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Many managers believe that it is enough to find professionals – and success is guaranteed. But the ability to create a cohesive team can be just as important. What is team building – an unnecessary luxury or a true condition for success?
The concept of “team building” (team building) means not just the ability to select people who can cope with certain tasks. This is the art of creating relationships. Numerous studies show that successful work on a common project requires different types of characters, leadership styles and motivation options. Team building allows us to get to know colleagues outside of their social roles, see their “human” face, learn to rely on them and take into account their characteristics.1.
Some argue like this: why do we need team building if we practically do not get together and do not even see each other? But a sense of belonging to a team is important even when our work does not require us to constantly interact with colleagues. According to a study by Stanford University (USA), volunteers who felt part of a cohesive team could concentrate on a task 48-64% longer than a control group.2.
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- Is my firm like a second family?
Organization of team building is within the power of not only hired business coaches. The desired effect can be given by joint trips to nature, and board games during a break, and funny skits “for your own”. The main thing is that such actions correspond to the main goal – to get to know each other better, to make the atmosphere in the team more comfortable. Psychologist and team relations specialist Bernardo Tirado of Metropolitan College in New York identifies the following components of good team building.
- Involvement. Try to find for each team member what he understands and feels best. For example, invite all employees to think about a website logo or write a congratulatory text for your company’s anniversary.
- Confidence. It is not necessary to invite employees to share intimate secrets with each other. Even a simple “fall on trust” exercise (one person falls on their back and another picks them up) has a liberating effect.
- Synchronicity. Singing in a choir, exercising together and other collective activities increase the feeling of cohesion and brotherhood. It is no coincidence that in religious communities great attention is paid to joint singing and eating.
- Humor. It is not necessary to treat the task of team building with “animal seriousness”. On the contrary, laughter defuses the atmosphere and relieves unnecessary stress. Just make sure that your jokes are not malicious and do not offend others.
1 Psychological Science, 2009, vol. 20.
2 Journal of Experimental Psychology, online publication April 5, 2014.