Building an Effective Team Dynamic
Strength in numbers!
The third area of focus is building a powerful team dynamic.
Team dynamics have a strong impact on how a team behaves or performs and an effective and consistent team dynamic is essential to maximise the performance of your team.
There are number of opportunities to bring your team together, either in person, by phone or other hook-ups if geography means you can’t always be physically together in the same location. The benefits of applying a mix of these team-, or group-based activities are significant.
Bringing your team together provides engagement and development opportunities that are different to those you have in one-on-one situations.
A strong and healthy team environment builds cooperation, collaboration and productivity.
Sharing Challenges and Issues
Similarly, what challenges, issues and problems any one team member may be experiencing are likely, at some time or another, to be experienced by other team members. Having open and frank conversations, as a group, about what they are and how they were dealt with – either successfully or otherwise – is an important element of team dynamics. It demonstrates that issues are to be shared and that team members are not alone when confronted with challenges.
Just some of the benefits of team or group connection are:
Sharing Best Practice
Bringing the team together gives you the opportunity to share best practice by discussing what’s working for team members. What’s working for one or more team members could very well work effectively for others, but if they aren’t aware and don’t have the opportunity to discuss what others are doing successfully, how and why it works, then how would they know?
Morale
When a team member feels recognised and valued by the group, their confidence grows and their morale increases. A positive team atmosphere empowers team members.
When teams function cohesively, they focus on what’s important and don’t get distracted by petty arguments and things that aren’t important and don’t matter.
As a leader, the failure to recognise the importance of team dynamics will limit your team’s opportunities and achievements
What can you do to bring your people together? You are probably already having meetings in some form or another, but what other team based activities can you consider?
Take action now:
Download and use the worksheet to list your ideas. Consider printing the worksheet and using it with each of your team members, in a group or team situation (like a meeting or brainstorming session) to seek and discuss their input.
