Warrior Coaching

Watching England play against Germany yesterday got me thinking all about Team Building.  The England side clearly were not operating as a team, lacked understanding between them and were unclear about their roles.  Hard to believe I know when you consider that the management team has had them for over a month to work with?

So here is a few short tips of how to Build Teams

1. Common Goals

Naturally the team needs to share common goals.  In theory these goals are often considered so obvious that they don’t need to be said.  But they do.  Take England for example.  It appears obvious that their collective goal would be to win the world cup.  And I’m pretty sure this was discussed.  However by watching their actions and observing individual efforts oppose to a team effort I would surmise that the common goals were not clear enough or understood by all.  For this reason every single team member must clearly understand how the team coming first benefits them individually.  This certainly was not communicated effectively yesterday as too many players looked like all they were trying to do was bump up their transfer fees without realising that not playing as a team made virtually EVERY player in the team drop in value.  So common goals must be discussed and you must get ‘buy in’ from the team members with some level of confirmed commitment.  Merely dictating the goals does not qualify as getting ‘buy in’ from the team members.

1. Clear Roles

Every member must be totally aware of their specified roles within the team.   Again it was painfully clear that this had not been effectively communicated in the game yesterday, hence the lack of direction.  On top of that the manager must be so in tune with the staff that they know their strengths and weaknesses.  By knowing this they can place the members of the team in the appropriate key areas.  After all not only must the staff have clear roles but they must have full training and adequate skills to fulfil the role.  It is not appropriate to try and smash a square peg into a round hole just because that’s the system that looks the best on the whiteboard.  It has to suit the personnel on the ground.  Also each member must be aware of the importance of their individual role as the team can not function without every one performing in their key areas.

1. Give it adequate Time

No matter what the new system is that you put in place it must have adequate time to gel.  Whether it is a new sports team formation, a sales team, a new personnel hierarchy, office management or whatever, it doesn’t make a difference.  It has to be given enough time to work effectively.  Naturally the more preparation you put in at the start ensuring the individuals are competent for their roles then the quicker it should come together.  However, sadly for Capello in the role of England Football Coach he entered a World Cup still not knowing his best team and how they should play.  This kind of lack of preparation costs people their jobs and in business could cost millions.  There is no excuse for not planning ahead and allowing enough time to weed out the teething errors which are likely to occur at the beginning of building a new team structure.

1. Manage Motivation Levels

My first sales position I was taught that sales is 99% attitude and 1% ability and to be honest that is true with many things.  Once the team is in place, the members know their roles and everyone is working toward the same common goals then the next step is to manage the emotions and personalities of the team.  After all a team shows its mettle when facing adversity not coasting through the good times.  So be prepared and have processes in place to manage the expectations of the team members and how they are mentally prepared.  If the team starts to lose confidence, belief and desire as a unit then it’s difficult to point the finger at individuals.  The management has to be accountable and take some responsibility for not managing the motivation of their team members.  And like Zig Ziglar says:

‘They say motivation doesn’t last, well neither does bathing that’s why we recommend it daily’

Managing motivation levels has to be part of the initial plan and not something that gets thrown together later to resolve a crisis.

1. Accountability

Finally their needs to be accountability within the team though this also needs to totally balanced with a reward structure.  You can not chastise if on the other end of the scale there is no reward and vice versa.  Also you can only claim accountability of team members once you have got their ‘buy in’ to the cause and they fully understand what they will get from fulfilling their side of the bargain.  Paying someone an hourly rate is not enough to assume they will just do what they are told.  This only works if the manager is constantly chasing them with a stick and traditionally this is a huge expense of resources for minimal return.  The real art is to empower the individuals so they can be self motivated to further themselves and reap the rewards.  That doesn’t mean that management is not required but it does mean that managers can focus on more pivotal projects than just chasing around the shop floor with a long stick.

So there you go 5 quick tips!  Enjoy