In our everyday way of life, we have to consistently make decisions in our life that will effect they way we live, walk, talk and eat. Some times we have to make critical decisions that would effect a certain entity. For example, sometimes we have to decide whether to close down a certain food outlet in order to save cost and how are we going to compensate the workers who are going to be retrenched. Another example is whether a certain plot will be the best possible place to build our office.
We make decisions either independently and together as a group. It all depends on the situation. For the sake of this essay, I will concentrate on how an effective can be build in order to make good effective decisions.
You cannot build a great team without good team members. There is a saying “ You can lose with them but you cannot win without them.” In building an effective team, you also can improve yourself. You will be able to add value to your team. In a team it takes one to know one, show one and grow. Team players can be found or they can be natured to be effective players and have leadership qualities. Both approaches are possible.
I will touching on what is need for team members to be effective in a team. I hope will find this essay enjoyable to read and come back to it if you need any references so lets begin our journey!!!!!
Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape
- Michael McGriff
Let’s take a moment to reflect on this quote. Don’t you think it makes a lot of sense. Take a rubber band for example, it is flexible and it is very difficult to bent it out of shape but it can form a lot of shapes. The same thing goes for an effective flexible team. If the team is flexible it can adapt to changes make changes more easily. If there was rigidity, team players would find it difficult to adapt and makes changes. If team members are flexible and adaptable, they are teachable. They will be able to learn new things, try out new ideas and change with the time.
They have to be emotionally secure also so that they will not be afraid to change. They will be able to evaluate a new situation or change their responsibilities based on its merit. They will be able to accept addition members into to the team instead of being rigid or suspicious whenever a new member is added to the team.
Flexibilty aids in the creativeness of its members. They will able to create new ideas. They will be willing to try them out. By being able to have new ideas may also help a team get out of trouble during difficult times for example when a company is failing because of recession.
The team members have to be service minded. If they focus only on themselves they will likely make decisions that will be to their benefit and not to others
All your strength is in union,
All you danger is in discord
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Collaboration is mulitiplication
- John C. Maxwell
Great challenges require great teamwork, collaboration is needed. Each team member must bring something to the table that adds value to the relationship and synergy to the team.
To become an effective collaborative team few area have to be examined. Team members havfoe to work together and not compete with each other. However the most common scenario is that team members happen to compete with each other because they have goals, hopes and dreams to achieve but if members can complete one another then than they can function as a unit and not hurt each other. It will be productive for the whole team. Tasks can get moving faster instead of moving slowly because of each member trying to compete with another member.
Team members must be supportive and not suspicious of one another. They must learn to trust each other and complete each other. If team members are always working out for themselves and are suspicious of each other then they have to change their mind set in order to be effective.
Team members have to concentrate on the team and not on themselves only. They have to make decisions that will involve the team members. If the team works together, remarkable things will be able to be achieved. Working together helps to harness every bodies skills and one very important thinking that all team members must have is to think win win. King Soloman of ancient Israel observed “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Usually when you collaborate with others, you win, they win and the team wins. – taken from “The 17 Essential Qualities Of A Team Player by John C. Maxwell.”
An effective team had to be committed. If and only if they team is committed, they can move mountains. Just reflect on the quote below :-
Ordinary people with commitment can make an extraordinary impact on the their world.
- John C. Maxwell
Team members must have commitment. It helps when there are obstacles. Commitment will guide the team through difficult times. You need not have to be talented to have commitment or to be committed. Commitment is a choice. Team members have a choice whether to be committed or not. If the team members are able to work together and be committed to a common cause ; then it is possible to accomplish anything.
Team members must base their commitment on solid life values. For example, if team members have loyalty as their value, they will stay loyal. Team members will not abandon each other during troubled times.
Team members must commit themselves to long term achievement. Sometimes achievement do not come at once. They may come in small quantities. Committing to long term relationships is good for personal growth. Relationship building, financial investment or professional success.
Think like a wise man
But communicate in the language of people
- William Butler Yeats
Team members have to communicate with each other and they must do effectively if good results are expected. Team members cannot isolate themselves. If they do, there will be problems. Team members must know each other. For example, when we took a trip to Sentosa and worked together as a team. We discovered each others strength posses and weaknesses and a bond was formed. When team members know each other, goals and methods, the more they will understand and care about the team. Team members must be able to stay connected with their teammates. They must make sure that they are able to contact each other easily.
With communication, team members can discover if there are any problems or conflicts in the team. Some leadership Gurus like John C Maxwell states that these problems must be solved within 24 hours, if not the situation will fester. Sometimes there might be tension between team members. If there is tension then special attention is needed to solve the problem.
Communication between team members can become blurred at times. It is because sometimes team members have different backgrounds and interpret things differently. It is very important to keep the communicated information simple and there may also be a need to write in down in order for team members to understand.
