Teams are everywhere and without team building skills, team performance and productivity would not exist. However, if a team is not functioning properly, it better bring in some team building skills to identify and address the issues, turn the page and start a new way!

Teams building skills are not complicated. As a team leader you just need to know how to facilitate. The rest is up to the team, and that is the team building skill - letting them solve the problem or issues, not you.

Facilitation is the simple act of asking questions and clarifying answers, recording them and proceeding in an organized fashion to accomplish your desired outcome. Your job as a facilitator is to facilitate the outcome for the team, not to tell them what it would be.

A simple process that I use quite often with teams, relating to team building skills, is to have everyone on the team identify in percentage terms how effective they are as team. They would write down their number from 1-100 on a post it now, fold it and pass it to me, so that their answer stays confidential.

All answers would be gathered and an average would be tabulated. On a flip chart I would then post that average number reflecting team effectiveness on the left side of the flip chart above a + sign. I would then draw a vertical line down the centre of the flip chart and place a triangle - representing areas of improvement, on the right side with the remaining number to make it 100%.

The team building skills now come into play. I would break up the team into at least two groups, or more, each with their own flip chart. I would ask them to write down all the good things, under the +, that assisted us to the existing level of effectiveness, and to write down all the areas of improvement under the triangle on the right.

Breaking up the groups into teams to accomplish something on their own is a team building skill. They feel empowered and want to help improve the team as well.

Once completed, have each team share what they wrote with the rest of the teams. First each team reviews the positives and applauds each other. Then we proceed to the delta, the areas for improvement. As they are doing this they are applying team building skills without realizing it.

Each team reads them out, but as a facilitator you have to ask the question to the group, is that under our control? If not (bracket) it. If it is leave it.

When all groups complete their presentation, as a full team have them group, categorize and prioritize all the areas for improvement from all teams. They are applying team building skills here too.

You should have three to five areas of improvement identified.

Now take each area and assign it to one of the teams to come up with a draft solution to present back to the whole group. Another team building skill activity.

When presenting, let them handle the questions, and add in any feedback they want. The result will be that they solved their own problems. The main reason for team building skills

Now for implementation. Ask who wants to volunteer to champion, and / or participate in the implementation of the project. You might be amazed as to how many people step up. That is what the application of team building skills does.

The Bottom Line - Teams that are using team building skills in their team meetings will generate higher performance and productivity while demonstrating commitment - why? Because it is their idea, they own it and are committed to it’s implementation.

Tags: increase sales, sales coaching, sales strategies, marketing and sales strategies