home Auditorium 8 Key principles of teamwork. Reducing risks in business. Reducing the number of conflicts

Key principles of teamwork. Reducing risks in business. Reducing the number of conflicts

Recently, everything related to a team has become very popular: team roles, creating teams for any goals and objectives, team building trainings, etc. What is this connected with?

The modern world is rapidly developing and becoming more complex. The tasks set before people become more and more difficult from year to year. To solve them, you need special knowledge and skills. Moreover, the main difficulty lies in the fact that to complete the task you must have a wide variety of personality traits, knowledge and skills.

Team is a small group of people engaged in performing a specific task. At the same time, group members have a personal interest in the success of the entire group.

As a rule, one person cannot perform all the necessary functions independently. This is due to the fact that requirements can be contrary to themselves. If a performer switches between such conflicting subtasks while solving a problem, he will inevitably make mistakes. This will predictably lead to a deterioration in the quality of work, and often to failure.

In this regard, the problem of creating effective teams that could solve problems of a wide variety of quality and complexity has become very urgent. Teams are built on the basis of certain models of team roles, the choice of which in each specific situation must be approached with special attention.

What is teamwork?

Currently, interest in small group psychology very big. Various areas of social practice receive a wide variety of requests from a dynamically changing world. Solving emerging problems requires the collective efforts of people. Working within small associations is becoming a specific feature of modern labor.

In this regard, the term “team”, which was borrowed from the sports vocabulary, became very popular. This was largely due to the practice of effective management.

Nowadays this term is used to refer to small groups with a strong goal orientation, intense interaction between members and high productivity. The ability to work in a team, combined with the ability to take initiative and defend one’s opinion, is considered a sign of high professionalism.

What is the difference between teamwork and simple interaction between people?

Simply, interaction in this context is an all-encompassing cooperation of people, a positive attitude that extends to a variety of areas. Teamwork involves focus on a specific task, which needs to be completed. All the team’s activities are aimed at it in one way or another. Thus, a team is a highly concentrated unit of work.

Such groups began to emerge a very long time ago in the history of human development. One example would be a group of hunters chasing down a wild animal. In the case of team interaction, the contributions of individual participants are combined into a single whole.

A team is more than the sum of its individual parts. People working together can produce work that can be quantitatively superior or qualitatively different from the work that can be performed by individuals working separately. A team is a group of people who complement and replace each other in achieving their goals. It must have a certain structure.

A team acts as a special form of organization of people based on thoughtful positioning of participants having a common vision of the situation and the team's strategic goals, which must be clearly defined. Participants must share assigned tasks and be responsible for their implementation. Often the solution to assigned tasks is directly related to job responsibilities. They may have well-established procedures for interaction and coordination of work at their disposal.

Team members must be open and honest with each other, and be prepared for confrontation due to the fact that group members have different worldviews. Team boundaries must be explicitly set.

The team must have a certain autonomy in managing the processes occurring within it. A way to interact with external objects, including management, is needed. Fulfilling these conditions will create a “healthy” atmosphere of interaction within the team, and the group will constantly develop.

Examples of successful and well-coordinated teamwork:

What is teamwork?

Teamwork(Teamwork) is a joint, purposeful work of specialists solving a common problem based on the integration of knowledge in various professional fields according to rules developed jointly.

Its effectiveness largely depends on the extent to which each group member clearly understands his tasks and the goals of the group as a whole, contributes to their achievement, and supports the efforts of his colleagues.

The team must consist of at least three people - this is the lower limit of team size. The upper limit can reach up to 12 people or even more. Teams consisting of a small number of participants (three to four) work faster than large teams. However, teams of five to nine people can be more effective. This is due to the fact that they are more functional and have greater resources: creative, intellectual, etc.

It is worth noting that the larger the team, the more costs are required to play its private players effectively.

The most important for successful team building is the determination of ways to distribute team roles and the directly related personality assessment team members to build effective compositions.

When working professionally in a team, people combine their competencies and skills, which allows them to cope with a task that is beyond the power of an individual. Competence is a basic human quality. It has a causal relationship to the effective performance of the duties assigned to a team member.

Competence is a stable part of human personality and can determine human behavior in a wide variety of situations. Differences in abilities and characteristics of performing work tasks lead to the fact that one can notice a fairly clear role differentiation in the team.

