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The advice contained within these articles is offered for your consideration by Lisa Simmons. You, as a parent or professional, must decide whether any of the ideas presented here should be implemented in your unique situation. The staff of the Ideal Lives Project encourage all site visitors to always utilize this information in a manner that is respectful and in the best interest of their child, student or loved one.

Tips on Team Building
by Lisa Simmons

In this day and age teamwork is the word of the day. As supervisors, we all rely on the quality and dedication of our teams to "get the job done". If your New Year's resolution was to set a fire under your team and get them pulling together instead of apart -- read on for practical ideas!

1. Admit you're only human.

There will be times when you simply won’t have all the answers. Be honest with your team and search for the solutions together. Trying to fool most of the people, most of the time only results in making you look foolish and reducing your credibility as a leader.

2. Have a good memory.

By remembering and bringing up ideas or comments made by team members you show them not only that you were listening, but that you felt their ideas had merit. For example, a team member shares a promising idea or story with you in the hallway. At the next team meeting, give that team member the lead. “John, you had an interesting comment on this the other day. Why don’t you share that idea with the rest of the team.”

3. Use group time wisely.

Don’t waste the team’s time going over information that needs to be digested and analyzed for quality reactions. Use your time together to focus on issues that demand interaction and group perspective.

4. Don’t get bogged down in large, complicated issues.

If the group is too large to really discuss a "meaty" issue, then use the team time to break it down into small manageable tasks and divide responsibility among team members. At your next meeting each small group can report back and the full team can decide how to proceed.

5. Take the first step.

When a final solution isn’t obvious - figure out a first step and start moving in the direction you want to go. Frequently the rest of the solution will become obvious as you move forward.

6. Walk in each other’s shoes.

Encourage team members to verbally or physically experience each other’s perspectives. Nothing else works quite the same magic in terms of opening people up to consensus building.

7. Respect each other’s time.

Let individual team members set up “Do not disturb” work times. Honor theirs and expect them to honor yours.

8. Be accessible.

Many wonderful teaching moments will result from seemingly casual conversations with your team members. As they talk about an issue that concerns them, use the opportunity to reassure them of your faith in their skills as well as to add to their knowledge base.

• Do they understand the core issues at stake?
  
• Do they need additional information or resources to find a solution?
  
• Are their values in conflict with what’s happening?

Often your most powerful teaching tool will be to ask questions and let the person work through their thoughts out loud. They come to the conclusion on their own and feel better about what needs to be done than if you had simply handed them the "to do” list.

9. Use your own and your team’s uniqueness.

Capitalize on the special talents of individual team members to give each project your special signature of quality. Aside from ending up with a better product or service, you reinforce to team members their value and worth to the team.

10. Accept your limitations (or grow beyond them).

Once you have identified a weakness in your team, determine its impact on meeting your goal. If it’s going to be a major stumbling block, figure out as a team how you are going to eliminate or compensate for the weakness.

What are our final words of wisdom? Be persistent! Remember success comes when your team keeps trying when everyone else has given up.

All My Best,

* Note: If you should discover a broken link within the above article, please contact the Author and inform them of the problem. Thank you.