smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Quite often, creating a team to solve an organisational or business problem is considered the best way forward. However, teams can become a source of frustration and antagonism rather than promoting ideas and action.

This article from SmallBusiness.co.uk and Sean Connolly, director at business consultancy group Egremont, gives an overview of what it means to form part of a team and gives clues on how things can go wrong.

What is a team?
A shared objective and working together towrds that goal defines teamwork. Individual tasks may be carried out but the final objective should always be in sight. Try to remind your team members of the reason for the tasks you give them, so they can see how they fit into the whole project.

Improving your chances of success
A common reason for the failure of teams is the fact that the people in them don’t have the right skills for you to draw on. Try to avoid including people in the team just to make up the numbers. Sit down in advance and select the most appropriate individuals for the task in hand.

You might want to create a list of the problems that you might face and match it to the skills of your staff so you have the best people for the job.

Allocating tasks clearly
Another reason for failure is that tasks are not clearly allocated. If there is confusion over who is responsible for the different parts of the project in hand, an important aspects could be forgotten or work could be repeated.

Make sure everyone understands the purpose of the team and is aware of what is expected of them. Meet with your team to explain this and follow it up with a confirmation email.

If there is a hierarchy to your team, make sure that this is clear and agreed on to avoid any power struggles.

Managing the team
Once the project is underway, make sure that there are individual milestones in place for measuring the success of your team members. This will allow you to manage the team effectively. If someone is falling behind, you may be able to allocate another team member to the task to keep the project afloat.

Giving feedback
Lastly, it is important that you give, receive and share feedback while the project is ongoing and after it has finished. This will let your team members know how they are doing. Don’t be afraid of giving negative feedback but try to follow it with a constructive suggestion.

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