If you were promoted to a new leadership position in the company, what methods would you use to build the team? How do you do team building quickly to bring your team together? You know, a collective is different from a team. If you can't build a great team quickly, chances are you won't stay in that position very long. Little A below is the most typical example. He was transferred from his new position within six months. So how do you activate a team? Oriental Publishing House’s latest series of books dedicated to the Japan Organization Promotion Association’s “Seeking Benefits from Meetings” is a book that specifically explains how to build a healthy and dynamic organization from different perspectives. There are four books in this series, "Seeking Benefits from Meetings 1: Good Meetings Are Planned", "Seeking Benefits from Meetings 2: Visualizing Your Meetings", "Seeking Benefits from Meetings 3: Let the Meeting Hold the Focus" ", "Ask benefits from meetings 4: Use meetings to activate the team". The "Demand Benefit from Meetings" book series is by far the most authoritative book on improving the effectiveness of organizational meetings and team building, and is a must-have for every person in the workplace!
Although I work tirelessly to be the top management...
When it comes to the topic of team building, I always think of my good friend Xiao Example of A. The story is a bit long, so I’ll try to briefly introduce it to you here.
Little A stood out among our colleagues who entered the company at the same time, and was promoted to section chief 15 years after entering the company. This is a brand new department, and its members are all transferred from other departments. A brand-new department is supposed to gather many elites, but among the new department members are the remaining people who were "abandoned" by the original department, as well as technical backbones who are older than Little A, and even temporary employees. It can be said that it is a mixed bag. .
Little A believed that "the beginning is the most critical". After a hurried greeting with his subordinates on the first day of taking office, he convened a speech with all employees. In his speech, Xiao A conveyed the company's expectations for the new department, his own determination, and established new goals and declarations for the entire department. Then each employee was encouraged to take turns talking about their areas of competence and personal work goals.
The next day, all employees gathered in the conference room and comprehensively analyzed the goals of the entire team. Although the employees were a little confused by this sudden surge of momentum,
but under the initiative of Xiao A, everyone also expressed their determination, personal work goals, and made guarantees for this. . At the welcome meeting held for Little A, everyone expressed their appreciation and expectations for Little A. At this time, Little A thought that he had successfully unified the consciousness of the entire team.
Although someone played the flute, no one danced (no one responded)...
When Little A thought he had succeeded After unifying the team consciousness, he began to demand work results in his daily work, refused to listen to complaints and explanations, and always required employees to complete their work to perfection. In terms of business, he also requires his subordinates to thoroughly implement the "Spinach Rule" (reporting, liaison, and discussion. The pronunciation of "Reporter" in Japanese is the same as spinach, so it is called the Spinach Rule. - Translator's Note) . Once a major problem occurs, all employees will be summoned urgently to express their ideas forcefully.
However, Little A’s strict management did not promote performance growth, but instead made mistakes occur more frequently. Most employees have gradually developed a style of duplicity and do not communicate with their superiors, and Little A cannot obtain timely information from the work site. Cooperation among employees is uncoordinated and there is an increasing tendency to pass the buck to each other.
Every time, Little A would severely criticize and give detailed instructions. On the contrary, this makes employees' morale become lower and lower, and their work performance deteriorates. It can be said that a situation has been formed where "someone plays the flute but no one dances". In the end, Little A failed to achieve significant results and was transferred to other departments six months later.
The relationship between team members determines the quality of the team
What went wrong with Little A’s approach? Woolen cloth? There are indeed problems with Little A’s overly autocratic leadership style and excessive pursuit of performance. However, in a company, this leadership style is sometimes needed on different occasions and at different times. This is not a reason to blame Little A.
The main problem of Little A is that he is eager to pursue results but ignores team building.
Like expecting plants to sprout where there is no soil, he fundamentally got the order of things wrong.
A team is a collection of people with the same purpose. When people come together, relationships between people are formed. The so-called organization not only represents a collection of people, but also represents the combination of various relationships. Therefore, the quality of team relations, that is, the quality of the relationship between team members, has a great impact on whether the team can effectively play its role.
For example, work can only proceed smoothly if there is good communication and communication with your boss. Only close-knit groups can create a lot of high-quality ideas. On the contrary, if mutual trust is low and there is no awareness of working together to complete the work, no matter how perfect the management system and rules are, it will be difficult to achieve the desired results.