Open communication fosters trusts. Trust increases ownership and ownership increases participation. Having hidden agendas, communicating via a third party and sugarcoating bad news will hurt the team relationship.
People usually remember how well you do a job and not how fast you accomplish it. Quality is very important. In order to produce quality results, one of the most important factor that team members must have is competency. If they don’t have sent them for training.
If team members are competent and possess the other factors that I have stated before then they will committed to excellence. They will never settle for average. They would not perform mediocre work. They will focus their energy and effort on what they do well, giving all they have got. They pay attention to details. They don’t take small issues or things for granted. Even small jobs are important to them. They perform with consistency and give their best all the time.
It is very important that the right jobs are delegated to the right members. Team members must pay attention to implementation and must come together to discuss how to improve on the tasks that the team is undertaking.ved
My next area of focus will be on dependability. I will start off with a quote from John C Maxwell.
Dependability is more that ability alone
- John C Maxwell
A successful and effective must always depend on each other. They cannot work as if they are in their own world. In life we cannot exist alone. Somehow we are always dependable on somebody. On a team, members who can be depended on are an asset. Those that cannot be depended are liabilities.
Team members must trust each others motives. If one of the team members continually puts himself or herself and his or her agenda ahead of what’s best for the team, he or she has proven himself or herself to be undependable.
Team members must be responsible for what they do. They must have the ability to take on responsibility. If a person is irresponsible we cannot depend on that person. Effective members must be able to use initiatives. They must use it to male good judgment.
There must also be consistency in a dependable team. To be effective, team members must have discipline. Being discipline is doing what you really do not want to do so that you can do what you really want to do. For example, you may not be a good dancer but your desire is to become one so you keep on practicing despite of the difficulties. Eventually you will become a good dancer.
In a team aspect, for example, if the team is not very good in defense but if they keep on practicing and correcting their mistakes, eventually their defense will become good. An effective must develop discipline thinking. They must think correctly and challenge themselves mentally. This will help the team in whatever the team endeavour’s to do. They must be able to control their emotions and must not lose their temper when they face difficulties. They also take action. There cannot be a situation where there is talk but no action. If you want milk, you must go and purchase it, you cannot wait for the milk to come to you.
To be an effective team, there must also be a leader who can imspire a team to do their best. The leader must believe in his team members as they can tell whether the leader believes in them or not.
Team members can also help each other. They can understand what their team members value. They listen to discover what their team members talk about and watch what they can spend their money on. That kind of knowledge, along with desire to relate to their fellow team members creates a strong connection between team members.
In this way, we help to develop each other in areas like gifts, talent and uniqueness. This on the whole will benefit the team. Team leaders must work to make themselves better, not only because it benefits the personally but because it helps the team to work together on his shooting skills so that one of his team members passes the ball to him he is able to score. He not only develops himself but helps the team to win.
Team members must be enthusiastic in their tasks if they are not, they will not give their best to their team. A team with enthusiasm takes responsibility for their own enthusiasm. They remain positive, upbeat and passionate on what they are doing. To be enthusiastic, you need to start acting that way. If you wait for the right time to be enthusiastic, you may never become enthusiastic.
Team members have to believe in what they are doing. This help to sparkle the fire of enthusiasm inside them and once that starts, all you need is to keep feeding the flames. Enthusiasm can be contagious, he or she can spread that enthusiasm to other members. When the whole team becomes enthusiastic, the possibilities for the team are endless.
A team with enthusiasm is willing to sacrifice their time in order to accomplish a task. For example, building floats for our national day parade. It takes a lot of men hours to build and decorate the floats but in the end the team takes pride in the completed float and is very happy to see their float being paraded before a huge crowd. They are willing to come back to build more floats.
For a team to be successful. It needs intentional people who are able to remain focus and productive, people who make every action count. Team members need a strong sense of purpose. For example, publishing educational books for the young. Team members must have a goal and it can be to publish three thousand educational books in three months.
Team members must learn how to say no. They cannot try and do everything. Sometimes there are tasks that are not relevant to the goals set. They must know how to say no to these kind of tasks. They must stay focus on their goals.
An effective team knows where the team is going. They know their mission well. They will develop enthusiasm and a burning desire to fulfill their mission. This kind of desire is indispensable.
An effective team will always follow their leader. Of course the leader himself or herself must lead the team correctly. There must be trust between the leader and his or her members.
For the team to be effective, it has to be prepared. The team need to be determine where they are heading. They have to examine the conditions that will be heading their way and determine what price they have to pay to get there.
Therefore to conclude, a team must have a strong relationship, commitment, trust, enthusiasm, respect, communicate well, be mission oriented and finally enjoy what they are doing.
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