Successful Team Work Organization

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introducing team members to common goals begins on the first day of employment. Starting with safety first, last and always followed by insisting that that all team members are treated with and treat each other with dignity and respect, Team Leaders now have team members who commit themselves to working with others. Team Leaders who accept that they are also part of the team provides the foundation for a great team. Team members who accept that there is no "I" in team and encourage each other throughout the work day become unified in one common objective.

Following a review of the current schedule for the day with team members the Team Leader then assigns team members functions which meet their skill set and when possible schedules cross training for team members who need to build their skills in a specific position. Communicating with each team member throughout the day is a major component of any plan to successfully organize team work.

In order to successfully organize team work a Team Leader must also utilize visual aids which assist in monitoring the Team’s progress. An example would be hourly performance boards in prime optical areas detailing in green for above standard progress or red for underperformance. The production floor vocabulary adopts green and red colors to determine how successful the team is doing throughout the day.

Team meetings also assist with successful team work organization. Led by the Team Leaders, team meetings are structured to give each team member a chance to express themselves in an environment where the opinion of all team members are valued. Team meetings structured to convey important information to team members with positive feedback help contribute to the long term success of the team.

 Rewarding success also helps solidify strong teamwork. Recognizing the extra effort of teams in company newsletters, performance boards and at employee of the month functions also add to successful teamwork organization. Meeting 2011 standards in safety, quality and line efficiencies can only achieved with employees being trained in successful team work organization. Companies recognizing the value of strong team building will be rewarded with loyal long term employees.     

Virtual Teams

We all know by now what a Virtual Assistant is, but there is a new entrepreneur on the virtual scene, the Virtual Team. Virtual Assistants have been around for a few years now, so it's onlynatural to start seeing variations of that business professional. One of those variations is the virtual team.

A virtual team is a number of Virtual Assistants with complimentary skills who are committed to the goals of a team and for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. The team consists of the VAs with the right mix of skills to do the job assigned. The

teams' performance and goals go together. They develop a common approach to how they will work together to achieve their purpose and hold themselves accountable for the projects outcome.

Virtual teams make a lot of sense, if you know how to build and lead one. I've had the opportunity to build and lead more thanone Virtual Team. I've even certified with one group. A welldeveloped virtual team is like a network organization. The team should be put together with the following in mind. The structure of a well put together virtual team is: Project Team manager, Team leader, putting a team charter in place, using a work flow chart and using a reasonably priced project management software. Communication is vital to the success of a virtual team. Not only should there be, at least monthly, communication between the client and the project manager, but also between the project manager and team leader who in turn communication with the virtual team on a regular basis. Following these simple guidelines can be the difference between managing a successful or a failing Virtual Team.

Large and small corporations alike, have teams of employees who were hired to do a specific job, so why not a virtual team. Each Virtual Assistant has advanced knowledge of the services and technology they have acquired, or are proficient in, and bring that to the virtual team. Whether it's a service or software application where you are certified, which a lot of VAs are today, or if you have years of hands on fundamental experience, Virtual Assistants working together as a team is an exceptional and innovative idea.

I know many times I've gone looking for work by checking out theRFPs at a few of my virtual associations only to find a perspectiveclient is looking for two or three services that I offer and an additional three or four that I don't offer. This is where avirtual team comes into play.

Clients can delegate projects to a Project Team Manager, who in turn will put together a team. A large team for a large project and a small team for a small project. Virtual teams give clients the assurance that not just one person is doing all of the work, thus allowing for a better finished product. A good Project Team Manager will make sure that each team member has a back up in place. Clients save time and money on recruiting, interviewing, and assembling the team.

Remember, you still have all of the perks of working with a Virtual Assistant, no overhead. VAs have their own office space, equipmentand software. I think most VAs will be working on virtual teams in the very near future.

So, to reiterate that old saying; "Two (three, four, five) heads are better than one."

Think Virtual Teams.

Setting Up Your Business for Teamwork

The Japanese taught us in the 70's that teamwork works better at solving problems then individual effort. Since this time colleges, organizational training centers and businesses have begun to teach the teamwork model. They have formulated tasks forces, productivity groups, self-monitored work groups, and team meetings. Yet not all businesses have accepted this model but as America goes out to face the biggest challenge of all (i.e. globalization), it must be flexible in its approaches.

Team building and functional groups can have huge productivity returns. Dr. Barry Boehm from the University of California found that building an effective team can have a 3,700% return on the cost of building a team. Most of the cost is associated with expenses such as meeting rooms, pay while engaging in team tasks, and any support materials for the team. To many organizations this is nothing more than peanuts.

If you have decided that your organization should build functional based teams you have to work on the first major hurdle in getting both managers and employees to work together. You have to start instilling the concept that there is no "I" in team. In other words, your organization has to set itself up for a team environment with a compensation system that encourages team efforts.