Of course, hierarchical relationships, power, positions, etc. are also types of relationships between people. "You did it for me...and I'll do it for you..." This kind of equivalent exchange is also one of them. In this way, making people play a role through power or equivalent exchange is a common method in today's enterprises, but this alone cannot truly arouse the power of the team. Because people all have feelings.
Emotions determine results to a great extent
Meetings, discussions, seminars, training... we use the name of discussion Through mutual cooperation between each other, the purpose of creation or learning is achieved. In order to obtain countermeasures, ideas and plans to solve problems through discussion, or to achieve specific results, two elements are essential.
One is information resources such as facts, knowledge, experience, etc.; the other is the thinking process of analyzing information and recombining it. Taking a computer as an example, the former is data and the latter is program. Enter data and programs into the computer, and the most appropriate answer will automatically come out. Whenever you enter the same data and program, you get the same answer.
However, humans are animals with emotions, which is different from computers. In different psychological states, the data and procedures will be different. Even with the same data and programs, the answers will change due to differences in emotions in different states.
What's more, when multiple people are discussing, the relationship and emotions between each other affect the outcome to a great extent. This kind of situation is also easier to show in daily life. For example, you don't like to talk in front of annoying people, and you can't help but say a lot of things you shouldn't say when you are angry. No matter how others persuade you, if you feel that you can't reach a consensus, you won't agree. Humans are animals dominated by emotions. If they cannot handle emotional issues well, information resources and thinking processes will not be able to function flexibly.
The difference between collective and team
Just like the example introduced to you at the beginning, it is not that people gather together Together, we can form an effective team. Even if they have the same subject, their consciousness may not be unified. If you don't do a good warm-up exercise, you won't be able to communicate well, and you won't have high emotions and motivation.
Do you know the difference between a collective and a team (organization)? For example, a collection of tourists led by a tour guide holding a flag is called a collective. In contrast, players who fight together in a football match are called a team. Teams have three characteristics that collectives do not.
(1) A common framework
Purposes, goals, norms, steps, tasks, etc. To unify many people, there must be a common framework frame. If not, it would be nothing more than a collection of scattered individuals, unable to carry out unified activities and unable to realize the functions of a team.
(2) Enthusiasm for mutual cooperation
The so-called enthusiasm for mutual cooperation is the mentality of "everyone works together". Even with the same framework, if members have negative thoughts such as "just do their own thing" or "don't like working with that guy", they will not be able to form a team. Everyone must not only strive for themselves, but also have the awareness of dedication to the team in order to effectively play the role of the team.
(3) Adjust the team’s awareness and action direction
If you do not adjust the team’s actions and awareness, the enthusiasm for collaboration that you finally have will be abandoned halfway, and the team will not be able to effectively play its role. . Specifically, it is necessary to adjust the way of thinking and action direction through active communication and exchange.
If a team cannot communicate adequately, it cannot be called a team.
Team building
At the beginning of the negotiation, the assembled groups have a common framework and establish mutual trust. to enhance the enthusiasm for collaborative work and create an environment suitable for communication and communication. This series of processes is called team building. That is, in order to turn a simple group into a team, the mutual unity of team consciousness and actions must be adjusted.
As a team leader or a facilitator responsible for meetings, projects and other process activities, you must enable the team to fully exert its strength in a short period of time. Therefore, team building becomes the first and most important topic of the event.
Furthermore, the status of the team is constantly changing, and we must constantly observe and promote the development and growth of the team's strength. This requires us to respond to various situations very carefully. It is not an exaggeration to say that team building determines results.
Two days and one night of team building training
Now, use the team building methods that will be introduced in this book to Look at an example of successful team building and compare it with the previous example.
Little B is not the smart type like Little A. However, everyone thinks that most of the projects he is responsible for are very dynamic and successful. Maybe it’s because Little B serves as the leader of volunteer activities in his spare time, and he is very good at mobilizing the enthusiasm of others. Therefore, Little B took over Little A's position.
On the day he took office, Little B hurriedly chatted with everyone and made a suggestion: conduct two days and one night of collective training activities. I hope to use the conference room of the company's suburban sanatorium to communicate with everyone in a relaxed atmosphere.
Step one: During the training, everyone first explained their mood and expectations at the time, and conducted the "Check In" activity.
