Employee Team Building

Common Goal Each team must have a goal. This goal must be a SMART goal.

S is for specific.

M is foe measurable.

A is for attainable.

R is for realistic

T is for a time deadline.

The team leader needs to keep the team on task to complete the goal.

Leadership

Leadership is defined by influence. The employee team needs strong leadership to reach their goal.

Communication

Communication is very important. All techniques and tools must be used. Face to face, e-mail, meetings and all tools must be used to improve to communications. Most employee team building problems come from a lack of communication.

Take Action

Employee team must take action to be successful. Change requires hard work and effort. When employee teams work together positives results can happen. Just look at Toyota and Honda as for examples.

Improvement The whole concept of Total Quality management is continuous improvement. Employee team must debrief and evaluate how they would improve their performance Written by Les Finley, CEO. For Teambulildng-leader.com

Quick Links Learning Outcomes Theory and Development Uses for the Game How it Works What to Order Related Products

Learning Outcomes Discover how teams function Learn vital group-process skills such as problem solving and decision making Experience the importance of balancing planning and implementation Understand the effect of individual behavior on group productivity

Theory and Development

How Teams Function Research suggests that the amount of time that a group allots to the planning and implementation phases of a project determines, in part, how effectively it operates as a team. Jungle Escape broadly identifies three types of teams: Fragmented, Divergent, or Cohesive.

Fragmented Teams Fragmented Teams are characterized by autocratic leadership and/or cliques that often press the group into making decisions. Typically, one person or a minority of the team members make the vital decisions during the game. Conflict is likely to be suppressed or ignored. Divergent Teams Members of Divergent Teams often consider many alternatives and tend to be overly cautious in their planning. They are often unable to reach consensus and resolve issues through voting procedures, and although group members go along with the majority, there is little commitment to the plan or final product. Cohesive Teams With Cohesive Teams, democratic processes are used, a cooperative atmosphere develops rapidly and everyone on the team is involved in structuring the work. During game play, you’ll see cohesive teams work through conflict when it arises; generate excitement as the team work together on the construction; and experience a high degree of satisfaction with their group effort.

How Multiple Teams Function Together Similarly, planning and assembly time are two important factors in inter-team performance. Depending on how two or more groups work together teams can be described as acting in one of three ways: Competitive, Non-interactive, and Cooperative. Competitive Team A Competitive Team is more concerned with the success of its own unit than with the success of the organization as a whole. They spend little time planning and focus instead on how they can win. As a result, they spend very little time assessing the other team’s needs and expectations for completing the work and working together. Non-interactive Team A Non-interactive Team limits its focus to its own team. They may spend a little or a lot of time planning; however, it is completed without consideration for the larger picture and the needs of the other group or team. As a result, their planning efforts are minimally effective to accomplishing the overall goal. Cooperative Teams A Cooperative Team shares a common goal of getting projects completed together with other groups. When planning a project or task, a great deal of time is devoted to how the groups will work together to accomplish goals effectively and efficiently.

Click here to download more information about the theoretical development of Jungle Escape.

Uses for the Game Jungle Escape is effective either as a stand-alone activity or as part of a more comprehensive training program. Here are some suggested applications for the game: Kick off a team-building workshop or seminar Introduce or reinforce basic team-building skills Surface group issues or concerns that block team progress

How It Works Jungle Escape is a highly interactive hands-on instructional game that takes approximately 1 ½ hours to complete start to finish. Teams are presented with a survival scenario at the beginning of the activity. As part of an air transport crew, their plane crash landed in a remote jungle of the Philippines while on a mission to deliver helicopter parts to a secret military base. The teams task is to quickly assemble a helicopter before the onset of monsoon season. Teams are asked to create a plan for construction and then build a helicopter to exact specifications using toy parts. Once the team believes they have properly assembled the aircraft, team members take part in a discussion about team dynamics and offer insights gained from the activity. When scores are compared, participants learn that typically the team that took the most time to plan builds the helicopter in the least amount of time.

Learn more about HRDQ tools for team building. Click here:

The Effective Team Member Profile helps individuals understand what it takes to be a viable and potent member of a team — and how their behavior clearly indicates the extent to which they are (or aren't) effective.

The 36-item profile focuses on 6 "Effectiveness Factors": 1. Understanding Team Direction 2. Clarifying Team Roles 3. Showing Commitment 4. Encouraging Open Communication 5. Learning Continuously 6. Sharing Leadership Responsibilities Learning Outcomes

· Recognize the importance of individual contributions to team success · Gain insight into one’s effectiveness · Learn ways to improve performance in 6 important areas · Develop a plan to become more effective

Theory

The Effective Team Member Profile focuses on 6 key elements of effectiveness. The concepts underlying the 6 Effectiveness Factors are derived from a compilation of research including Larson and LaFasto (1989), Parker (1996), Riechmann (1998), Redding (2000), and Rees (1997) among others.

How it Works

Each individual creates two profiles. The first is based on the individual's own perceptions of his or her effectiveness. The second is created from feedback given by other team members. Finally, action planning assists team members in transferring what they have learned to their day-to-day efforts. Teams may also discuss their collective effectiveness and identify ways to improve overall team performance.

Uses for the Effective Team Member Profile

The ETMP is effective when used as a standalone training session as well as part of a larger program.

What to Order/Product Contents

Order one Facilitator Guide per facilitator and one Participant Guide per participant. To provide team members with peer feedback, we recommend ordering 3 Feedback Forms per participant.

Facilitator Guide includes:

· Administrative guidelines · Experiential learning methodology · Technical development · Effective Team Member Model · Team Member Effectiveness Factors · Giving and Receiving Feedback (including 5 options for feedback sessions) · Sample training designs · Action planning · Reproducible handout masters · Downloading instructions for a PowerPoint® presentation

Participant Guide includes:

· 36-item assessment · Pressure-sensitive scoring · Scoring instructions · Interpretive information · Effective Team Member Model · Charts for recording individual and team scores as well as feedback ratings · Tips for improving performance in the 6 Effectiveness Factors · Action planning Find out more about these tools at HRDQ: Click on below: