The Best Handful of Tips 44 –

Build winning teams

People with the skills to set up effective teams are winning the top jobs.

Good results can be achieved when you design and select a balanced working team.

Team members  should  be given freedom to operate in their own way  and should not be pressured into making hasty decisions.

The five best tips on ways to build a winning team

1. Decide on the type of team you want

Teams  take many different forms. Do you require a work team, a management team, a research team or a problem-solving team?

Are you forming a sports team, a committee, an audit team or a virtual team?

2. Select competent people with the necessary skills

Team members should be balanced in knowledge and skills.

Every team is different. Look closely at the group dynamics before you attempt to build, or improve a team.

Choose people who are motivated and compatible with the other team members. Preferably select people with different skills and different sexes. You will get greater synergy if you select teams containing both men and women. They contribute different outlooks and skills.

Cynics and jokers should be removed if they hinder progress.

3. Give clear instructions

Set goals that all team members understand. 

Roles and rules must be clearly spelt out. They must be realistic and negotiable. Give instructions verbally and in writing so they can be referred back to from time to time.  

Teams should be empowered to do things their way and not be heavily supervised.

Set deadlines to stimulate action.

4. Appoint an enthusiastic leader

Make the job challenging, rewarding and enjoyable.

Appoint a leader acceptable to the team, or let the team appoint their own leader.

An enthusiastic leader encourages the team to do their best work and enjoy it. (Enthusiasm is contagious.)

Allow plenty of time for teams to build and to develop.

5. Make the team experience educational and rewarding

Members should be allowed to express their own ideas freely. They should be co-operative and enjoy the company of other members.

Friendly competition between teams can stimulate people to increase their efforts while developing a strong team spirit.

Team work should be more ‘we‘ and less ‘me‘.

Teams should be well rewarded for their successes.

-Geoffrey Moss

“ Alone we can do so little.

As a team we can do so much.”

Source: “Revitalise YOUR Business”, Moss Associates Ltd, New Zealand. ” Business Secrets. Guidelines for New Leader-managers”, Cengage Learning, Asia. Also available as e-books from Amazon.com and from the VitalSource Bookshelf.

The author has run workshops for over two thousand managers and has worked in many countries. For example, he has run 31, three day workshops, at the Singapore Institute of Management and learned much from these experiences.  His management books have been published by 30 publishers in 18  countries and in 11 languages.