Productive team – how to build it?

Each company is made up of teams. Even in small enterprises, employees unite into groups as they work on the implementation of various projects. The whole team will do much more and better than single members thanks to the diversity of their skills and viewpoints. But the process of creating a well-integrated team is long and requires a lot of dedication from both the leader and employees.

Stages of team development

Each team, regardless of its size and industry of the company in which it operates, undergoes several stages of development. Each stage has its own characteristics and needs that indicate the level of team development.

At the first stage of orientation, team members test the boundaries, challenge themselves and get to know each other. The team then does not yet have a developed mechanism for setting goals and experiences the lack of information on the implementation of tasks. Employees, although they have a lot of willingness to work, are not so productive. At this stage, the team learns about their needs and satisfies them, which allows them to progress to subsequent stages of development.

Then comes the stage of dissatisfaction, in which employees due to uncertainty about the goal and lack of trust in the manager show their frustration and establish contacts with people with whom they cooperate on various projects. It may seem that the team at this stage is in chaos, but the stage of dissatisfaction is indispensable for solving future conflicts and appreciating differences. As Ken Blanchard said: "No stage of development is bad. Each stage is a part of the road to productivity."

During the next stage, team members start to be more actively involved in projects and get along with each other. They more often start to use the pronoun "we" instead of "I" and more effectively avoid conflicts. At the integration stage, the team's productivity grows, due to greater trust and sharing of responsibility. Employees better understand their duties and tasks, which allows them to do their job more efficiently.

Teams that have gone through the last stage - production - are characterized by high productivity and the ability to solve problems and set goals together with the leader. The team then functions like one large organism that is able to quickly and effectively find solutions during project implementation. However, this does not mean that after reaching the production stage, the team cannot continue to improve or step back in development. Changes such as increasing or decreasing number of team members or new responsibilities can throw the team for several steps back, which in turn causes the team to re-experience them.

Every team has its leader

The team leader is a person whose task is to help the group successfully pass all stages of development. The leader is to give the team members the opportunity to make their own decisions and set common goals. Skillful team management allows each employee to show their skills and realize themselves.

In the process of the team development, individual people are still very important. Due to the fact that everyone has different needs, some employees need more consultations or smaller goals. A skillful leader always senses on whom should he spend more of his time to help in the implementation of tasks.

Each team is different. Even within one company, the groups differ from each other, so the leaders choosing the approach to management take into account the specificity of their team. Numerous methods may be different in companies that have different work organization and business profile. Therefore, the role of the leader is to provide the entire team and its members with appropriate development conditions.