Check In (no limit on the number of people, takes 20 minutes, no need to prepare items)
This is at the beginning of the meeting Before, a relaxing and representative icebreaker. Everyone should share with everyone the recent events around them or the news (good & fresh) that they are interested in in order, and each person should take about one minute. The topic is optional, but try to choose something that is easy to describe. The moderator can also prompt some topics related to the meeting according to the theme of the meeting.
Examples of topics
① Things that you are happy about (care about) recently.
②The current mood or feelings at the scene.
③ Reasons for attending the meeting or expectations for the meeting.
④ Thoughts on the theme of the meeting.
In short, the purpose of this activity is to allow everyone to start communicating in a relaxed atmosphere, so that everyone will readily accept what everyone says without denying it. In addition, the host does not need to comment after everyone speaks or dig into the content deeply. The most important thing is to proceed smoothly, easily and orderly. There is no need to be competitive in the activity and distinguish the good from the bad. The key is to complete it smoothly.
For some people who are embarrassed or not used to it, the host can casually prompt: "How about something?" to promote the speech. After everyone speaks, everyone applauds together, which also helps to create a sense of unity in the meeting. In order to avoid overly lengthy topics, the moderator can give an example to guide everyone before starting.
The layout of the seats can be U-shaped or circular, so that everyone can see each other's smiling faces. In addition, if you do it while eating sweets and drinking tea, it can make the scene more relaxed and enjoyable.
Step 2: Then, each group of five people will compete in the height of the paper tower ("paper tower"). Through this activity, everyone experienced the importance of collaboration.
Paper Tower Game (no limit on the number of people, it takes 30 minutes, and paper needs to be prepared)
The Paper Tower Game is passed Games that use group cooperation to learn the key points of group activities such as leadership, obedience, participation, and communication are representative exercises in team building methods. It can also be played using straws instead of paper (straw tower game).
First divide into several groups and give each group 30 to 40 pieces of A4 paper. Use the same number of A4 papers to build a paper tower that can stand independently on the ground, and compare the construction within the specified time. The height of the paper tower. Before starting to build the paper tower, each group has 10 to 15 minutes to discuss combat strategies. During this period, touching the paper is prohibited. After the activity begins, each group takes 3 to 5 minutes to build a paper tower and compete for the height of the paper tower at the end. During this activity, I believe each group will change its previous battle plan and generate new opinions and ideas.
The purpose of this activity is not to win or lose, but to think about how to smoothly promote team activities through different experiences and reviews. Through review, you can learn the essentials of teamwork through establishing combat strategies, assigning tasks, and group discussions.
Step 3: In the afternoon, we entered the theme of this training "Leader's Integration."
The purpose is to integrate Little B with the entire team members through mutual self-analysis. During the activity, correct guidance and Little B’s frank and informal personality complemented each other perfectly. By the end of the activity, the sense of distance between them had been completely eliminated. This atmosphere lasted until the dinner party in the evening, and everyone's laughter continued until late.
Leaders Integration (20 people, 60 minutes, whiteboard)
This The function of activities is to promote team leaders to integrate into the team as quickly as possible when establishing a new organization or new project, thereby accelerating team building. This activity can also be called "Mutual Understanding" (Assimilation). It can not only deepen the mutual understanding between the leader and the team as soon as possible, but also promote the team to have unified plans, policies and goals, and coordinate the plans between the leader and team members. Formulating also helps a lot.
1) Opening
First, the organizer states the purpose of the event, the leaders and team members’ expectations for each other, and explains the organizer’s role in the entire event. function (promoting active communication between both parties, controlling time, maintaining order, etc.). Finally, a brief explanation of the steps and rules for conducting the activity was given, and a wish for everyone's cooperation was expressed.
2) Collect questions from team members
The team leader temporarily leaves the room and goes to other rooms. During this period, the organizer should collect questions from everyone about the team and the team leader and write them in Whiteboard. The name of the person who asked each question is prohibited during recording.
①Understanding and opinions of leaders.
②Things that leaders want to know more about.
③What expectations and wishes do you have for leaders?
④What contributions can you make to the team?
3) Prepare to answer questions
Team members take a short break, and the leader returns to the site to prepare for answering questions. At this time, the organizer should explain the precautions again (for example: try to analyze yourself, Do not ask for the name of the person who asked the question, take a decisive attitude towards unconstructive questions, etc.).
4) The leader answers questions
All members reappear, and the leader answers questions in order. If he encounters a question he is unwilling to answer, he can also refuse to answer. In the process of answering questions, if the leader wants to make an agreement with the team or the team with the leader, please announce it directly on the spot.
