Tackling a Poorly Performing Team with Team Building
Tackling a Poorly Performing Team with Team Building
Team building and teamwork call for collective effort on the team’s task and mutual cooperation in all activities related to that task. However, building a team is not easy and most teams have a few teething problems before they begin to bond as a team and work well together. Some initial hiccups are quite normal when the team members are still trying to understand each other’s work styles and are building rapport and trust between the individuals within the team. To quicken up the process an effective team building event should be considered.
Sometimes teams never seem to be able to work well together, even after weeks or months have gone by. At times the team leader is blamed and may even be replaced in the hope that a change will improve the team’s work. Before this drastic action is considered an off-site team building event with outside facilitation will help identify the factors at work and expose the underlying reasons why the team does not work.
The problems within a team and its poor motivation levels can create a roadblock in the performance of an organisation and team building may be an effective aid to help resolve the issues. Quite often teams are unaware of the larger repercussions of their poor performance and unless the ‘problem team’ is carefully dealt with and put on track, the organisation’s performance objectives may be compromised. The team's problems could be anything from a lack of trust and poor communication to poor role clarity or personality clashes. Team building events will help in resolving the problems of the team.
Team Building and Ways of Putting the Team on Track
Introduce informal team building exercises and games to act as Ice Breakers
and begin to get the communication going. The more the team members open up in team building and interact with each other, the more chances there are of building team cohesion.
Try and build ‘team patriotism’ within the team. Stress the importance of the team’s performance in the overall scheme of things. When team members see their role as significant in taking the organisation forward, the common purpose and common goals can work wonders in keeping them on track.
Use team building exercises to build on team strengths and break away from poor practices of the past, identify the capabilities and strengths of individuals and develop team roles accordingly. By identifying poor practices within the team and seeking solutions you can divert them from previous behavioural tendencies and build a stronger team performance. However you have to highlight the specific problems within the team and use relevant team building methods to rectify the problems.
Use team building and training sessions to talk to the team about the essence of teamwork, about being a good team player and the expectations of the organisation from the team. This sends out a signal that says "This is how we want you to work, this is our vision for the way to interact and work together as a team."
Other Team Building Measures
Providing strong leadership is important for such teams and a good leader can drive the change and stimulate substantial and committed reform in work approaches rather than a half-hearted attempt.
Bringing back the team spirit will put the spark back into the team and instil a sense of pride in the group. Team building will charge them up to perform better and make a positive statement to emphasise that “You can do it”, “You have what it takes to deliver better results” and “the company is looking forward to greater contribution from this team in future”.
Providing the right Team Building will emphasise the importance of providing a challenge when an organisation wants to create a high level of motivation towards a task and energise the team effort.
Team Building and Poorly Performing Teams – Summary
Turning around a poorly performing team takes time and needs patience. It will not be achieved overnight but it is something that is achievable with the right Team Building Tools.
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