For a team to be successful, it must have a balanced role composition. If a team lacks someone to fill a particular role, the team will perform less effectively. Accordingly, someone else must take on this function.

To manage a project, you need to utilize the strengths of each team member. But to achieve the best results, a leader must be sure that all his subordinates are working together to achieve a common goal. With the right strategies, processes, and tools in place, you can count on your employees and have confidence in the end result.

1. Creating the concept of effective teamwork

Building a team starts with a clear idea of what you want to achieve and what it will take to get there. To form effective teams and establish teamwork, it is necessary to clearly understand the strategic goals of the organization. Every employee needs to know that all of their daily tasks are part of an overall plan.

By thinking through the structure of each project and creating detailed plans and schedules, a leader demonstrates his team's contribution to the overall mission of the organization. All goals that he sets for employees must be clearly defined, measurable and achievable within a given time frame. It is up to the project manager to ensure that a reasonable program of action is drawn up and the conditions are prepared that will allow the group to succeed.

2. Taking into account the interests of the team when hiring employees

If an organization's leadership is serious about developing collaboration, it must be evident from the very beginning - from hiring. All companies strive to attract specialists with experience and good education. And yet, when making a decision on employment, managers must also think about whether the new employee will be a successful addition to the existing team.

More careful selection of interview questions can help you make successful hiring decisions. At every interview, be sure to ask candidates whether they have experience working effectively in a team. This way you can understand whether the employee has a chance to “fit in” with your team and share your values.

3. Clear distribution of roles and responsibilities

One of the biggest obstacles to effective teamwork is a vague understanding of what the responsibilities of individual team members are. Each of your employees must understand what is expected of them, exactly what tasks they must complete and within what time frame. Everyone must be responsible for a specific part of the project and understand how important their area of work is to achieving the overall goal.

4. Encouraging interaction and collaboration

Even if all team members know exactly what their responsibilities are, they still have to work together and exchange ideas during the project. There are several opportunities for managers to improve communication between employees and increase the effectiveness of teamwork:

Each employee must understand how the various functions performed during the implementation of the project are combined and how they depend on each other.
Employees should have ample opportunity to ask questions, offer advice, or seek help if needed.
Use to share information, provide feedback, and update data.
Effective teamwork involves trusting each other and a willingness to put effort into solving common problems.

5. Universal accountability

Open and honest communication is essential when assessing the contributions of each team member. Feedback should be constructive, and managers should address areas where the team is performing poorly. And such “elaboration” should not be reduced to criticism of individual employees. Instead, team members should be more attentive to each other and notice if one of them is not performing well.

For teamwork to be truly effective, the leader should carefully monitor the results of each participant. And if one of the employees cannot complete the task assigned to him, the project manager must be able to solve this problem in real time. Knowing the progress of each employee and the progress towards achieving a common goal, he will be able to make the necessary adjustments to the work process.

To solve problems efficiently and quickly, people unite in groups. But not every team is more useful and productive than isolated individuals. In order for teamwork to produce the desired result, it is necessary to know the features of its organization, regulatory rules and operating principles. Such knowledge is useful for managers and ordinary employees, regardless of their field of activity.

General characteristics of collective activity

To develop effective rules for organizing teamwork, you need to understand the peculiarities of the functioning of groups. To do this, it is worth defining a team, identifying principles, specific factors, pros and cons of collective activity.

Concept

Not every group of people working in the same room, organization or on the same project can be called a “team”. A team is a group of people united by common ideas or motives. Based on this concept, we can define what teamwork is. The term in question implies coordinated, controlled and purposeful activity of a team to solve a common problem, according to rules developed jointly.

The difference between teamwork and simple interaction between people:

continuous discussion, open dialogue, free communication, discussion and criticism;
activities are aimed at improving cooperation;
participants feel involved, useful, involved in the activities of the team;
all work processes are distributed among community members;
participants are aware of the abilities of other group members, their responsibilities, successes and failures;
the presence of mutual interest and respect;
interaction allows for the rapid and efficient exchange of information between participants.