5) End
After confirming the new agreement and additional questions, leaders and team members are asked to express their respective thoughts and share them with everyone. If conditions permit, everyone can go out for drinks after the event to further understand each other. Progress should be checked in the same way a few months later for new engagements and additional questions in the event.
The success of this activity depends on whether the team leader can truly unfold himself to the team. If you answer the team members' questions one by one straightforwardly, you can shorten the distance between each other. On the contrary, if you deliberately interrupt and perfunctory, the relationship will become worse. To avoid this from happening, try to create an event atmosphere that is suitable for leaders to open up to their teams.
Step 4: The next day was a nice sunny day, so everyone changed their plans and performed several "team exercises" that required physical exercise while walking outside. Some people didn't like it at first, but after actually doing it, they found it very interesting and gave rise to many new experiences and feelings.
Several representative body movement exercises
1) Trust Fall (no limit on the number of people, It takes 30 minutes, no preparation required)
Group of two people, one person puts his arms across his chest, closes his eyes and stands in front of the other person. After shouting a slogan, the person in front falls backward, and the person behind is responsible for catching the person in front. After practicing a few times, you can gradually increase the number of people and fall in different directions, and all members will catch it together. Through this activity, members can truly appreciate the meaning of the word trust.
2) Pair Walk (no limit on the number of people, takes 30 minutes, no need to prepare items)
Two people in a group, one A person is blindfolded and led by another person for a walk outdoors, allowing the blindfolded person to experience various activities other than vision. At first, you can hold each other's hands and walk side by side. Once you get used to it, try walking just by relying on the other person's voice. Through this exercise, you can not only learn to trust others, but also become more sensitive to various senses other than vision, and gain various unexpected discoveries and insights.
3) Start & Stop (no limit on the number of people, it takes 30 minutes, no need to prepare items)
A group of 5 to 6 people stand in a line Go in a straight line from the starting point to the end point with your face always facing forward. It is forbidden to look at the actions of the people next to you, shout slogans or speak while walking. Team members start and stop at the same time based on each other's feelings. It may be difficult to grasp the rhythm at first, and the disharmonious state will make people laugh or cry, but you will find that before you know it, everyone will cooperate more and more tacitly.
Step 5: After warming up the body and mind, in the afternoon we conducted a full group discussion in the style of "International Cafe" with the theme of "How to make the team more energetic" discuss. When the discussion got so intense, we even lost track of time. Finally, everyone unanimously approved five action plans, and the training session ended.
WorldCoffee (no limit on the number of people, more than 60 minutes, paper and pen)
Activity content is as follows As the name describes, it's like chatting in a cafe. The difference is that participants move their seats back and forth. In this way, even though only a few people are chatting, by moving the participants' seats, it can feel like the entire team is having a conversation.
1) Opening
Divide 5 to 6 people into groups, form a circle with a round table as the center, and spread a large piece of paper on the table. First, people at the same round table introduce themselves to each other. Then give each round table a name (hotel or shop name) according to their own preferences, and write the name in the middle of the paper.
2) Family dialogue
The organizer announces the topic of the dialogue and conducts free discussions around the round table. The principle of selecting topics is the same as that of dialogue activities. It is best to choose a larger topic that is suitable for the team to discuss together (for example: the team image we pursue). During the conversation, anything that comes to mind by chance or something that stands out to you can be recorded (doodled) on a large piece of paper. You can freely choose the recording method. It is recommended that you use various colors or pictures to describe it. However, no private records are allowed at the event and all records must be kept on the round table.
3) Conversation at tourist destinations
The conversation lasted for about 30 minutes. One person was left at each round table, and the rest moved to other round tables. The people who stayed and those who moved After forming a new group, everyone should introduce the conversation content of the previous group to everyone. If you have enough time, you can repeat the process of moving the seats over and over again.
4) Family dialogue again
After finishing the dialogue on the travel destination, return to the original round table. Introduce topics that you heard at the travel destination to each other. If you find out that everyone has the same thoughts, record them on the table.
5) All members have a conversation together
Finally, collect the papers on each table and stick them in front of the venue.
All members sat in a fan shape on opposite sides of the paper and reviewed the process of the event while observing the content recorded on the paper. There is no requirement to draw any conclusions in the review, it only requires everyone to discuss whether there are any new discoveries and ideas.
