No time for TeamBuilding? Try This...

Teams seem to be becoming more and more common and important. Leaders are finding themselves as members of virtual teams, self-directed teams, cross functional teams, and action learning teams to name a few.

Many of you know the dilemma faced is that, as the need to build effective teams is increasing, the available time to build these teams is often decreasing. A common challenge faced by you and the leaders in your company is the necessity of building teams in an environment of rapid change with limited resources.

Focused feedback and follow-up techniques can be used to build strong, effective teams. While the approach we are suggesting will be simple, it will not be easy. It will require that team members have the courage to regularly ask for feedback and the discipline to develop a behavioural change process, to follow-up, and to stick with it.

To successfully implement the following team building process the leader will need to assume the role of coach or facilitator and fight the urge to be the "boss" of the project. Greater improvement in teamwork will generally occur if the team members develop their own behavioural change process, than will occur if the leader develops the strategy and imposes it on the team.

Process Steps

A word of caution: Before beginning a team building process it is important to determine if the team feels that team building is both important and needed. Some groups of people report to the same manager, but legitimately may have very little reason to work interactively as a team. Other groups may believe that teamwork is important, but feel that the team is already functioning smoothly and that a team building activity would be a waste of time.

1. Begin by asking each member of the team to confidentially record his or her individual answers to two questions:
   a) "On a 1-10 scale (with 10 being ideal) how well are we doing in terms of working together as a team?" and,
   b) "On a 1-10 scale how well do we need to be doing in terms of working together as a team?"
   
   
2. Have a team member calculate the results. Discuss the results with the team. If the team members believe that the gap between current effectiveness and needed effectiveness indicates the need for team building, proceed to the next step in the process. In most cases team members do believe that improved teamwork is both important and needed. Typically, the "average" team member believed that his/her team was currently at a "5.8" level of effectiveness but needed to be at an "8.7".
   
   
3. Ask the team: "If every team member could change two key behaviours which would help us close the gap between where we are and where we want to be, which two behaviours should we all try to change?" Have each team member record their selected behaviours on flip charts.
   
   
4. Help team members prioritise all the behaviours on the charts (many will be the same or similar) and, using consensus, determine the two most important behaviours to change for all team members.
   
   
5. Have each team member have a one-on-one dialogue with each other team member. During the dialogue each member will request that their colleague suggest two areas for personal behavioural change (other than the two already agreed upon for every team member) that will help the team close the gap between where we are and where we want to be. These dialogues occur simultaneously and take about five minutes each. For example, if there are seven team members each team member will participate in six brief one-on-one dialogues.
   
   
6. Let each team member review his/her list of suggested behavioural changes and choose the two that seem to be the most important. Have each team member then announce their two key behaviours for personal change to the team.
   
   
7. Encourage each team member to ask for a brief (two or three minutes) monthly "progress report" from each other team member on their effectiveness in demonstrating the two key behaviours common to all team members and the two key personal behaviours. Specific suggestions for improvement can be solicited in areas where behaviour does not match desired expectations.
   
   
8. Conduct a mini-survey follow-up process in about four months. In the mini survey each team member will receive confidential feedback from all other team members on his/her perceived change in effectiveness. This survey will include two common items, the two personal items, and an item that assesses how much the individual has been following up with the other team members.
   
   
9. Have a third party calculate the results for each individual (on all items) and calculate the summary results for all team members (on the common team items). Each team member can then receive a confidential summary report indicating the degree to which colleagues see his or her increased effectiveness in demonstrating the desired behaviours. Each member can also receive a summary report on the team's progress on the items selected for all team members. The mini-survey data can be used as a metric for team performance measurement.
   
   
10. In a team meeting, have each team member discuss key learnings from the mini-survey results and ask for further suggestions in a brief one-on-one dialogue with each other team member.
    
    
11. Review the summary results with the team. Facilitate a discussion on how the team (as a whole) is doing in terms of increasing its effectiveness in the two key behaviours that were selected for all team members. Provide the team with positive recognition for increased effectiveness in teamwork. Encourage team members to keep focused on increasing their effectiveness in demonstrating the behaviors that that they are trying to improve.
    
    
12. Have each team member continue to conduct their brief monthly "progress report" sessions with each other team member. Re-administer the mini survey (in four- month intervals) after eight months from the beginning of the process and again after one year.
    
    
13. Conduct a summary session with the team one-year after the process has started. Review the results of the final mini-survey and ask the team members to rate the team's effectiveness on where we are versus where we need to be in terms of working together as a team. Compare these ratings with the original ratings that were calculated one year earlier.
    
    
14. Ask the team if they believe that more work on team building will be needed in the upcoming year. If the team believes that more work would be beneficial, continue the process. If the team believes that more work is not needed "declare victory" and work on something else.
    

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