Specifics of team organization

The term “team” in the sphere of organizing various work processes was transferred from sports. Here the specificity of this concept is most clearly manifested:

the entire team, including players, coach, staff, is aimed at achieving common goals - winning the game, the championship;
specialists are selected for the team, each of whom is tailored to solve specific problems (defenders, forwards, massage therapists, coaches, medical personnel);
By solving small subtasks, the team aims to achieve a single goal;
The key role in the team is played by the coach, who is responsible for selecting players, controls their activities, prepares a general strategy, sets tasks, resolves conflicts, monitors motivation and microclimate;
A leader is important among players.

To form a productive team, any group of people must go through several stages of organization:

Adaptation. At this stage, group members establish contact with each other, create a favorable atmosphere and a positive communication climate. In the process of communication, pairs and triplets are formed in the group, and mutually acceptable patterns of behavior are established. Participants evaluate each other. The adaptation stage is characterized by: mutual information, assessment of assigned tasks, low labor efficiency.
Grouping. Uniting people based on interests and likes. Individual team members openly oppose team demands. In this way, they test the permissible boundaries of emotional behavior. A characteristic feature of the grouping stage is the divergence of individual and group interests.
Cooperation. The emergence of a desire among all group members to solve the assigned team task. Identification of a group by its members as “we”.
Work rationing. Stable mechanisms, procedures and rules of interaction in the group are formed. To increase efficiency, group members specialize in solving individual subtasks. At this stage, group members are characterized by open and active communication with each other.
Functional. The task is assessed and analyzed to develop useful roles for each person. Group clarification of relationships and repayment of hidden or open conflicts. The group members create a positive atmosphere. Real team work begins - everyone understands the role of everyone in moving towards a common goal, everyone understands the vector and end point of the movement.

The process structure of teamwork involves three phases: transition, action, and interpersonal interaction. Each of them includes several processes.

The transition phase is relevant in the periods between phases of the collective’s action. The transition includes the following processes:

mission analysis;
specification of goals;
strategy formation.

The action phase is the basis for the functioning of the group during the period of active task completion. It involves the following processes:

tracking the process of moving towards the goal by sequentially solving small subtasks;
checking the operation of systems in a group;
team monitoring and backup behavior;
coordination of activities.

The phase of interpersonal communication is characteristic of the entire period of the team’s existence. It includes three processes:

Conflict Management;
motivation and trust;
influence on management.

Fundamental provisions

Not every group of people can be a team, just as not every team is effective and productive. It all depends on the characteristics of the team, its fundamental principles.

Teamwork principles:

The presence of a general plan, idea.
Understanding common goals.
Collective interests prevail over individual ones.
Complementary skills.
Responsibility for the result.

Teams can differ significantly from each other. The team may include employees of the same company, representatives of different organizations, people of the same profession, or specialists of different profiles. All teams are united in their activities by having a common goal. Features of the formation and functioning of a group determine their individual characteristics, qualities and properties.

Main types of commands:

Initiative groups and operational start-up teams are created to quickly solve a specific, urgent problem. In life, these are often emergency situations - an accident, a catastrophe, a collapse in the economy, a political crisis, a sharp increase in the disease, etc. The effectiveness of such groups depends on the level of professionalism of the participants, their motivation and the experience of people performing the function of coordination and communication. The peculiarities of such groups are that there is no long period of formation, the participants do not always know each other.
Top management teams consist of several key figures from a community. Such groups function to solve strategic problems. They are distinguished by a high level of responsibility of members for decision-making and broad autonomy.
Virtual teams are relevant in modern conditions, when modern technologies and the Internet provide ample opportunities for work and communication. The existence of a group and its functioning directly depends on technology - this is the main difference between such working communities. Today, convenient and effective relationship management (CRM) systems have been created for virtual workgroups. These programs allow participants, regardless of location and time, to set tasks, exchange information, and control the progress of processes in a single space.

Phenomena

Numerous studies have revealed the following patterns:

the number of participants affects the results of the group’s activities;
an important characteristic of a team that increases efficiency is the proximity of the social status of the participants;
diversity of group members by gender and age improves the results of its activities;
the rules of behavior in a group, jointly developed by its members, are of high importance and deserve respect;
when working in a group, the level of self-awareness of its members gradually decreases;
group decisions are more extreme - either less risky or more risky decisions are made;
a compromise solution is selected that will “strive” to satisfy the opinions of all group members;
division of responsibility in group work leads to a decrease in the effectiveness of individual participants;
The cohesion and effectiveness of the team increases significantly after the first success.

