Team Building Lessons

Team Building Lessons: Establishing a Thriving and Productive Team

Most business people agree, a team setting is the most dynamic and effective methods to accomplish goals and keep people focused on their task at hand.

Taking the increased productivity and effectiveness of an established team as a given, you might be asking yourself: “What are some simple team building lessons I can easily implement in my business or organization?”

As a team leader, establishing a healthy team environment starts with how people interact together.

The quality of peoples’ interactions shapes how information circulates and how people are treated within your organization.

It’s really simple.

Weigh Each Team Member On a Scale

I see each team member on a scale that measures, between 1 and 10, their commitment to the team. 10 being totally committed and 1 being totally uncommitted. The quality of human interaction on your team is the #1 factor that determines where your people land on the scale.

How people interact is determined by many factors:

• the words they use 
• their communication styles
• their personality
• how they react to communication they receive from others

Sure, there are other “factors.” At a base level, communication determines where your team is right now, and where it is going.

As individuals on a team, we are constantly looking for “safe ground” from which we can speak openly and honestly with other team members in order to facilitate reaching our personal and shared goals.

When debates, arguments, and bickering break out, people’s “safe ground” has been trampled on, and a “safe” team environment has been lost for the moment.

Establish an Excellent Team Culture Based on Vision

What teams need to establish from the start is a culture that not only allows free-flowing communication, but engraining the team building lessons and tools that naturally encourage and create “safe-ground” for communication.

When you look at any organized team building event you start to realize the important role of naturalizing healthy communication between team members.

What natural communication does for a team is it aligns its members toward the common goal they all share. It creates a common “language” geared toward success.

There are many different techniques and team building lessons you can utilize to align your team’s communication. . .

Two Simple Lessons One is easily recognizable, one might be a little foreign:

1. Brainstorming - The old stand-by. Here are some lessons and tools to ensure you get the most out of your next brainstorming session.



2. Rice Storm - The Japanese version of a Brainstorm. Adapted from Michael Michalko's great business book "Thinkertoys," Rice Storming is a great variation on the old stand-by.   

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