Building your team

What does it take to get your entire team moving forward?

Dr. John Maxwell says, “It takes teamwork to make the dream work.”

But how do you get your team to deliver superior performance? Attend team-building seminars?

Climbing trees, walking on ropes blindfolded, carrying each other across the river – these help. But the boost these bring to team performance may be short-lived. When the muscle pains are relieved, and photos taken with the cell-phone become the only tangible reminder of the team-building seminar, business owners fear that everything will go back to “business as usual.”

Meanwhile, barking orders, issuing threats, applying intimidation, resorting to manipulation – these never move a team to surpass goals or move to new levels of creativity and productivity.

So what’s a longer-lasting means of getting the team to perform excellently? Here are a few ideas to move your people to do their best and be their best.

1. SAY IT RIGHT AND SHOW IT RIGHT.

From being a fault finder, shift to being a good finder. Recognize the good things your people do, and articulate your appreciation. A tap on the shoulder, a thumbs-up sign or a sincere “Good Job!” pointing to the specific thing that was done well will do the job.

Ken Blanchard, in his classic business book The One Minute Manager, says, “Most people go all over the place trying to find people doing wrong and reprimanding them, when the best thing to do is to go all over the place trying to find people doing right and complimenting them.”

Also, make it a habit to say “Thank You!” It shows great appreciation. Warning: This gesture will be reciprocated! And won’t cost you or the company anything. Leaders should pass this habit along to team members, and make it part of the culture within the organization. Saying thank you is the most cost-effective reward you can give.

To effectively communicate with your people, you have to be connected to them. There’s a lot of communications happening in the work place, but there’s very little understanding and interaction taking place. It’s because the connection isn’t there. So let me propose this equation: S<L> + CO = GR8 COM.

Speak less Listen more plus Chill Out equals Great Communications.

Control your anger, really listen to what the other party is saying, say things that are helpful and sensible, chill out, and you will arrive at Great Communications.

Be specific and be genuine. Doing so makes the difference.

2. MAKE SURE EVERYONE’S ON THE SAME PAGE

There’s a natural tendency for team members to wander off and get side-tracked. So the leader has to make sure that everyone’s on the same page.

Set clear objectives. Clear objectives provide a natural motivation for people stay focused and complete a project.

Provide the big picture. Get everyone in the team involved so there’s shared ownership. Don’t just deal with tasks and to-do’s. Make sure that everyone knows why the to-do’s have to be done. Each team member should know the value he’s providing and how exactly he fits into the value chain.

3. HAVE FUN TOGETHER

Somebody once said that a team that has fun together stays together. Just imagine how much the team would accomplish if every single member would wake up every working-day morning and say, “I can’t wait to do this today!” You can reach your goals suffering and being miserable along the way. Or you can reach your goals while having fun and enjoying (without compromising the quality of the job, of course). And here’s the irony of it all: The more fun the team has, the better the performance of the members.

So inject humor, laughter and play into the most challenging and stressful of situations. Let go of inhibitions, and let the creative juices of the team flow.

4. BUILD TRUST AND BUILD YOUR PEOPLE

Practice integrity, and mold your people into becoming people of trust and integrity. Every situation is an opportunity to build character. So step out and connect with your people. When you grow your bottom line, work and business will be good. When you grow your people, work and business will be great!

There are more ideas on building teams to do their best and be their best. For now, concentrate on these 4 ideas. Let these help you become a leader who inspires, motivates and builds a winning team.

Remember: You are only as good as the people you lead!

(Spend two whole days with Francis Kong developing your leadership skills this May 21-22 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries, contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115.)