The Secret of Succesful Team Building

Building an effective team is hard work. First, you have to select the
right people to be on the team. This involves finding high-performing
­, engaged employees with the right skills to do the job. Once youhave
completed this difficult task, you have to handle the even more
difficult task of establishing how work in the team will be done and
how communication will flow. It's still not over after that! Now, you
have the headache of dealing with the conflicts that are almost
certain to arise. Talk about hard work!
We hate to add even more to this already full plate, but before any of
the actual work gets started, you have to earn the buy-in of your team
members. Buy-in is earning the support and dedication of your team
members. It is a fancy way of saying everyone is on board! You need
buy in from everyone and you need to earn it early. Otherwise, you run
the risk that your team members will approach their work with
half-hearted enthusiasm and, in turn, produce subpar work. Team
members with buy in understand why the team's work is important and
they are more likely to do the work enthusiastically and at a
high-quality level.
This buy in does not just appear magically when you form your team. It
has to be earned. Luckily, there are a few steps you can take to make
it happen:
1) Make sure the resources the team needs to succeed are in place.
There are few things worse than being told to accomplish a task
without the money, time, or other necessary support to do it. Your
team may be full of high performers,but they are not supermen or
superwomen. Make sure that the money and administrative support your
team needs to work is ready to go. It is also important to make sure
that the team hasa realistic time frame to complete their work. Be
realistic about setting project deliverable dates so that your team
does not feel the need to rush through important tasks.
2) Tie team goals to company goals. If your team members are
passionate about the work that your company does, that does not
automatically mean that passion will transfer over to each team
project. Sometimes, the day-to-day grind can leave employees jaded.
Remind your team members on a regular basis of how this project helps
the company achieve itslarger goals.
3) Make it clear to employees how they will benefit from achieving the
teams goals. Even if your team members are passionate about the
company's goals, they will still have goals for their own professional
development. Share with individual team members how this projectcan
help them advance professionally. ­ These reasons can include the
chance to meet influential people, learn new skills or travel to
somewhere new. Employees are more likely to be highly engaged in team
projects when there is a way for them to develop professionally. ­
There are many hurdles to cross in team building, but gaining buy in
from each member of your team is crossing one of the biggest hurdles.
A team that is committed to the work they are doing will be engaged,
dedicated and produce high-quality work. What more could you ask for?