Tips On Enhancing Team Effectiveness

Very simply put, a team is nothing but a system of getting people in a company to work together effectively. The idea is that a group of people working together can achieve much more than if the individuals of the team were working on their own. In a team, we bring together people who have different skills that somehow complement each other, agree on a common code of conduct, assign different roles in a group setting, create interest in the company objectives, help increase productivity and help the team solve conflicts without compromising work flow.

For world-class results in a corporate environment, a company needs to have teams that can face all challenges. Joint efforts always attain and generate the best results. Winning teams harness their members’ talents and energy to ensure that 1 plus 1 equal 3 or more. In short, when a team is working well, the total is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Being a member of a team not about being efficient individuals. The team must be singularly focused on the company’s objectives and goals. In a team-oriented atmosphere, an individual contributes to the overall success of the company by working with other team members to attain these objectives. Individuals are assigned specific tasks within particular departments, but they have to unite with team members from different departments to achieve the overall targets.

Once one has one?s teams in place, one must focus on creating enhanced teams to achieve the company?s targets. Team enhancement actions must match set targets ? if they don?t, team leaders must question themselves to find out what is lacking.

Guidelines On Enhancing Team Effectiveness:

• The leader should convey a clear message to the team members regarding the company?s expectations. He or she must ensure that the team members understand what the team has been created for and continuously underline these objectives via internal communications.
• Team members must acknowledge their comprehension of and participation in the achievement of the company?s objectives. They must know how the team is supposed to help the company to achieve its targets.
• The team leader must establish how many of his team members are actually interested in participating in teamwork, and how many tend to be ?lone wolves? who do not operate well in a team setting.
• The team leader must ensure that all performing team members perceive their service as valuable to the organization. He or she must find out what it takes to keep the team motivated, and establish workable means of fulfilling reasonable expectations.
• The team leader must ensure that the team members are sufficiently knowledgeable, skilled and capable to face the issues for which the team has been created.
• The team leader must ensure that the team has appropriate resources, initiatives and support required to attain its goals. The organization must, in turn, empower the team with sufficient authority to accomplish its charter. However, team members must also understand their limitations clearly.
• Sometimes, team members may do or say things that seem out of synch with the team?s overall mission and goals. This can result in resentment, confusion and lack of communication. If this happens, the team leader must establish how these words or actions were meant to add to the team?s ability to?fulfill?its set objectives. If the reasons are not immediately apparent, he or she should ask for clarifications to avoid clashes.
• Team leaders must also have patience. Not all teams perform at 100% efficiency once they have been presented with their targets and objectives. Also, some individual team members may not move as fast as others, even though they do not lack capability or motivation. The team leader must take on the role of a mentor and ensure that such members have sufficient breathing space, nevertheless keeping them focussed on the deadline.
• The team leader must plan team meetings meticulously. Meetings consume time and money as well as physical and mental energy. The team leader must optimize returns on that investment via clear objectives and meeting plans – and by copying all concerned on the agenda of the meeting in advance.
• All team members should feel free to ask for help on a specific decision or task. There is no place for egoism when help is offered. Such an attitude creates better relationships and helps the team succeed faster. In this spirit, the team leader must also assign the right people within the team to make decisions, and the appropriate people to comply with those decisions.
• Team members must share views, ideas, experiences and thoughts with other team members. Sharing is significant to team development, since a team is a compilation of uniquely thinking individuals. After accomplishment of a task or goal, team members must share the success as a unit.
• There is no place for the blame-game in a cutting edge team. Problems will arise and must be seen as means to evaluate progress and obtain knowledge. Setbacks should never been seen as opportunities to accuse others.
• Every team occasionally requires external expertise and help to move further. There must be no delay in doing so.
• To achieve a common goal of success, importance has to be given to increasing the skills of team members, so training plays a large role in enhancing the effectiveness of a team.

Jappreet Sethi

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