In the international cafe activities, you can take the new things you heard in the tourist destinations as gifts and bring them to the original group partners. This can make everyone suddenly have unexpected solidarity and greatly strengthen each other. communication between.
In addition, the occasion where this activity can most effectively play a significant role is the annual annual meeting or promotion meeting, or the occasion when various organizations are combined together during a corporate merger and meet each other for the first time. By the end of the event, the sense of unity among the team members will be greatly enhanced.
This is an excellent activity to enhance the sense of unity among team members. It can be used not only for setting team goals, but also for newly formed teams, and can build team relationships and team awareness in a short period of time.
When the team is energetic, it will produce results
In the second week, everyone was surprised when they arrived at the company. The original classroom-like layout where bosses and subordinates faced each other turned into the shape of scattered islands, and the layout of the office has undergone great changes. A discussion corner was set up to allow everyone to communicate more easily, so everyone started communicating naturally. At the same time, a bulletin board was also placed for everyone to record the progress of their respective work, so that each other can understand the progress of the work.
The method of regular meetings has also undergone great changes. Each time, team building time will be set aside for everyone to report on the current situation before getting down to business. Moreover, Little B only serves as the facilitator of the meeting and is never arbitrary. Because the policy of "taking the unanimous opinion of the team as the organization's decision" has been established before.
At first, everyone was still observing Little B’s face and acted, but after a month, spontaneous discussions gradually began. The frequency and quality of communication between team members have greatly improved, and it feels like the once dull organizational atmosphere is just a dream. Now that the team has reached its quarterly goal, it is preparing for the next leap. Little B is also planning the "organizational mid-term vision".
Three advantages of team building
As long as you work hard on team building, even if the same people do the same thing Things will also achieve completely different effects and have a great impact on the results. Next, let’s analyze the advantages of team building.
(1) Unification
Good team building can unify members’ understanding, feelings, awareness and enthusiasm for the same theme of the team. Make the scattered forces work in the same direction and exert their maximum energy.
(2) Motivation
Good team building can stimulate everyone's motivation. When it comes to motivation, it may be easy to think of personal motivations such as money or self-actualization. Of course, self-realization is also very important. If you add the desires of "contributing to the team" and "hoping to be recognized by the team", then everyone's work motivation will be greatly improved.
(3) Vitality
In many teams, the abilities of team members are not fully recognized, resulting in "1 1 less than 2". Good team building can make the abilities of members complement each other and produce results of "1 1 equals 3 or 4". This is the energy of a real team.
Three elements needed to build a good team
At the end of this section let’s think about the meaning of team building. Do you know the concept of social relationship capital? There are various valuable things in today's society. Generally speaking, capital refers to people (human capital), things (physical capital), and money (financial capital). But recently, knowledge or information (intellectual capital) is also often counted as capital.
For the above concepts, some people also consider relationship as capital. Treat the relationship between people as a resource and call it social relationship capital. Social relational capital can generate a variety of values. Therefore, expanding social relationship capital requires three elements: trust, reciprocity, and network.
In an industrial society centered on article manufacturing, visible capital such as objects (land, equipment, natural resources) or money once received widespread attention. People are seen as mere labor.
Relatively speaking, in today's knowledge-centered information society, invisible capital such as people (ability), knowledge, and relationships are receiving more and more attention.
Among them, in the network-based society of the 21st century, social relationship capital occupies an important position. The improvement of the relationship between people can stimulate people's potential abilities and continuously create new knowledge through the interaction between people.
In short, social relationship capital is the catalyst for the combination of human capital and intellectual capital. The amount of social relationship capital determines the size of the group's functions. Moreover, social relationship capital is a type of capital that can grow infinitely through continuous efforts. It can even be said that the quality of relationships can determine the effectiveness of corporate activities.
This article is excerpted from "Seeking Benefits from Meetings: Using Meetings to Activate Teams" (Oriental Publishing House)
Special Note:
Oriental Publishing House's latest contribution to Japanese organizations Promotion Association's "Seeking Benefits from Meetings" series of books, there are four books in this series, "Seeking Benefits from Meetings 1: Good meetings are planned", "Seeking Benefits from Meetings 2: Visualizing your meetings", "Seeking Benefits from Meetings 2: Visualizing Your Meetings", "Asking for Benefits from Meetings 3: Let the Meeting Seize the Focus" and "Asking for Benefits from Meetings 4: Using Meetings to Activate the Team", this set of books is what every manager who is determined to win needs to learn.