals; evaluate team performance. Be sure to talk with
members about the progress they are making toward established goals so that
employees get a sense both of their success and of the challenges that lie ahead.
Address teamwork in performance standards. Discuss with your team:

 What do we really care about in performing our job?

 What does the word success mean to this team?

 What actions can we take to live up to our stated values?

 Make sure that you have a clear idea of what you need to accomplish; that you
know what your standards for success are going to be; that you have established clear
time frames; and that team members understand their responsibilities.

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  Use consensus. Set objectives, solve problems, and plan for action. While it takes
much longer to establish consensus, this method ultimately provides better decisions
and greater productivity because it secures every employee's commitment to all
phases of the work.

 Set ground rules for the team. These are the norms that you and the team establish
to ensure efficiency and success. They can be simple directives (Team members are to
be punctual for meetings) or general guidelines (Every team member has the right to
offer ideas and suggestions), but you should make sure that the team creates these
ground rules by consensus and commits to them, both as a group and as individuals.

 Establish a method for arriving at a consensus. You may want to conduct open
debate about the pros and cons of proposals, or establish research committees to
investigate issues and deliver reports.

 Encourage listening and brainstorming. As supervisor, your first priority in

creating consensus is to stimulate debate. Remember that employees are often afraid
to disagree with one another and that this fear can lead your team to make mediocre
decisions. When you encourage debate you inspire creativity and that's how you'll
spur your team on to better results.

 Establish the parameters of consensus-building sessions. Be sensitive to the

frustration that can mount when the team is not achieving consensus. At the outset of
your meeting, establish time limits, and work with the team to achieve consensus
within those parameters. Watch out for false consensus; if an agreement is struck too
quickly, be careful to probe individual team members to discover their real feelings
about the proposed solution.

Team effectiveness criteria

* Goals and objectives. On effective teams, team members understand and agree on the
team's goals and objectives, on what it is trying to accomplish. Ineffective teams usually lack
commonly understood goals and objectives, and its members pull in different directions.

* Trust and conflict. On effective teams, conflict may not be absent or avoided but is dealt
with openly and worked out in a constructive manner.

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* Leadership. Effective teams share leadership roles among members. All members feel
responsible for team leadership. Ineffective teams often have one person dominating.

* Use of resources. Team members' resources are recognized and used fully on effective
teams. Under-use of some members can be one of the greatest sources of frustration for
people stuck in ineffective work groups. For some people, not being used to full potential is
worse than being overworked.

* Interpersonal communication. Effective teams pride themselves on open, participatory

communication among members. Members generally know what is going on. Ineffective
teams often are marked by guarded communication.

* Control and procedures. Effective teams have procedures to guide team functioning and
the members support these procedures and regulate themselves.

* Problem solving and decision making. Approaches to problem solving and decision
making are well established for effective teams.

* Experimentation and creativity. Well functioning teams often experiment with different
ways of doing things and encourage creativity. Ineffective teams often are bureaucratic and
rigid.

* Self-evaluation. Effective teams regularly evaluate their functions and processes. A regular
retreat dedicated to team development issues and processes is a popular tactic used y strong
teams.

* Roles, responsibility, and authority. An effective team's members clearly understand their
roles, responsibilities, and degree of authority.

Twelve Tips for Team Building: How to Build Successful Work Teams
How to Make Teams Effective

Twelve Cs for Team Building

No matter what you call your team-based improvement effort: continuous improvement,
total quality, lean manufacturing or self-directed work teams, you are striving to improve
results for customers. Few organizations, however, are totally pleased with the results their

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team improvement efforts produce. If your team improvement efforts are not living up to
your expectations, this self-diagnosing checklist may tell you why. Successful team building,
that creates effective, focused work teams, requires attention to each of the following.

