Team Building - Definition, Importance, Types & Process
What is Team Building?
Team building is the process of bringing individuals together to build a team. Team building is required for making a strong cohesive team which works together for a common goal. Team building consists of different activities and techniques that are used by organizations, sports teams and schools so that the students and employees view each other as a part of teams who can coordinate and work together to improve overall performance.
Importance of Team Building
Any group of individuals comprises of people of different skills, values, beliefs, experience, background etc. A group of people will not be able to give high efficiency in their collective output unless they work as a team. The main objective of these team building exercises is to understand and improve team dynamics, increase communication and flexibility amongst the different members. Team building is an important aspect of team management which is important for the success for any business or organization. Team building helps to develop a bond among individuals, helps understand each other’s strengths & weaknesses, improve skills like leadership, time management, decision making etc. Team building is thus the process of making a team.
Team Building Process & Strategy
Depending upon the goals, resources available, time at disposal, budget etc team building is done. It is similar in principle but varies from company to situation to other requirements. The important steps and strategies in the team building process are as follows:
1. Define Objectives: The first step in the team building process is to identify the final objective or goal which needs to be achieved. Based on this, other criteria like team members, tasks, budget etc are decided.
2. Evaluate Current Output: The second step in the team building process is to understand the current output and the gap which is there in meeting the final objectives. This shows the extra efforts needed to achieve the final goal.
3. Design Activities & Tasks: The next step involves designing tasks and activities which would help in reaching the final goals.
4. Identify Individuals: The fourth step in the team building process is to identify individuals or employees based on their skills, experience, education etc who would be able to execute these tasks.
5. Training of Members: Once the individuals are identified, training and development of these people are done with a clear understanding of each one’s roles and responsibilities.
6. Monitor Team Effort: The next step in the team building process is to closely monitor the team effort, their behaviour etc.
7. Evaluate Team Output: The final step in the team building process is to evaluate and see the overall output of the team and compare it with the original objective which was set.
Team building is a reiterative and continuous process which requires time, patience, resources, efforts etc until an effective team is created or built.
Types of Team Building Activities
There are different types of team building exercises or activities which can help build a bond between members. A few activities are team building games, complex tasks and innovative & simple social activities that are designed to encourage the members to spend more time together and address specific needs of all the team members and work on the task at hand in a collaborative manner.
Hence, this concludes the definition of Team Building along with its overview.
This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
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