Pros and cons of working in a team

Teamwork has its advantages and disadvantages.

Positive aspects of teamwork:

It allows you to solve complex, large-scale problems that cover various areas of knowledge.
Distribution of responsibilities allows you to significantly save time.
When making decisions, the ideas of all community members are taken into account. This approach can significantly reduce the likelihood of errors, increase the objective usefulness and accuracy of choice.
Allows employees to fully unleash their potential through open interaction with colleagues.
The professional development of people is accelerated, the process of exchanging experiences and transferring useful and important data is accelerated.

Disadvantages of teamwork:

Time costs and additional resources for organizing the work of the team.
As the number of participants increases, problem solving becomes more complex and slower.
The likelihood of conflicts increases, many of which may be hidden.

Eight Rules for Successful Teamwork

Now, having understood the basics of collective activity, you can outline the rules that will help you work effectively in a team.

Leader and manager

An effective team must have a manager and a leader. It is important to clearly distinguish between these two concepts. A manager is an employee vested with key decision-making and management powers. This is more of a “technical” characteristic.

Manager's functions:

control;
delegation of tasks;
distribution of duties;
planning;
motivation;
work organization;
representation of the group in interaction with external entities;
resolving internal conflicts.

To achieve goals, it is important for the team to see progress towards the goal. To do this, the manager must break the task into intermediate stages and record the achievement of each.

A leader is a person who has social influence and authority in the team. Thanks to his qualities, he has the support of community members, is a center of influence, forms opinions, and can manipulate mood and atmosphere. This is more of an emotional, psychological and personal characteristic.

Depending on the nature of the tasks and the characteristics of the team, the roles of the manager and leader may differ significantly. In some situations, it is good when one person combines the roles of leader and manager. In other situations, the “contrast” between a leader who is somewhat detached from the team and a leader who is “100% on his own” is of great benefit. The model of the “leader-manager” relationship depends on the specific characteristics of the community.

An important aspect of management and leadership is authority. Its use in the process of forming a team and solving work problems plays a significant role. Authority must be used carefully. Putting a lot of pressure on participants often has negative results.

Control

The key function of a leader is the ability to manage a team. Lack of control will lead to chaos and decreased efficiency.

Constant recording of employee ideas on process organization issues. Analysis of recommendations and implementation of useful solutions.
Competent delegation of authority.
Planning, strict adherence to the chosen plan.
Clear statement of tasks, broken down into subtasks. Discussion and explanation of goals and objectives. Participants must understand global challenges and their role in solving them.
Individual work with each participant.
Attention not only to the work problems of a group member, but also to his personal experiences, problems and joys.

Reducing the number of conflicts

Interaction between people can lead to the development of conflict situations. In teamwork, the nature of the interaction between participants cannot be ignored. Any conflict destroys the atmosphere in the community, distracts and takes up time, and prevents you from concentrating on solving important problems.

Ways to resolve conflict situations in a team:

Definition of clear rules of behavior. Their formation together with group members.
Loyal and flexible attitude of the leader towards all participants. You cannot single out “special ones,” favorites, outcasts, or “extremes.”
Group trainings, creative tasks and games.
Uniform rules in the team for everyone, taking into account functional features. A clear and equivalent scale of responsibility for violating the rules.
Suppressing intrigues, tracking the formation of subgroups, identifying the nature of the relationship between all participants.
Control of the emotional atmosphere in the team.
Adjusting the character and style of relationships in the team.
A proper combination of exercise and rest. Community members should not be in a constant state of fatigue.

Distribution of roles

An important aspect of a successful team is the proper distribution of participants. Each person should play a role that suits his abilities.

When assigning roles in a team, you need to consider:

Specifics of the field of activity, features of goals and objectives.
The professional level of a person, the correspondence of skills to the responsibilities of a specific position.
Emotional and psychological level.
Prospects for subsequent changes.

Today there are a large number of tests and assignments on the topic of building a competent role distribution strategy. They help to create an accurate portrait of the participants and determine the degree to which they comply with the tasks of the group.

Clear responsibilities

The team must act according to the same rules. The procedure for remuneration and responsibility must be clearly defined and equally applicable to all participants.

The order of actions of team members and the general rules of action of the team must be spelled out in detail. Each employee must be familiar with their responsibilities in detail.

