WHAT IS TEAM BUILDING?

Your organization is ready to roll; your officers are enthusiastic about beginning the year, and your returning and newly recruited members are eager to contribute. There are two important steps to take before you just plunge into the year’s activities – building your group into a team and determining your goals for the year.

“Team Building” is the process of forming several (or many) diverse individuals into a “team,” a group that has several things in common:

• Agreement on a common vision of what they are working toward as a group (goals).
• Agreement on what they are able to accomplish as a group (objectives).
• Agreement on the specific roles in which each person will be working to accomplish their objectives.
• Open information flow and commitment to other group members.

In order for your team to work together effectively, they need to feel comfortable around each other. The more they know and appreciate each other as people as well as contributors to the organization, the better they’ll work together.

Much of this information and appreciation will evolve naturally over time, but the school year is so short, that in order to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings or difficulties, it is very helpful to speed up this process. And it’s easy to do!

HOW TO BUILD A TEAM

One of the most efficient and effective ways to “do team building” is to set aside a two or three hour block of time very early in the year. A comfortable, informal environment works best – someone’s living room, a carpeted meeting room where you can all sit on the floor, a quiet lounge with comfortable furniture. Make team building your only agenda item.

Your task is to share with each other information about who you are, what you think about the organization, how you expect you’ll fit in. The following questions are examples of those you can ask to start the discussion and keep it on track. Make sure each person answers every question. The point is to listen to each other.

• Why were you interested in becoming an officer/member?
• What do you expect to learn from this experience?
• What is the biggest asset you bring to this organization?
• What is your biggest fear about what could happen in the next semester/year?
• What is your own perception of yourself as a leader/member? Include costs and benefits – to yourself and to the organization.
• What did you feel best about last semester/year? What did you feel worst about?
• Share any special interest areas, skills, areas of expertise. Also share areas you feel weak in and would like information about, support or training in.
• What do you want to see this organization do?

WHEN

While team building is essential to newly formed groups or an organization with a large number of new members, there are other times it can be effective as well. You might find it helpful to use team building techniques when:

• members seem bored or irritable
• members appear to be going off in different directions or drifting away from the group
• there is a great deal of conflict or “infighting”
• members have been apart for a while, i.e., breaks, vacations, etc.
• you want to take a break from the normal routine or boost team spirit

TEAM BUILDING EXERCISES WHICH CAN BE USED ANYTIME:

Self-disclosure/Relationship Building – helps break down barriers and allows members to get to know one another on a more “intimate” level. Very appropriate for groups where people will be working closely together and/or for groups where members will be together for a long period of time.

Intimate Interviews: Members pair off and interview one another for five minutes each. Partners introduce each other to the group speaking in the first person (using “I”) as if s/he were the person being introduced. They should be sure to include everything s/he can remember about their partner.

Personal Crest: Members make a personal coat of arms in which they express important aspects about themselves through drawings or short phrases.
Possible topics/questions to include in the crest: the most significant event in your life; how you react when upset; your primary goal for the year; where you would like to be in five years.

Trust – these exercises generally rely on some form of physical contact but have the added element of requiring participants to trust one another in order to complete the activity. Appropriate in most any group, but be careful that if someone is really afraid that they are not pressured into participating.

Trust Walks: Members take turns being blindfolded and led by another on a short walk.

Trust Falls: Members stand on a raised platform (a chair will suffice) and fall backwards into the arms of the other members. Make sure there are plenty of members available to catch the person to avoid possible injury!

Physical – helps eliminate tension and distance between people, makes them more relaxed and comfortable with one another. Appropriate in most groups, but beware of individual reactions to touching/being touched.

Human Knot: Members stand in a circle and extend their right hands into the middle and clasp the hand of another. Repeat the process using the left hand. Untangle the knot without unclasping hands.

Cooperation – helps people learn to work together. These exercises can give an indication about the roles members will play in group situations, e.g., thinker, leader, organizer, dominator, follower, encourager. Appropriate in any group, particularly if tasks demand teamwork.

Perfect Square: Squares of construction paper of different colors are cut into odd shapes. Members each take a piece and then work with others with pieces of like color to form a perfect square. This exercise is often done in silence with no talking permitted.

Group Tasks – everyday tasks that must be accomplished by the group are done rather than contrived activities. This is a superb method for increasing member involvement and commitment in any group. Oftentimes necessary for a group to remain a “group.”

Brainstorming: Members are asked to contribute ideas regarding a specific problem/question facing the group. Ideas are recorded without judgment.

Group Goal-Setting: Members participate in reviewing and setting the group’s goals and objectives. People are more committed to a course of action they helped to choose.

Other: Parties, picnics or meals, and retreats (field trips, etc.) done together as a group help to break the monotony of regular meetings and provide an opportunity for members to get back in touch with each other on a social basis. Appropriate anytime in any group but particularly helpful when motivation is lacking, morale is low, or members are drifting apart.

After you have completed your team building exercise, it is necessary to spend time as a group discussing this experience. Part of any team building process is sharing what has been learned and experienced; what members liked and dislike; and, most importantly, how they felt while participating. Team building is hindered if inadequate time is allotted for discussion, or if individual feelings surface and are not dealt with.

See also the sections:

• Organizational Goal Setting
• Brainstorming
• Motivating Your Members
• Orienting New Members
• Conflict Management
• Group Decision Making

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