–noun [men-tor-ing] & [teem] [bil-ding]

7 Steps to Successful Team Building

"We are going to build a team". Replace the word "team" with the word "house" - or any other noun that can be built and will take more than just a few minutes - and most sensible people will want to adopt a structured approach. The same goes for successful team building.

So what are the Key Characteristics of a Genuine Team Building Session?
People in every workplace talk about building the team, working as a team, and my team, but few understand how to create the experience of team work or how to develop an effective team. Belonging to a team, in the broadest sense, is a result of feeling part of something larger than yourself. It has a lot to do with your understanding of the mission or objectives of your organization. I suggest the following steps will lead to team building success:

1. Have definite session and longer-term goals and know how the session goals lead to the longer term ones.
2. Use an engaging and varied base activity that involves each participant in something that he or she enjoys doing.
3. Use an activity that achieves that engagement while having genuine parallels to the workplace and has relevance with the session goals.
4. Select an activity that requires the same kind of skill sets and team approaches that are needed at work - albeit one that is removed from the work itself.
5. Consider using an independent (internal or external) facilitator - to allow all levels to join in as equals and to avoid it feeling like a "sermon from above".
6. Debrief using a predefined process that highlights the workplace parallels and allows the participants to extract their own learning rather than be preached to.
7. Use a proven mechanism to transfer the learning back to the workplace, ideally integrated within the debriefing process itself.

If none of these seem important, you are probably looking at a pure fun bonding session. Whether that is a trip to the nearest (or furthest!) bar or something that offers the group an experience that all of its members will enjoy doesn't matter too much.

But if any of them do seem important, then I'd suggest that they all are. If one or more are missing then your team building session will be compromised. And that's a word that sits well alongside mediocrity and underachievement.

Motivating Workers Using the SCOPE Principles of Business Leadership

"My mission is to help you meet your mission". With years of management and executive leadership experience, I provide collaborative team oriented consultation to help your business do business. I teach and help you apply the SCOPE principles in your workplace.

Self Motivation
» Self motivation intrinsically motivates employees to work harder. The main strategies for motivating are positive reinforcement, effective discipline and punishment, treat people fairly, satisfy employees needs and set work related goals.

Creativity
» Be creative and put a new twist on old ideas. You will be surprised at how a new approach can inspire new thinking that is creative.

Organized
» Being organized helps ideas flow.

Professionalism
» Apply to work and personal dealing. No matter what type of business your are. Professionalism is key to successful interactions inside and outside the walls of your business.

Eager
» Be eager to learn from everyone. No matter how long you have been in the field you can always learn from others. Search for ideas in the most unlikely people and places.