Maintaining Natural Relationships

Productive teamwork is the result of the activity of a group of people, and for a person it is important that the relationship be natural. How to achieve such a position in a team:

Carefully select participants not only according to professional skills, but also taking into account the psychological aspects of mutual compatibility.
Encourage the creation of subgroups within the group based on interests. It is important for people to communicate with similar, like-minded people.
While solving work problems, set aside time for relaxation together. An informal atmosphere and participants getting to know each other in new conditions makes the atmosphere in the team more comfortable.

Making decisions

There are several models of decision making in a team when performing tasks. The optimal scheme is joint, collective decision-making, when all participants actively express opinions and discuss the situation.

The opposite option is decision-making by the manager. Such a system depends on the authority of the leader. If the team accepts and trusts him, efficiency will not suffer. Otherwise, the effectiveness of collective action will suffer.

In large teams, where employees of different fields of activity and qualifications are involved, a mixed system seems to be the best option. Some decisions are made collectively. Usually these are tactical issues. Problems of a strategic nature are resolved by the manager, taking into account the opinions of all employees.

Motivation

The effectiveness of human activity depends on motivating psychophysiological aspects. Performance is determined by three groups of motivational factors:

reward for results;
natural interest from the activity;
social significance.

When solving certain problems, various motivations can be used. The manager’s task is to correctly select the optimal incentive mechanisms for each employee. Moreover, when encouraging one employee, it is important to take into account the opinions of the other participants on this event.

Disproportionate, unbalanced motivation can destroy the atmosphere in the team. In general, it is necessary to carefully develop a unified system of motivation rules and check and test the results before implementation.

Common mistakes in teamwork

Teamwork may be ineffective due to the following reasons:

Insufficient period of existence of the group - the community did not have time to establish communication connections, the participants did not “get used to” each other.
Mismatch between task, leader and team.
Errors in selecting group members.
Problems with planning, goal setting, goal setting.
Unfavorable external working conditions.

Identifying the specific reason that slows down the work of the team is a priority task. This is often quite problematic. The algorithm of actions to normalize the functioning of the group depends on the specific reason. If the group doesn't work well together, you just need to wait. If its composition does not correspond to the tasks, the participants are updated.

Working in any company is teamwork. But, unfortunately, conflicts often occur in teams. These conflicts can undoubtedly be resolved - these days there are many ways to improve relationships in the work team. But not all of these methods are effective. Team building and games are considered one of the most effective ways. After all, it is in non-standard situations that people bond more easily.
“A team is a single organism that unites individuals. Alone you can do a lot, together you can do everything!” The process of creating and supporting a team is the very meaning of team building training (corporate training).

Corporate trainings have proven themselves as a formula for solving many situations that arise in the organization of work with company personnel. Corporate training allows you to increase the productivity of the team by increasing the motivation of employees, improving the quality of the decisions they make and improving interaction in the work process. Corporate team building is not only training, but also a combination of original educational activities and recreation. Corporate team building trainings will help improve relationships and eradicate many problems in any team. Corporate team building training is most effective if:

It is necessary to teach employees to work harmoniously and consistently.
The company undergoes major reorganizations, mergers, recruitment or layoffs.
You need to establish communications between the central office and the regions, between departments or specialists of the same division.
It is necessary to resolve the conflict between managers and subordinates in the company.
It is necessary to maintain friendly relations in the team, to give participants the opportunity to get to know each other in an informal setting.
The company has many new employees and they need to be adapted to the existing team.
During a conference or strategic session, when it is necessary to make communication between participants more free, to increase the atmosphere of trust in the team.

Basic aspects of the concept of “team”.

Team is a small group of people who complement and replace each other in achieving their goals. The organization of a team is based on the thoughtful positioning of participants who have a common vision of the situation and strategic goals and master proven interaction procedures. The team evolves from a Working Group, which is created to perform a particular type of activity, to a High PerformanceTeam.

Working group 1+1=2

The working group achieves a result equal to the sum of the efforts of each participant. They use common information, exchange ideas and experiences, but everyone is responsible for their work regardless of the performance of other group members.

Potential team 1+1=2

This is like the first step in transforming a work group into a team. The main conditions will be:

number of participants (6 – 12)
having a clear goal and objectives
a joint approach to achieving them.

