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Team Building Tips for Proactive Leaders

Guest post by: Guy Farmer

Article Overview: Team building can help organizations get more done with less effort and create happier workplaces. Find out key ways to develop a culture of team building that helps your leaders lead better and your employees be more productive. Practical team building tips for proactive leaders.

Team Building Tips for Proactive Leaders

Many people ask me whether there is any easy way to build stronger teams in their organizations. I've found it helpful to go beyond the occasional activity or retreat and create a culture of team building in their nonprofit. Creating a culture of team building means that we establish an atmosphere where employees are encouraged to collaborate instead of working against each other. The goal is to build a workplace where people get more done and enjoy helping each other and the company succeed.

Our organizations are more productive and experience better morale when we build highly cohesive teams but many of us don’t take advantage of this valuable opportunity. Team building takes conscious and ongoing attention from leadership so that it can take root in the organization. Let’s look at five key ideas to help you create a workplace that values team building.

1. Team building starts with the company leaders. In order to build strong teams we need to have buy-in from the top down. While it’s possible for individual departments or groups to do some activities on their own, it’s always more effective when leaders are actively and enthusiastically involved. After all, they’re a major part of the team. When leaders participate actively it sends a positive message of unity and shared purpose and employees see that we mean it about team building.



2. Create a dynamic culture of team building. Every organization has a culture that it creates based on its core values. It’s up to you to design the type of culture you want, in this case one of team building. You create this type of environment by giving people the opportunity to work together effectively and providing your support along the way. This may require shifting from a competitive or compartmentalized culture to one that encourages collaboration. As the leader, you set a positive example by showing people how to work together.



3. Team building takes long-term commitment. You can’t build cohesive teams if you only provide a one-hour training every five years and then expect people to fend for themselves. Team building is an ongoing learning process where people continually practice the skills related to collaborating and working together. At first it may feel strange or out of your comfort zone but, over time, your team building efforts will become the new way of doing things. Leaders play a big part because they decide and demonstrate through their actions whether team building is really a priority or a token gesture.



4. Team building activities require dedicated time. Identify a team building activity (there are many ideas online) that makes sense to you and practice it weekly. People often ask me how to find the time to do team building and the answer is that you either dedicate the time or you don’t. You decide whether team building is a priority and how you will fit it in to your work schedule. I recommend a weekly stand-alone activity that doesn’t have to share space and energy with other meetings. The idea is to give these activities importance and conduct them with no interruptions.



5. Celebrate your employees. We all get so busy that we forget that creating teams is really about honoring people and highlighting their amazing talents and abilities. Team building isn’t about pain, it’s about helping people work well together. When your employees are encouraged to collaborate positively they tend to perform better and do so with fewer problems. Leaders have a profound effect on the productivity and morale of their employees when they praise them and help them build effective teams.

Team building is about giving your employees the opportunity and tools to come together so they can get more work done, with less effort and more fun. There’s no mystery to the process, it just takes a commitment from leadership and setting aside the time to do it. The rewards are many because, when we build strong teams, our workplaces function more effectively and harmoniously. Try the practical ideas we’ve discussed here and you’ll be on your way to enjoying the rewards that come from creating a culture of team building.

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Article Tags: build stronger teams, celebrate your employees, cohesive teams, collaborating and working together, culture of team building, employees, leaders, leadership, team building, team building activities



Related Forum Posts
Need help in Team Building Activity.. - Hi! I am tasked to organize a Team Building Activity in the office. I would like to seek help from you guys on ideas on how to make it worth the time and effort. I want the team to ask for more team building activities after this one. Thanks! jane
Re: Need help in Team Building Activity.. - Team Building Activities are my favorite part. Last time our team was out for an expedition. We got a map and had to find the cave were we also slept and on our way there were other activities. It was an extreme team building and it was organized by a specialized company.
Business Tips - How about: Tips for managers to handle employees more effectively? Tips on how to deal with difficult customers? Tips on how to deal more effectively with suppliers? The only three I have in mind right now, but will try to come up with something else. Chris
Type of business with building - If you owned a building and Wal-Mart was opening its doors across the street in a previously unoccupied area (along with 12-14 small shops), what type of business would you start? Here are the considerations: 1. Money is a non-factor 2. Building is fairly large (10,000) square feet 3. Building is on the corner of a busy intersection (about to get much busier)
She Wins, You Win: The Most Important Rules Every Businesswo - She Wins, You Win: The Most Important Rules Every Businesswoman Needs to Know Gail Evans, 2003 Also author of Play Like A Man, Win Like A Woman Inside jacket: Every time a woman succeeds in business, every other woman's chances of succeeding in business increase. Every time a woman fails in business, every other woman's chances of failure increases. Gail realized that one of the most important elements of the men's game, which was missing from the women's, was support: The boys know how to take care of one another. In order to create lasting success, women need to help one another and band together as a team. TOC The Woman's Team Why you must play on the woman's team How to join the team Tips for the team 1. Be a mentor 2. Rainmake 3. Uncover and share information 4. Keep quiet 5. Unite with all women at all times 6. Make team-related choices 7. Weave a female web Challenges of the Team Twelve team members to watch out for The eleven most common team questions (and answers) Conclusions Acknowledgements My own view Haven't read this yet, but it seems like she's advocating an "Us against them" mentality. Neverthless, networking with fellow women - and men! - only makes good sense.


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