Building Team Performance
There are a few methods for building team performance, many proven with years of practice, some new and challenging, but still some old principles remain established, Teambuilding Australia has also added some key activities to highlight these learnings:
1. Establish urgency, demanding performance standards and direction.
All team members need to know the team has an urgent and worthwhile purpose and that they know what the expectations are. The more urgent and meaningful the rationale the better chance the team has of reaching its performance potential. See our team activity, Pirates Dilemma and LOST
2. Select member for skill and skill potential, not personality.
No team succeeds without all the skills needed to meet its purpose and performance goals. The wise manager will select members based on their current skills and their potential to improve on and learn new skills. Look at Belbin team profile testing to see where the teams more skills. MBTI is also another useful tool.
3. Pay particular attention to first meetings and actions.
First impressions count, when team members first gather everyone monitors the signals given by others to confirm, suspend or dispel assumptions and concerns. The Apprentice team building game is great at anchoring ‘rapport’.
4. Set some clear rules for behaviour.
All effective teams develop clear rules of conduct at the outset to help them achieve their purpose and performance goals. THE MOLE is a great team building activity that deals with behaviour in teams.
5. Set and seize upon a few immediate performance orientated tasks and goals.
There is no such thing as a real team without performance results, the sooner this occurs the sooner the team congeals. Good to Great is a powerful team activity.
6. Challenge the group regularly with fresh facts and information.
New information helps a team refine its understanding of the challenge thereby shaping clearer goals and common approach. Experiential team activities are good at keeping teams fresh.
7. Spend lots of time together.
Creative insights as well as personal bonding require impromptu and casual interactions just as much as meetings and spread sheet analysis. Map out a series of team experiences to keep the ‘pulse’ going.
8. Exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition and reward.
Giving out ‘gold stars’ helps to shape new behaviours critical to team performance. There are many ways to reward and recognise team performance, ultimately however, it is the satisfaction shared by a team from its own performance that becomes the most cherished reward. Good to Great team building activity is perfect to highlight this.
Building Team Performance through a series of interactive team-building activities, games and programs.
