Team Building
↪ Being able to build and manage a successful team is a qualification for many different types of jobs. When you’re being considered for a position that requires managing or being part of a team, you will need to show that you have the team building skills necessary for the job.
↪ Make sure you have the team building skills to make you stand out when you apply for a job involving management or teamwork.
↪ What is Team Building and Why Do Companies Want It?
↪ Team building is the making of cohesive working groups. In cohesive groups, all members feel invested in the direction taken and results achieved by the team. All members have input towards developing group goals and defining the steps taken to reach those goals. