But first, a definition for a team. Building a team is not merely a motivating label or an energy building campaign. Team building is an advanced stage of collaboration.
A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and common approach, for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.
Here is what I have observed about building a team:
*Successful teams establish urgency, demanding performance standards, and direction;
While it is true that some teams have coaches, and the team relies on the coach for urgency, standards, and direction, teams can also establish these elements by concensus.
*Successful teams select members for skill and skill potential, not personality;
I am confident the girls on my daughter's volleyball team would not have selected each other had they just picked friends from their individual social groups for the team. They were drawn together by a shared set of skills. Interestingly, however, they have transcended their teenage social structure and discovered the richness of each other's individual personalities through common interest and skill.
*Successful teams pay particular attention to first meetings and actions;
The tone of the season was set early-on, as individuals brought their best game to the collaborative effort. Further, they determine from the outset what they want to accomplish and what it is going to take to get there.
*Successful teams set clear rules of behavior and action;
Attitude, behavior, attendance expectations, schedule–all of these rules were stated up front, and ongoing participation meant understanding and accepting the rules from the outset.
*Successful teams set and seize-upon a few immediate performance-oriented tasks and goals;
It was important for the team to start acting like a team, and to start achieving the goals of the team for both affirmation and encouragement. Even when the scoreboard did not favor their team, they knew when they performed well and had accomplished some of their practice goals.
*Successful teams challenge each other with fresh facts and information;
A successful volleyball team talks to each other during play, and they talk a lot. They call shots, claim positions, and encourage each other, whether they score or not.
*Successful teams spend a good amount of time together;
I noticed early that the girls would eat dinner together, have sleepovers with each other, and go to other team games as a group. I have now cooked one breakfast and one dinner for 20 teenage girls this season, and I have observed first-hand their off-court affirmation and enjoyment of each other.
*Successful teams exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition, and reward.
I don't think I will ever loose the image of the girls affirming each other after one of them serves out of bounds, or another spikes a ball into their own court on a return shot. To see the girls give positive feedback after absolute failure is as rewarding to me as anything I see on the court.
While there is no guaranteed how-to recipe for building team performance, the above characteristics will go a long way to help the successful process.
Gary Weidenaar says
Tom Carter says