There are internal processes that encourage team work and external processes. The external processes are the formal communications associated with teams (i.e. documents), how the leaders of the organization encourage teams (building the culture), the formation of the team (meetings) and the support functions of the team (research capabilities).

The internal processes of the team include performance appraisals, compensation associated with team efforts and advancement based upon team participation. If the internal structure is not in place people won't feel the necessity of being committed to these teams if there is no economic advantage for them. They not only have to believe in the teams but also are rewarded for engaging in teams.

As you begin to develop your team building environment so that your organization can compete in the global market don't just give your employees the "story" about team building. Make sure they understand that the nature of the workplace has changed and those people who are going to be the most successful in the organization are those who can work within a team environment. Those who can't are offered the opportunity to seek employment else ware.

This season has been nothing more than an embarrassment for the Miami Heat. With what it seems to be a lack of trying, it sure is showing and even worse than the New York Knicks this season. It's embarrassing to think that this team won the NBA Title and then right now has become such an abomination. What could be done to save this team? At this point, this season they may as well pack it in and just throw in the towel. The key problem has been the lack of caring from what I've seen of the Miami Heat. Though the players may disagree and that's understandable, if you don't care or want to be on the team, then you are not helping anyone at all and in fact hurting yourself. What I'm about to look at are some possible ideas that could help this team going into the next season. After all, this team couldn't get any worse if they tried.

Coach Change: Maybe Pat Riley could be part of the problem as it seems the team doesn't want to put forth the effort it needs to be a contender. It seems like a contrast from the team that won the NBA Championship in the 2005-06 season to now a team that just doesn't seem to care one bit and just go through the motions. If a change is made, then it's going to have to be someone who can coach this team and can respect. If there is none, then quite there is no point to the team.

Team Chemistry: Biggest key right there is team chemistry. Dwayne Wade can't do everything himself. The team had traded away Shaq and it still hasn't helped this team out one bit. If a team can stay healthy, that will really help out a tremendous way. With the addition of Shawn Marion, it's a question of how the team is going to be able to work well and can he co-exist and play at a professional level. The whole point for the 2008-09 is to develop a great team.

It's going to be a project and can't be done overnight. Even the Cleveland Cavaliers had to go through a period after having the worst possible record in the league to now being a contender. I don't see them contending next year but maybe the following year it could happen. The Miami Heat needs some serious work before they are even a contender once again.

   A manager should never come to work when sick. Managers need to set an example for the rest of their team and there is nothing worse than team member in a leadership position who comes to work when not feeling well, often putting other team members at risk. How many times have we heard "there is something going around the plant, everyone is coming down with something"? It started when someone decided to come to work sick. Probably a manager who thought their department could not run without them. Managers who feel that they must be onsite when sick are not only prolonging their illness but insulting their team members by not showing enough confidence in their ability to carry on without them. Twenty-seven years in plant operations has taught me that when a team leader, supervisor or manager comes to work sick to send them home. I’m proud to be a member of the healthiest team in the company because of my insistence that team members stay home when they are sick. This rule is applied to team leaders, supervisors and managers. No exceptions.

   No awards are given to managers who come to the workplace sick. What usually happens is that they bring little or no value to the total team by making poor decisions which can impact operating efficiencies. The manager who stays home when ill shows their team and upper management that they have the confidence in their team’s ability to operate successfully during their absence. A well run team during the mangers absence is certainly much better picture than the manager at work coughing and sneezing trying to lead the team or even worse trying to hold a conversation in their office through tons of Kleenex!   

   There those who will argue a manager at work when sick motivates team members to perform above expectations. I challenge that argument. Team Members want to come to work healthy and leave work healthy. A manager who arrives at the plant sick is not taking into consideration the health and well being of their team. Managers who come to work sick are putting their career advancement above the health of the team members.

    Managers who are not feeling well should ask themselves two questions before coming to work. Is there another team member who I have trained to cover my assignment? Can I be engaged in important decisions via phone or e-mail? Managers who answer yes to these questions will certainly bring more value to the total team effort than those managers who show up to work with a runny nose and watery eyes clutching facial tissues.  

Over the past couple of years I've worked on figuring out what makes a good team. I've played through various mmo's, more recently Guild Wars after a little conflict with a World of Warcraft guild. The first gear that is needed in building a team is a no brainer...team work. If you find that two people don't get along on the team, get rid of one of them (or both if the problem isn't solved). I also find that those who think that they are better than everyone else don't work well on teams either. I try to avoid some of the newbies as well; mainly those who don't know the difference between a sword and a bow.

