Team Building

How to Team-Build for the Future

Courtesy of June Anderson, Breakthrough Coaching, Inc.

Team-building is a process not an event. The table outlines the awareness needed and possible actions to take to improve individual contributions to a high performing team.

Hopefully it will give you some guidelines on the role you prefer to play within the team. Assess which characteristics are clearly you, then try some of the suggested actions to see if they can help the team as a whole.

Of course this is just part of the picture, every other team member should examine their preferences in a similar way and adjust their behaviors to contribute to the team.

The future team will need to have a greater awareness of the psychological impact each team member will have on each other. This means:
Recognizing your own preferences
Understanding the preferences of others

The actions to consider are not just to tolerate other people’s differences, but to ‘treasure’ them to the extent that they add real value to you and your team.

A Checklist of Possible Behavior Modification

Area	Preference	Awareness Needed	Actions to Consider
Relationships	Extroverts	Will think about issues by talking them through.	Let the team know the direction you are heading.
		Enjoy a variety of tasks and activities.	Focus on specific issues particularly in meetings or conference calls, etc.
		Likely to be very vocal in meetings/ dialogues.	Make a clear points and statements and do some active listening.
	Introverts	Prefer to think issues out before speaking.	Let team know you are considering this issue in depth before stating your view.
		Like to concentrate on a few tasks at a time.	Let it be known that you like to concentrate on a few and deliver on time.
		Likely to be more quiet in meetings/ dialogues.	Make a point of stating two or three key prepared messages at each meeting.
Information	Practical	Are present-oriented and like to discuss today’s reality.	Show the team that the future is important too, but we will not get there unless we focus on today.
		Are patient with routine and deliver results.	Some of the team will work and need to recognize your preference is critical to the team’s success.
		Usually sound on the details but may not always see the big picture.	Let the team be aware that the details plus the big picture equal team balance.
	Creative	Are future oriented.	Let the team know that the future is important to move forward, but the past and present also have an importance.
		Are always searching for new ways and methods.	The team needs to realize we all should be looking for improvements (Kaizen).
		Often see the big picture but may miss the details.	The restatement to the team of the big picture can provide an effective focus and summary.
		Place emphasis on the current situation.	Your team needs to know that you have factored in the longer-term implications of your decisions.
		Prefer analysis and clarity.	Recognize that others on your team may have strong beliefs and ‘gut feelings’ that on occasion could prove conflicting.
	Belief	Can become overly committed to a viewpoint.	Realize the impact this can have on your team, you might sound like a broken record on occasion.
		Negotiate on the rights and wrongs of the issues.	You need sometimes to let your team know that the facts and situations are as important as views and beliefs.
		Are likely to be nostalgic, holding on to traditional ways.	The team needs to know from that past can be learned from.
Organization	Structured	Are action-oriented and concerned with resolving issues.	You must give time to your team to think issues through before taking action so as to obtain full ‘buy-in.’
		May rush to quick decisions without sufficient information.	Involve your teams in getting the facts/data where possible.
		Are reluctant to change once a judgement is made.	Show the team that you aren’t rigid in your style, but change for change’s sake can be dysfunctional.
	Flexible	Are prone to information overload that can delay decisions.	Obtain the support of the team to drive the agreed deadlines forward and don’t drown under the paper/data.
		Often appear disorganized.	Let the team know that they should not be misled by what appears as disorganized, as I keep the structure in my head.
		Regularly place emphasis on diagnosing over concluding and resolving.	Let team know that it is important to study the issue in depth, sometimes to the point of paralysis, before deciding on actions.