From a young age we are taught to share with others, interact with others, and include others. Perhaps our elders were sending us a message? Indeed they were; teamwork and team building is the connecting factor of today’s successful companies all over the world. What one person can do alone, five people can do even better! Of course in order for this success to take place the team must possess a strong sense of synergy and know how to utilize each others strengths within the group. This concept may sound easy but when implementing it, teams often come up against myriad of obstacles preventing a cohesive and energized group.
The first action to take when a team is not performing to its potential is finding an outside leader to facilitate and transform the team into a successful and profitable group. Effective leaders encompass certain attributes that encourage, drive, and create a unified vision for the team to thrive on. Companies experiencing internal conflict and those looking to step up their productivity are perfect candidates for Leaderstransform.com, founded by Hugh Ballou. Ballou teaches and trains teams how to build skills and accountability into a group dynamic through reaching a common ground to work from. Leaderstransform.com suggests appointing a “Transformational Leader” who will take on such a task.
Like working one on one, a team dynamic means establishing protocols each person can grasp and follow. A team is made up of people one trusts and knows they can depend on. Personal relationships are not necessarily a good place to build a team from because within personal relationships one can overlook faults. Teams must operate from process not emotion. It must be founded on a common ground so when conflict arises each team member is at an equal stand point.
Transformational Leaders can be a great solution to help teams build synergy and gain momentum. These leaders are often found outside an organization to prevent biases and they equip leaders around them to be effective in transformation.
Similar to the concept of Transformational Leaders, synervision.com suggests utilizing a Facilitator to act as a neutral presence to prevent conflict and encourage synergy. Remaining an unbiased energy is crucial to the process. The Facilitator has to maintain a fine balance. His/her presence will be noticed but he/she must not, to the team, appear to control the process or the team will not function effectively. Of course, in reality it is the Facilitator who does carry the process, controls the participation, and keeps the group on track.
Synervision.com suggests that using a Facilitator during a creative process is essential to having a successful outcome. It encourages the Facilitator to go a step beyond simply making an agenda but instead to design the entire meeting so that it flows smoothly. The main goal of a Facilitator is to get the team to start thinking as a whole rather than an individual. This is where the design comes in. If you are aware of someone with a dominant personality, seat him/her next to a more passive person rather than putting both dominant personalities next to each other. Try putting them at the end corners of each table.
Essential parts to the facilitation include stating the following:
– Why are you having the meeting?
– What is the overall objective of this meeting?
– How is this process going to work?
– Provide clear examples of past conflicts and reasons why the team is finding themselves in the meeting.
– Allow the team to absorb the previous information and provide examples of going off-track. Point out where the conversation will not be going to prevent future interruptions. Write these where they are visible so that you can easily refer to them if they come up.
– Don’t wait to get started. Dive head first into the first issue. Keep the group on track at all times.
– Put brainstorming ideas into clear action plans.
– Allow time for the team to reflect on the above actions and review the information. Allow members to share for 30 seconds on their own thoughts.
– Follow up! No good comes from a meeting that does not follow through on the actions discussed.
– Celebrate and validate the team when they complete or meet their goals!
Team dynamics are tough because teams are made up of various personalities and opinions that do not always gel. By bringing someone from the outside to work as a Facilitator or Leader can be a great solution to re-energize a team and get your company back on top of the marketplace.