Once you have that taken care of you must decide what type of team do you want to go for. Will you go for a blind rush of warriors? Or will you shoot at them from afar? I find that more of a balanced team is able to face most encounters rather than relying on a "super build" that has a dire weakness to one specific monster. Because knowing my luck out of experience, that one monster always showed up.

The best way to learn good team strategies is to watch videos from battles that guilds have saved. This is a great learning tool for new players and veterans who want to learn some new tricks. Surprisingly, watching henchmen or other npcs in battle isn't too bad of a way to learn new combos either.

Lets take Guild Wars for example: you have a team of eight players, so what do you bring? Taking my personal favorite, you need one high damage dealer/support like an Elementalist/Monk (yay for emos!). Depending on personal preference I'd bring two warriors to keep away all of those bad people that want to hit your soft team members (elementalists and other spellcasters). So now we have five more spots to fill right? So now we need some one to babysit the team and keep them alive. Two monks is the key, one is too little, and three isn't cost effective. The other team/monsters will most likely have healers as well, so we need to be able to take them down. I use a duo of a mesmer and a necromancer, the mesmer as an energy denial, the necromancer to curse the monk. The final spot I usually reserve for a ranger or another elementalist, depending on what needs to get done.

So now we have our team build, but is that really enough? No, just having the team isn't enough. Communication is what makes or breaks a team. Without communication, your team will fall apart to a more organized foe. At the very least one must use text communication, though usually this doesn't work fast enough to make a difference. Ventrillo and Teamspeak are commonly used voice communication servers that allow teams to communicate instantaneously. The team leader is able to relay information: like who needs healing, the next target etc.

All of this information will help you to better prepare your team, but will do nothing if not applied to ingame. Experience in the end will make the team better, even a loss gives the team a learning experience that will help them next time.

Teamwork is often considered as one of the most important soft skills an employee should have. Managers praise their departments for their ability to work together and there is no doubt that departments with a sound culture of teamwork are more efficient and effective than departments consisting of individuals working on their own.

But what if your team consists of great individual workers, but you can't seem to get the level of synergy required and get them to work together as a real team? Here are a few tips on how to get your team to work together effectively.

1. Reward individual and team achievements

Employees need to stay motivated to give their best performance at work.

Managers trying to increase the level of team work and synergy taking place often change individual rewards to team rewards, e.g. you won't receive a bonus if you achieve your targets, but the whole of the team needs to reach the target. This can indeed improve team performance, as stronger employees might support weaker colleagues to achieve the overall targets.

On the other side, it can however be very demotivating for a hard working and successful employee, if he loses all his previous rewards due to some members of the time not pulling their weight.

A simple way to deal with this dilemma is to link some rewards to personal performance and other rewards to team performance. By using this approach, staff will remain motivated to perform to their best individual performance, as well as to work together to achieve team targets.

2. Implement team projects and challenges

If members of your team work very isolated, this is often because they have a set area of responsibility that requires little interaction and support of each other.

An easy way to create a visible need for teamwork is by allocating team projects, which are the responsibility of a number of team members and uses individuals' strengths.

Once your team gets used to work together and learns that utilising strengths and knowledge of others makes their life easier, teamwork will start to grow naturally within your team.

3. Create diversity

Employees who are doing the same work day in - day out, are getting rather self sufficient. They don't need help, they don't need each other.

One way to change this way of working is by creating team buddies, i.e. to allocate a partner to each member of the team who will learn the key tasks of their buddy. This way there will be a better understanding of individuals work load and responsibilities and at the same time you will be able to provide better holiday cover and support when individuals temporarily have an increased workload.

4. Lead by example

It is easy to say that your employees should start working in a team. But if you sit alone in your office all day, locked away from your team, you are setting the wrong example.

Therefore, if you want your colleagues to work together, lead by example. Show them that you don't know everything and need help and input from others.

Arrange regular team meetings where you use knowledge and skills from all team members to tackle inter- or cross-departmental challenges.

You will show your team how you would like them to work, that they can achieve more working this way and that they don't need to be afraid of this change.

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Working as a team is important, but like with any change, staff needs to see the benefit of adapting to the requested change. By following above tips you will not only be able to implement a culture of teamwork quicker, but also reassure your staff at the same time, thus obtaining an effective, positive and motivated team.

Building a successful leadership team requires identifying individuals who have the skill set that will take the company to the next level in safety, quality and line efficiencies. Whether developing a team on the production floor or at the corporate level fundamental team building concepts are required. Selecting a team leader who can inspire others to commit to the hard work and long hours required for success is the first step. The team leader must be someone who has the knowledge, experience and most of all leadership skills the rest of the leadership team will respect.