 Clear Expectations: Has executive leadership clearly communicated its expectations

for the team’s performance and expected outcomes? Do team members understand
why the team was created? Is the organization demonstrating constancy of purpose in
supporting the team with resources of people, time and money? Does the work of the
team receive sufficient emphasis as a priority in terms of the time, discussion,
attention and interest directed its way by executive leaders?
 Context: Do team members understand why they are participating on the team? Do
they understand how the strategy of using teams will help the organization attain its
communicated business goals? Can team members define their team’s importance to
the accomplishment of corporate goals? Does the team understand where its work fits
in the total context of the organization’s goals, principles, vision and values?

 Commitment: Do team members want to participate on the team? Do team members

feel the team mission is important? Are members committed to accomplishing the
team mission and expected outcomes? Do team members perceive their service as
valuable to the organization and to their own careers? Do team members anticipate
recognition for their contributions? Do team members expect their skills to grow and
develop on the team? Are team members excited and challenged by the team
opportunity?

 Competence: Does the team feel that it has the appropriate people participating? (As
an example, in a process improvement, is each step of the process represented on the
team?) Does the team feel that its members have the knowledge, skill and capability
to address the issues for which the team was formed? If not, does the team have
access to the help it needs? Does the team feel it has the resources, strategies and
support needed to accomplish its mission?

 Charter: Has the team taken its assigned area of responsibility and designed its own
mission, vision and strategies to accomplish the mission. Has the team defined and
communicated its goals; its anticipated outcomes and contributions; its timelines; and
how it will measure both the outcomes of its work and the process the team followed

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 to accomplish their task? Does the leadership team or other coordinating group
support what the team has designed?

 Control: Does the team have enough freedom and empowerment to feel the
ownership necessary to accomplish its charter? At the same time, do team members
clearly understand their boundaries? How far may members go in pursuit of
solutions? Are limitations (i.e. monetary and time resources) defined at the beginning
of the project before the team experiences barriers and rework?

 Collaboration: Does the team understand team and group process? Do members
understand the stages of group development? Are team members working together
effectively interpersonally? Do all team members understand the roles and
responsibilities of team members? team leaders? team recorders? Can the team
approach problem solving, process improvement, goal setting and measurement
jointly? Do team members cooperate to accomplish the team charter? Has the team
established group norms or rules of conduct in areas such as conflict resolution,
consensus decision making and meeting management? Is the team using an
appropriate strategy to accomplish its action plan?

 Communication: Are team members clear about the priority of their tasks? Is there
an established method for the teams to give feedback and receive honest performance
feedback? Does the organization provide important business information regularly?
Do the teams understand the complete context for their existence? Do team members
communicate clearly and honestly with each other? Do team members bring diverse
opinions to the table? Are necessary conflicts raised and addressed?

 Creative Innovation: Is the organization really interested in change? Does it value

creative thinking, unique solutions, and new ideas? Does it reward people who take
reasonable risks to make improvements? Or does it reward the people who fit in and
maintain the status quo? Does it provide the training, education, access to books and
films, and field trips necessary to stimulate new thinking?

 Consequences: Do team members feel responsible and accountable for team

achievements? Are rewards and recognition supplied when teams are successful? Is
reasonable risk respected and encouraged in the organization? Do team members fear
reprisal? Do team members spend their time finger pointing rather than resolving

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 problems? Is the organization designing reward systems that recognize both team and
individual performance? Is the organization planning to share gains and increased
profitability with team and individual contributors? Can contributors see their impact
on increased organization success?

 Coordination: Are teams coordinated by a central leadership team that assists the
groups to obtain what they need for success? Have priorities and resource allocation
been planned across departments? Do teams understand the concept of the internal
customer—the next process, anyone to whom they provide a product or a service? Are
cross-functional and multi-department teams common and working together
effectively? Is the organization developing a customer-focused process-focused
orientation and moving away from traditional departmental thinking?

 Cultural Change: Does the organization recognize that the team-based,

collaborative, empowering, enabling organizational culture of the future is different
than the traditional, hierarchical organization it may currently be?

Northwestern University
The Vedasto J. Samonte School of Graduate Studies
Laoag City

In partial fulfillment in the requirements of

Nursing Administration

Submitted to
Roseli T. Aurelio, MAN, phD
Professor

Submitted by

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 Wiljohn M. de la Cruz
MAN students

September ,2010

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