As for a pseudo-team, it is usually created out of necessity or presented opportunity, but it does not create conditions for team interaction and does not place emphasis on developing common goals. Such groups, even if they call themselves a team, are the weakest in terms of the influence of their activities.

Real team 1+1=3

REFERENCE: Facilitation – highly professional organization of the group work process, aimed at clarifying and achieving the group’s goals.

In the course of their development (natural or specially facilitated), team members become decisive, open, mutual assistance and support for each other prevail, and their performance increases. A positive effect can also be the impact of their example of interaction in the group on other groups and the organization as a whole.

Top quality team 1+1+1=9

Not all teams reach this level - when they exceed all expectations and have a high level of influence on the environment.

This command is characterized by:

high level of teamwork skills;
division of leadership, rotation of roles;
high level of energy;
its own rules and regulations (which can be problematic for the organization);
interest in each other's personal growth and success.

Top Quality Team Attributes:

a shared vision that gives meaning to the activity being performed;
ability to act within tight time frames;
high level of communicative competence;
activities outside the “comfort zone”;
periodic quality checks;
general engagement;
independent development of ways to achieve the goal and joint celebration of successes along the way to achieving the goal.

How to create an effective team?

A team can be identified by a number of characteristics, the main ones being the following:

It consists of two or more people.
Team members, in accordance with their assigned roles, participate to the extent of their competence in the joint achievement of set goals.
The team has its own personality, which does not coincide with the individual qualities of its members.
A team is characterized by established connections: both internal and external - that is, connections with other teams and groups.
The team has a clear, orderly and lean structure, focused on achieving goals and completing tasks.
The team periodically evaluates its effectiveness.

Options for working in groups and teams

Preferably working alone or in groups:	Preferably working in teams:
To solve simple problems or “puzzles”	To solve complex problems or problems
When cooperation is satisfactory	When a decision requires consensus
When diversity of opinion is limited	When there is uncertainty and multiple decision options
When a problem needs to be solved urgently	When high dedication is needed
When a narrow range of competence is sufficient	When a wide range of competence is required
If there is an unremovable conflict of interest between participants	When it is possible to achieve the goals of team members
When an organization prefers to work with individuals	When an organization prefers the results of teamwork to develop a forward-looking strategy
When optimal results are needed	When a multifaceted approach is needed

On the path to becoming an effective and efficient team, each group goes through several stages. The team must overcome internal contradictions and doubts before it becomes a truly coherent team.

Actions needed to build a team

To create an effective team, a number of actions must be taken at different stages of its existence:

select suitable employees;
adjust the size of the team;
jointly determine goals and objectives;
explain what benefits everyone will receive as a result of the team’s successful activities;
agree on group norms;
help team members get to know each other better;
train team members;
establish a control system and encourage self-control;
ensure maintenance of team spirit;
replace team members who are unwilling or unable (even after training) to perform in accordance with the standards and agreed rules.

The most important stages of this process.

Selection of suitable employees.

The effectiveness of a team largely depends on the personal qualities of its members and the relationships between them. Each team member must be willing to use their abilities and knowledge to solve the team problem. Therefore, it is first necessary to carefully analyze the requirements for the upcoming work. From this, the level of competence is determined, which includes the knowledge, understanding, skills and personal qualities that team members must possess. Particular attention should be paid to the ability to work together.

Regulating the size of the team.

What is the optimal team size? This simple question points to one of the primary problems that arises when creating a team. The most sensible thing to do would be to have a team as small in size as possible, but large enough so that the competence of its members matches the requirements of the task at hand. Of course, you won't always be able to act freely, and you won't always have the opportunity to start building a team from scratch. It is easiest to work in a team of two people due to ease of communication. In larger teams, people tend to communicate disorganized, which leads to disorganization and the feeling that a lot of time is wasted. As the size of the team increases, the number of interactions between its members grows even faster, which is confirmed by the simple mathematical relationship: the number of possible personal interactions between n members is n x (n- 1) / 2.

For example: subtract 1 from 10 team members, multiply by 10 equals 90, divide by 2 equals 45 relationships. Keeping in mind that every interaction contains potential conflict between its participants, as the team grows larger, a greater predisposition to organizational difficulties becomes apparent. This is especially noticeable in teams consisting of 12 or more people, in which time losses progressively increase and the efficiency of using the qualifications of the participants decreases. If your team has more than 12 people and this cannot be changed, it is advisable to regroup it into subgroups and assign each of them to perform part of the overall task facing the team.