Once the team leader is selected the remainder of the leadership team is developed based on their skill set and ability to work together. Leadership teams consist of individuals who are all experts in their respective areas and are leaders of their own teams. For the leadership team to achieve success it is important that all members understand fully what their goals are and what each member must accomplish. In many cases leadership teams have been assembled because the previous leadership team, for whatever reason, did not meet expectations. Not lost on any new leadership team is that they sink or swim together. Developing a common bond among leadership team members is also important in building a successful leadership team.

By their very nature, leadership teams need to be quick responders to problems which arise on their own areas. The best leadership teams are those which keep other members well informed. Daily meetings, usually early in the day, contribute to keeping leadership teams informed. No member of a leadership team should be without a company cell phone with e-mail features. Several years ago I was assigned to a leadership team charged with a new project start-up which required long hours on the floor. Communication to corporate officers was critical throughout the start-up process. A Blackjack equipped with e-mail and camera phone served as a mobile office throughout the project. For members of a leadership team maintaining strong communication with each other is often the difference between success and failure.

Whether the title is CEO, VP of Operations, Plant Manager or Production Manager the head of the leadership team is instrumental the successful completion of a project. The best leaders are able to provide their team with the tools they need, hold them accountable and reward success. Successful leadership teams in turn insure that their leader continues to advance throughout their career.   

    Employee performance is hindered when team members no longer feel that their contribution is valued. Once a team no longer feels engaged in the decision making process key performance indicators will go south. This will always result in long days in Dodge for team members, team leaders and their managers. Few things are more annoying to a manager than going to a line where a team has lost their way and receive "I don’t know" instead of a clear and concise answer. Your neck starts hurting when the team leader starts to point the finger at individuals while trying to answer a simple question on why the line is down. With a team losing focus and team leaders turning into philanthropists handing out blame it becomes time to get everyone together and have a team meeting.

   Identifying underperformance is one of the great challenges for team leaders and managers. Usually it is not one single glaring reason but the accumulation of several including but not limited to discontent over a recent assignment, conflict among team members which has not been resolved, over reliance on highly skilled team members who start to feel that they are being taken advantage of and feeling under appreciated. Others factors that can hinder employee performance are dissatisfaction with an annual raise or lack of, losing out to another team member for a promotion and personal problems which are brought into the employee entrance.  It is the responsibility of team leadership to sort out the reasons which hinder performance and develop corrective actions.

  Underperformance will not improve by itself. A team leaving with a bad day behind them on Monday will not automatically improve by Tuesday morning. Just doesn’t work that way. If it did, team leaders and managers would not be needed. In my nearly thirty year career of leading teams I’ve learned the best way to improve an underperforming team is to listen to the team members.

Providing a forum for team members to address their concerns increases their sense of value and helps establish a working relationship between them and the team leader. Together with team members who have been engaged in the corrective action process and a team leader who has also had their concerns addressed a manger can now focus on the primary task at hand which is to produce a quality product safely and efficiently in an environment where all team members feel valued.  

Keys to building effective and harmonious sports teams is all about team work, and trust. As the coach you must work closely with your assistant coach. You must build the team from the ground up, working well with others. After all, when you are the Coach of a sports team, the players are looking to you for guidance. It only goes to say, that if you are stubborn, and show bad character traits, then the team members will exhibit those same characteristics.

The coach is the member of the team chosen to build an effective and harmonious sports team. The owner will not have that responsibility. Unless of course, the owner is super cheap, and will be coaching the team also! The players will have some responsibility for building an effective and harmonious sports team. He or she must be an effective leader in the first place. I have seen  horrible coaches in my lifetime. Which by the way makes no sense, when bad coaches go from a minor league sports team to a major league team,w hen they show no real work ethic or talent.

Okay, back to the main topic, that is another article in the making. Keys to building an effective and harmonious sports team are  showing a strong work ethic by example. The coach must show a strong work ethic, demanding that every member of the team, even the mascot, and the cheerleaders work hard. Without hard work, the team might as well be sitting in the stands watching the game. Hard work pays off. Work the team hard. The coach should show up for every practice super seriously early, ready to work hard.  Hard work is what makes any business, sports team, or family a good strong, solid working team in society.When the team gathers for practice everyone must run drills, including the coach who will run drills as an example of how to do the given drill.

The coach must  assemble her players to run practice sessions of trusting your team members. Team members need to practice the therapy sessions and work related outings that take place. Team members will have to fall into each other's arms, dive off a stage into a group of people, and walk over burning coals, building trust, strength and character.

Working  outside of practice and games together, the team will gain other positive aspects of team work, and will build effective, hopefully harmonious relationships. Activities such as this will be trust, confidence, and strong, healthy relationships. Team members will become friends, and a second family from working together.

Keys to building  effective, harmonious sports teams are very much like building  strong, supportive familes. Take it from an experienced parent ;get in there and fight for your family. And do the dishes while you are at it!