Who Builds Your Team?

If you are the leader of a team, then it is you. The success or failure of any team building effort depends on your ability and willingness to make things happen. Leaders lead, followers follow.

At exeQserve, our team building facilitators make it a point to lay this down clearly. I talk to whoever is the leader of a requesting organization and clarify both his/her role and ours as workshop facilitators.

If it is an organization-wide team building, we talk to all the managers and let them in on the strategy and tell them what role they will be playing during the workshop and then more importantly, after. This way, we already have them as ally or co-facilitators right at the start of the workshop.

I personally believe that more than the other members, leaders must approach a team building effort with the right mindset. In fact, I would go on to propose that in order to get maximum result from a team building effort, leaders should go through a leadership workshop that has a proper focus on building and managing teams. They need to understand that it is a process and not a one time event. Teams don't get built over night, much less over a day or a few hours. The purpose of facilitating team building workshop is to jumpstart the process. Effective leaders use the momentum to push their agenda for strengthening teamwork in the group.

Speaking of mindset, here is what I believe leaders must be able to do in order to strengthen their teams; if they want to build trust, they must encourage it, if they want to improve communication, they must open all possible channels, if they want commitment, accountability and focus on results, they must model them. Yes, talk is cheap action speaks louder than words. A leader must be clear about this and then some, before she goes to a team building event with her team. When leaders fail to follow through on their team building commitments, teams go to a worse shape than before. Hence, it is critical for leaders to take their role in this process seriously and passionately.

If you feel you need help facilitating a team building workshop for your group, call us at exeQserve and let us show you how you as a leader can succeed in building your team.  Check out my download page to see exeqserve's various team building related programs.