Why don't team building efforts improve team effectiveness?
Q: Why do team building efforts, like social gatherings and special recognition events, rarely seem to translate into real improved team effectiveness?
ACE advises: Although it is useful for colleagues to get to know one another in informal ways, team building is most effective when it assists the team with their actual work. The best way to do this is to have the team, as a group, discuss and make decisions about the following elements that contribute to effective teams. This applies to both natural work teams and project teams. It is helpful if this work session is led by a facilitator, which can be the immediate manager or an outside person.
Mission/purpose: Why does this team exist? Who are we, what do we do, why do we do it and for whom?
Goals: Deliverables, outcomes, milestones, measures of success. What the team needs to accomplish, and when.
Roles: Who does what? Individual job descriptions, responsibilities and authority. Team leadership.
Practices: How do we function as a team? For example: organizing work, meetings and meeting conduct, communication, resolving differences, getting resources, making decisions, addressing problems, engaging customers (internal and external). How we periodically assess our effectiveness?
Relationships: How do we mutually support one another? What do we need from each other? How do we give feedback to one another?
Spending deliberate time addressing these factors can go a long way in jump-starting a new team or re-invigorating an existing team.
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