About Team Development & Learning
After all of the time spent to advertise open positions, recruit applicants, interview candidates and hire and train new employees, it may seem like a company has invested enough in its workforce. But to really get those employees enmeshed in both their jobs and alongside other new and long-term staffers, working some team development and learning exercises into the routine may be beneficial. Also known as team building, team development may get an organization's workers "cheering" each other on.
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Benefits
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Establishing a program of team development and learning may be a two-way street of benefits for an organization and its employees. Benefits of team building include increased productivity, better communications between employees, higher levels of trust and feelings of support and greater job satisfaction, according to a writer on the University of California, San Francisco website. A writer on the Community Toolbox website also points out that conducting team building can give employees a greater sense of ownership in their projects and help them feel more responsible for their work and connected to the organization.
Levels
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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers a four- to five-step program on how to develop teams. Its first stage, forming, includes alerting participants of their membership on the team, assigning tasks and yielding questions. In stage two, storming, the team begins to experience emotions such as frustration, excitement and anger, and may divide in on itself. The third stage, norming, corrects this and gets members back to feeling cohesive, working together as a team to solve problems and reach goals. The fourth stage, performing, is where the team realizes the effect of its work and revels in accomplishment or sets about correcting errors. According to MIT, not all teams/organizations consider stage five, termination/ending, as part of the process. At this stage, teams learn about their transition to the next project or group and experience emotions about their activity.
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Where to Get It
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Team development and learning may be as basic or intricate as desired. Sometimes just getting the team into a room together and posting ideas on sticky notes on a wall can be an ideal way to jump-start a project. Professional team building organizations exist across the country, made up of trained individuals who will tailor a program to the workforce and lead the activities. Another option is to do an offsite team development activity where learning is disguised as fun -- bring team members to a baseball game, bowling alley or amusement park and have people pair up with someone outside their department to get a bird's-eye view of what each other does.
Precautions
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The old adage "you can't please everyone" is applicable in a team development and learning setting. Even in a small office of employees, workers are going to have different opinions and preferences. Using a team building activity such as trust falls or blind walks, for example, could scare employees or make some uncomfortable with the touching required to perform the task. Scheduling team building activities during off hours could disrupt employees' personal lives, but scheduling them during work time prohibits employees from getting their work done. Teams also may not get along, or foster resentment towards members who seem to be slacking off or not contributing as much.
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