What could you accomplish if your team worked together rather than as a group of individuals?
If it takes one person 30 days to put together a model airplane, how long will it take ten people? Grade school math would tell us it should take three days. However, any of us who have worked on a ‘team’ project know throwing people at the problem doesn’t help. In fact, it makes it worse. That model airplane might take ten people 60 days to complete at a much greater cost.
That doesn’t mean we should all throw our hands in the air and refuse to work on teams. What it does mean is we have to be smart about how we build the team. I am not suggesting you have to send everyone out to spend the day on a ropes course or doing “trust falls” to have good teams. But putting in a little upfront effort will pay huge dividends later.
Good teamwork comes from trust, good communication, and productive conflict. And those ideas are the framework for what we do at Champion Performance Development. Contact us to create a plan customized to your team’s needs. And be sure to look for Champion Performance topics of the week which introduce ideas on how to interview for fit in an existing team, how to have team members hold each other accountable and many more team building and team development ideas.
What do you do to develop teamwork? Is it working like you want it to? Share a comment with us!
Tags :Champion Performance Development, conflict, Doc Robyn, Robyn Odegaard, team building, team building exercises, team development, teamwork, trust
Doc Robyn,
Thanks for your comments on “trust falls” and “ropes courses.” As a “survivor” of both, I feel comfortable saying that neither builds good teams. Catching a falling person is to be exptected from any human being. Walking on suspended ropes only frightens or irritates the participant. In my opinion, real team building comes from allowing the team members to socialize naturally and build interpersonal relationships.
Thanks,
Elizabeth