Creating Effective Teams

Now more than ever, we need strong teams that operate in harmony. Effective teams are composed of individuals with complementary skills. Each member brings unique talents and experiences to the team, creating a more powerful unit.


The Challenges of Teamwork
Do you have teams that aren’t as successful as they could be? Most of us do. Here are a few reasons why teams are challenged. Which ones apply to you?

• Some people on the team don’t pull their weight.

• The goal or purpose of the team is unclear or has no meaning.

• Team members blame each other when things go wrong.

• Team members don’t bring their problems or concerns out in the open.

• Some team members don’t fully contribute to the team.

• Team members are unable to constructively discuss differing views and opinions.

• Team members don’t have confidence in each other.

• Team meetings are unfocused and waste time.

• Team members don’t have a clear plan for achieving their goals.

Team members can support their teams by focusing on three key elements to set up their team meetings. By ensuring that the elements are in place, team members share responsibility for team success in a powerful way.


Functions and Roles
Every meeting has four key functions that must be managed if the meeting is to achieve results:

• Participation

• Process management

• Information management

• Decision making

Making decisions on who will manage these functions prior to (or at the start of) a meeting gets any team meeting off to a solid start.


Desired Outcomes
A desired outcome is what your meeting aims to achieve. Without a goal, meetings become unfocused and confused. Team members can help clarify the meeting goal by asking for or helping to create a desired outcome for a meeting. They can also use the desired outcome to check progress during and at the end of the team meeting.


Decision Making
Much of the power on the team resides in decision making. Teams must make both process and content decisions in meetings. Who makes what decisions and when? Understanding the range of options for decision making on a team helps teams to eliminate confusion and avoid breakdowns that occur when decision-making methods are absent or unclear.

To develop teams that know how to communicate with each other consider a behavior and communications survey! They are invaluable tools in building effective teams.

Most likely you have changed the way you manage your company during these economic times. Create high-performing teams so that you can thrive under any economic climate.