Although the idea of team-building is not new, it has never been more critical. Especially where volunteers are concerned, specific team-building skills are needed to inspire commitment and create "synergy."
Synergy is defined as combined or cooperative action or force. Only with a synergistic approach to tasks and problem solving can organizations such as advisory councils and committees hope to accomplish their goals. Seldom will power and control rest with a single individual; more often in today's organizations, cooperation and collaboration are needed to get the job done. This section is designed to outline some of the most important aspects of building teams and building synergy within an organization.
According to Reilly and Jones, not all groups are teams. There are four essential elements that differentiate a team from a group:
Shared Goals. Team members must have shared goals or a collective reason for working together.
Interdependence. Team members must be interdependent, meaning that they understand they need each other's expertise, ability, and commitment in order to achieve the mutual goals. They must appreciate and respect each other's place on the team, and likewise willingly share their own expertise, ability, and commitment for the same reasons.
Commitment. The team members must be committed to the idea that working together leads to more effective decisions than working in isolation.
Accountability. The team as a whole must be accountable as a single unit for any success or failure that occurs within the larger context of their assignment.
Turning a group into a team, however, means more than simply assuring that these four elements exist. Kormanski and Mozenter noted that much attention has been given to the leadership of the team. They suggest that a team's effectiveness is primarily based on the quality of that leadership. While leadership is critical, attention must also be given to the followership. Leaders must recognize that most team members have received little if any training in how to be good followers.
Kormanski and Mozenter characterize an effective follower as one who:
Understands and is committed to team goals.
Is friendly, concerned, and interested in others.
Acknowledges and confronts conflict openly.
Listens to others with empathy and understanding.
Includes others in the decision-making process.
Recognizes and respects individual differences.
Contributes ideas and solutions.
Values other's ideas and contributions.
Recognizes and rewards team efforts.
Encourages and appreciates feedback about team performance.
There is no question that teamwork is difficult. Each person involved with it must be sensitive to this fact and appreciate the effort required of all members as they strive to create among themselves an effective team.
Prior to the business meeting, the consultant/leader interviews each of the team members privately. The leader explains the purpose of the interview, the limits of confidentiality, and the plans for using the information gathered in the interview. The purpose of these interviews is to gain information about issues involving the team that are of concern to the team members, to clarify this information so that the consultant/leader understands it, and to increase the team members' sense of ownership of the information.
This ownership of information leads to commitment to the outcomes of the team-building session. When all interviews have been conducted, the consultant/leader calls the group together for the team-building session. During this session results of the interviews are shared and members are advised what actions will be taken to solve any problems that have surfaced. This leads to Phase 2: Diagnosing.
In the diagnosing phase, the consultant/leader analyzes the information received from the interviews or the sensing session, noting common themes. The consultant/leader then prepares a series of information charts that present the following kinds of information:
Each team member's name.
The team's processing skills (how decisions are made, how members communicate, etc.).
Goal statements.
Objectives for team-building.
Any other relevant topics.
At this meeting, the team meets in a place that assures privacy and freedom from interruptions. The consultant/leader explains the goals of the team-building session and posts the charts that reveal the information organized in Phase 2. The consultant/leader explains what is meant with each chart, and solicits input and clarification from the members of the group. For example, one chart may reveal that members tend not to trust each other, based on information gathered in interviews or statements made during the sensing session. The leader might address this perception and ask members to suggest why this feeling of mistrust is present. Responses should be added to the charts as appropriate. Questions as well as answers may flow from the discussions that occur during this process.
What is important is that each person feels comfortable and willing to listen to all points of view. It is also important that the consultant/leader model and reinforce gestures of openness, risk-taking, trust, and interdependence. If a consultant is handling the team-building process, there may be a need to schedule special meetings between the team leader and the members in order to address specific problems. In this case, the team leader must be trained in both giving and receiving feedback in a non-defensive manner.
This skill must also be taught to all members of the team; in fact, one of the most important skills that each member should learn is how to observe and analyze the entire group's process of handling their tasks. When an obstacle presents itself, any given member should be able to recognize that obstacle and be both committed and willing to step in to put the team back on track. This concept reinforces the interdependence and shared responsibilities of the group. No one person is responsible for intercepting negative comments or for delivering compliments. All members of the team should feel comfortable and responsible for these actions.
The purpose of Phase 3 is to address issues and develop an action plan for resolving them. All elements of this action plan should be recorded on the flip chart or chalkboard; at the end of the session, a volunteer from the group should be recruited to turn what has been written into a handout and to distribute it to all members of the group.
If a consultant is handling the session, a follow-up meeting may be appropriate. At this point, the consultant may also offer his or her own observations on the progress that has been made and/or challenges that exist. If the team leader is using this exercise to launch the efforts of a new council or committee, this exercise will have been used to gain member buy-in and to establish ground rules before the onset of whatever potential problems may have been identified. In either case, this meeting should end with an air on consensus and agreement that obstacles will be addressed up front-before they have a chance to impede the progress of what the council is about.
In the meetings that follow, members of the team should always be aware of the team elements of shared goals, interdependence, commitment, and accountability. A team will rarely be able to buy into these elements consistently and without exception. After all, we're all human! Nevertheless, presumably members have been invited to be on this team because of particular expertise, knowledge, or rank/position, and each has accepted the position because of an interest in accomplishing the tasks of the committee or council. This is the foundation for team-building: recognizing what members have in common and using their differences to strengthen the whole. With each member accepting responsibility for the success or failure of the team, more will be accomplished collectively than could ever be accomplished individually. This is the what makes the efforts of team-building worthwhile and rewarding for everyone.