Building a Successful Team

Everyone is an organization plays an important role in it is overall performance. It is no longer enough to be good, you must be exceptional. It is no longer enough to have satisfied customers, you must seek to develop loyal and delighted customers. It is no longer enough to maintain. You must be aggressive, responsive, and quick. Your challenge is getting everyone on your team or in your department committed and focused on achieving organizational success. As an effective team leader, your role is to build the best, strongest, most productive team possible. Your team or department’s results, or lack thereof, will be in direct proportion in the cohesiveness of your team.

Creating a winning team begins with creating a culture in which your employees are encouraged to challenge, to question, to create, and to innovate. Surround yourself with the best people the organization has to offer. Don’t limit yourself by focusing only on people with seniority or rank. Bring people into the team as they are needed based upon their expertise or abilities.

Create a culture where people are encouraged to be their best and perform their best. As the goals or projects dictate, you may want to involve multiple team members in different aspects of the project as needed. Furthermore, it may not always be necessary to involve everyone from beginning to end. Always be sure; however, the goals are specific and that they are aligned with the vision, values, and strategies of the organization as defined by senior management. Alignment must also occur between the department’s activities and its outcomes. If continuous improvement is to occur, your team needs to focus on continuous improvement in all areas. Therefore, measurements and expectations must be developed and reviewed regularly. Get team members involved and delegate ownership of processes and problems which rightfully belong to them.

One of the most common examples of team effectiveness can be seen on a cool day in the fall. As you look up into the sky, you can see a flock of geese embarking on their journey south. The V formation they fly in as a group actually benefits each individual bird. As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an updraft for the bird immediately behind it. By flying in a V formation the entire flock can fly 71% farther than each member of the flock could alone. When the lead goose gets tired, he or she rotates back into the V and another goose flies the point. The geese honking from behind are believed to be cheering the point goose to keep going and to maintain speed. If a goose falls out of formation from weakness or wounds, two other geese will follow to help and provide protection. They will stay until the goose is either able to fly again or dies. Then they set out on their own to catch up with the original flock or find another formation.

People have the same advantage when they are part of a winning team. The momentum of the team keeps a project going so the probability of success is enhanced. Their collective power is much greater than that of any one individual.