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Work Environments and Relationships
Good working environments and relationships are essential
to job satisfaction. One key element of a satisfying work
environment is team building.
Begin With Yourself
The team building process begins with the individual. Each
team member should ask himself some basic questions about
the team and his role within that team:
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Who am I? |
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What is my function within the team? |
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What do the team members expect of me? |
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What do I expect of other team members? |
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How does the team see me? |
Team Awareness
The second step in the team building process is team awareness.
It is the responsibility of the team manager to make the group
aware of the fact that they are a team and to develop the
communication necessary to cultivate mutual trust and reciprocity.
Team members must also realize that they have a personal
stake in the success of the team. When people become aware
that their personal success flows from the success of the
team, they automatically become more enthusiastic about the
group effort.
The manager must adopt an attitude of "sharing"
with the team. He must not approach the team building process
from a training or teaching orientation. He must also leave
behind the parental role of manager and adopt the new role
of team leader and group member. He must demonstrate through
his attitudes and actions that he wants to establish an adult-adult
relationship with his people.
Once the group is aware that it is a team and has developed
mutual trust and open communication among all members, it
is ready to move on to more advanced team-building activities.
This move requires that all team members believe that the
manager sincerely wants to create a team of people who can
work together productively. Any suspicion that the manager
is manipulating the group will cause the team members to reject
the process as "just another management technique."
Team building is not an easy process. It may take weeks or
months for team members to accept the team building model
and build the bonds that will enable them to communicate effectively,
thereby improving the work environment.
Tools for You
Worksheet:
Team Analysis (PDF, 8KB)
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