Goal Driven Consulting
11 ways you can be an effective team builder
The 21st century is the age in which it takes combined efforts in the form of a team to accomplish goals that are so challenging and hard to accomplish. Great leaders are great because of team efforts. These leaders have been achieving great results on the basis of the fact that they are team builders. Their success lies in teamwork.
Let me share with you 11 ways that you must follow to be an effective team builder.
1. You must choose right players
Talent is the most powerful tool to use to achieve great results. Effective team builders have right players with right talent. The first and foremost thing you need to do, if you want be effective in team building, is to look for players with potential and pick them to be in your team.
You cannot build a successful team on players who do not have talent. You want winners in your team, choose players with the potential to be winners.
2. You must know the vision of the team
You cannot build a winning team if you don't know the vision, the history, the culture, and the purpose of the team or the organization.If you really want to be an effective team builder, you need to know where the team is striving to go, and why it is striving to get there.
All that you need to do is to start where the team is. Vision has the power to get you moving in the right direction on which you can take your team. It also has the power to keep you and your team going on in spite of obstacles, frustrations and mountains on your path to the top.
3. You must know the level of your players
Successful team builders know the strengths and weaknesses of their players. They know the level of each player on the team. They also know that there are players who don't know what to do and how to do it. These kind of players need the direction of the team builder.
Team builders know that there are players who know what to do and how to do it but they need the coaching of the team builder to perform to their fullest potential. The other kind of players that successful team builders know are those who work well without the leader's direction but all that they need is the leader's encouragement and support. Lastly, the other kind of players they know are those who need to lift the load of the leader. They need to be delegated to perform certain tasks. They derive pleasure and fulfillment from being delegated by the leader.
You must work closely with every individual player on the team to know what they need. Know their level and you will be in a better position to be an effective team builder.
4. You must invest in your team
Effective team builders take their time to develop their team so that they can experience multiplied results. Spend resources like money, your energy and time to take your team to training, conferences and seminars.
When you pay the price to develop your team, they will feel so special and confident to be the best they are capable of becoming.
5. You must take hard decisions
Great team builders do not ignore issues of ineffectiveness, incompetence, and poor performance displayed by certain members of the team. They deal decisively with players who are a weak link on the team.
There are members of the team who continue being ineffective and incompetent even after being trained, coached, and developed through relevant programs and resources. You must learn to take hard decisions against such team members. That is, get rid of them because they are bringing a negative impact upon the team's performance. Underperforming members will always slow down your leadership.
6. You must lead
If you want to build an effective team, learn how to lead. Leadership is the determining factor of either success or failure, effectiveness or ineffectiveness in every team. Successful teams have strong leaders who provide effective leadership.
A good leader motivates, inspires, and influences his team to give their all to the greater good of the team. With good leadership comes good performance and good results.An effective leader creates positive changes on the team. He is the agent of change. He or she is not satisfied with the status quo on the team.
Effective team builders move things through their leadership. They focus on things like vision, morale, enthusiasm, attitude, hope, performance, momentum, and motivation.
7. You must be a good communicator
Communication is one of the cornerstones for effective leadership. You must know how to communicate the game plan to your team. You also must know how to communicate the vision of your team or your organization.
Effective team builders have good communication skills. They know that the most important thing in communication is simplicity. They Keep their message clear and simple when they convey it to their team.
You must learn how to communicate your concerns and hurts clearly and effectively to difficult team members. You must also know how to communicate discipline to your team.
8. You must commit yourself to personal growth and development
Successful team builders grow and develop in their character, in their skill, and in their leadership. They are committed to excellence. They attend seminars and conferences in their area of expertise. They buy tapes, books and material to help them grow and develop.
Good team builders don't deceive themselves by saying, "I have arrived." They admit wrongdoing and accept correction from the members of their team. If you want to be an effective team builder, you need to commit yourself to continuous personal growth and development.
9. You must command the respect of the team
Your team building will be successful if your character is well nurtured and development. Your team cannot respect you if your character is flawed.
Respect is a quality that you must work hard for and earn from your team. Team members cannot respect the leader who makes promises and fails to keep them. Embrace integrity and honesty and your team will consequently respect you.
When you have earned respect from your team, they will give you the privilege of influencing their lives. Work on your character and you will be an effective team builder.
10. You must provide necessary support needed for success
Team players need appreciation, acknowledgement, motivation and encouragement to reach their fullest potential. This is the kind of support they need from you as their team leader. Some of them need you to say, "It will be alright".
11. You must excel in problem-solving
Effective team builders possess problem-solving skills. They anticipate problems before they come. They prepare themselves to face them with courage. They have victory mentality.
Great team builders do not deny when problems occur. Instead, they acknowledge that they are there and they take action to solve them accordingly.