Clear setting of goals and objectives.

For a team to work effectively, all team members must be aware of the connections between goals, methods, and objectives. Goals should be clear, focused and provide a vision of the work methods and tasks that will lead to success. The formation of goals should be carried out by the participants themselves, and it does not matter at what level this happens - personal, team or organizational level. These goals should provide a thoughtful and realistic basis for objectives and methods, and not be a simple list of prescriptions that logically follow from the organization's profile. For a team to clearly set and solve problems, it is necessary to take into account the variety of expectations (often contradictory) provided by the team's goals.

You should also think about dilemmas related to goals. For example, that, on the one hand, the range of problems must be clear, and on the other hand, that flexibility and variability are necessary to adapt to changing circumstances. It is difficult to expect that goals will always be clearly defined. Social, economic and political factors can cause sudden changes or constantly and relentlessly force organizations to change. The team's goals should be the foundation of its activities, but significant external changes may lead to their revision. It should be remembered that each team member has his own individual goals and hidden agendas. Therefore, team members who submit to the team's goals may only agree with them to a greater or lesser extent. They may secretly disagree with the team's goals, but comply with them for some personal reasons - for example, wanting to make money or build a career. Therefore, the decisive point in goal setting and the main area of team management is: preventing the possibility of conflict or clash between team and personal goals. For effective team performance, it is important that goals are achievable, measurable, and accepted or at least understood by team members and high-level managers both inside and outside the organization.

Team effectiveness

It is impossible to formulate a complete and categorical set of rules, following which will necessarily lead to the creation of an effective team. The reasons for the team's success are more complex.

However, we can highlight the main elements of effective team work:

satisfaction of personal interests of team members;
successful team interaction;
solving problems assigned to the team.

To summarize, it can be noted that well-organized teamwork can be achieved if the following conditions are met:

Realistic, achievable goals are set for the team and individual participants.
Team members and leaders strive to support each other to make the team successful.
Team members understand each other's priorities and help or support when difficulties arise.
Open communication: new ideas, new methods for improving work, posing new problems, etc. are welcomed.
The impact of work is more significant, since team members understand what is expected of them and can independently control their activities.
Conflict is understood as a normal event and is seen as an opportunity to solve problems. Problems, if brought to open discussion, can be resolved before they become destructive.
A balance is maintained between team productivity and meeting the needs of individual members.
The team as a whole and individual participants are rewarded for their results and effort.
Participants are encouraged to try their best and come up with new ideas.
Team members understand the importance of disciplined work and strive to behave in accordance with team standards.

Forming an effective team

The effective team building program is designed to form a real team out of employees. The technology for constructing the program takes into account the laws of development of group dynamics of small groups; this involves both a certain sequence of exercises and adjustment of the complexity of tasks. Thanks to this approach, participants are given maximum opportunities to discover and demonstrate their personal and organizational qualities.

During the exercises, various aspects of intragroup interaction are worked out in a playful, modeling form:

distribution of roles;
development of a joint decision;
responsibility in the team;
movement towards a common goal;
leadership;
team support;
making decisions under limited time, etc.

Distinctive feature of the program: The emphasis in the program is on an in-depth analysis of the experience gained and the application of acquired skills in real work situations.

An effective team building program is recommended to achieve the following goals:

Developing effective ways to interact in a team;
Solving communication problems within the team;
Analysis and resolution of conflict situations;
Effective distribution of roles and responsibilities in the team;
Identification of leaders and personnel potential in the team.

Goals of an effective team

Since goals are the core of an organization, the question is what goals an effective team sets for itself.

Such a team aims to operate effectively at five levels:

interpersonal (interaction between team members);
managerial (working with managers);
social (intergroup);
organizational (as a productive part of the organization);
personal (understanding, motivation, personal growth).

There are five goals that ensure the creation of an effective team:

Clarify and agree on everyone's responsibilities.
Develop cooperation, coordination and communication at both intra- and inter-team levels.
Identify and resolve potential problems that may interfere with their operations.
Be open to new creative ways of solving problems.
Set quality standards.

How to choose a team building program?

Of course, the determining factor when choosing a team building program is the purpose of the event. The purpose of the event sets the format in which the entire program will be conducted. If you are faced with such an important task as a deep, serious analysis of intra-team relationships, improving business communications, creating a common vision of goals and values, then you need to use the business training format (section “Strategic Team Building”).

Often the purpose of a team building program is unity, informal communication, raising team spirit and relaxation. In this case, active team games that give a charge of positivity and good mood are more suitable. If you are faced with the task of developing creative abilities, finding non-standard ways to solve problems, self-expression - creative programs are ideal for this.

Of course, several goals can be combined within one event. For example, part of the team building program may be devoted to developing a mission and a common vision of goals, another part of the team building program may be devoted to active recreation and raising team spirit; and of course, don’t forget about the festive part with barbecue and fiery music. We will talk more about team building sections in the next paragraph “Corporate recreation”.

Teamwork is almost always perceived as something extremely positive, because if you work together, it is possible to achieve synergy and implement those projects and complete those tasks that would be too overwhelming for one person. And results in teamwork are achieved only when the efforts of all its members are directed in the same direction. And responsibility for all results also lies with a group of people, and not just one person.

However, even when working in a team, each person can and should be able to think and work independently. In no case can team play be considered a guarantee of getting rid of failures, especially when it comes to business, because the collective organization of work has not only its advantages, but also weaknesses.

So what are the features of teamwork, and what can be attributed to its positive aspects and what to its disadvantages? Today we will try to provide answers to these important questions.

A little about teamwork

First of all, it should be noted that teamwork is one of the forms. It is not at all necessary that the team has employees of the same status - all team members can have their own positions and powers, but the responsibilities and rights should always be the same for everyone. And this is very important, because, despite the difference in status, all “players” should have the same positions.

As for the same responsibilities and rights, this equality is a fundamental principle of teamwork, because through it it is possible to give an objective description of the potential of all team members in the form of activity under consideration.

And for the team to be successful, and its functioning to produce appropriate results, it is necessary that the following conditions be met:

Competent
Having clear and clear objectives
Correct selection of command personnel
Availability of a detailed work system
Ability of people to work in a team

And only if these conditions are met can we say that teamwork makes sense. And, of course, the very first thing to consider is the benefits of teamwork.

The benefits of teamwork

Here we can point out the following advantages of working as a team:

It is easy to see that teamwork has many advantages, and if you learn to see this potential in teamwork, you can achieve truly unprecedented heights.

But if it can be “hot”, then it can also be “cold”. In other words, teamwork also has its own disadvantages.

Disadvantages of Teamwork

There are significantly fewer disadvantages of teamwork, but they must be mentioned. Among them are the following:

Team work requires additional time investment. The fact is that team members must “get used to” each other, and this can take a lot of time. Plus, time is also needed to find a suitable form of collaboration
Team work is characterized by some slowness, which is most noticeable when there are many people in the team, and also when one of the members combines team work with individual work. It is also often difficult to gather all participants in one place at one time, and this negatively affects the entire work process
Significant time costs may also be involved if one of the team members does not master teamwork techniques. This can, among other things, cause serious disagreements and even
In teamwork, important decisions may be delayed due to different views of team members on the same things, which can only be generalized through lengthy discussions.
Team members' willingness to work may be negatively affected by the anonymity of performance results. An ineffective employee can “hide behind” an effective one if his performance is low. In teamwork there is no incentive for ambition, because... there is no individualized reward for success
If teamwork is extra for a person, it can begin to take up a lot of energy. For this reason, it is necessary to understand whether a person can cope with this load, or whether teamwork tasks should be reconsidered

But it is important to say that if he is able to successfully apply the principles of team building and is able to find an individual approach to each team member, he has every chance of creating an effective team and making sure that the advantages of teamwork outweigh the disadvantages.

ARE YOU A TEAM PLAYER? If you want to know where you belong on a team, and whether you can lead people yourself, you need to determine not only your personal characteristics, but also which team roles they best fit. Therefore, we invite you to take our specialized course on self-knowledge (it is located), which will reveal to you your characteristics as a team player and give a huge amount of other information about your personality, the possession of which will increase your personal effectiveness not only in working in a team and not only in work in general, but also in any area of life.

We wish you a good mood and self-knowledge!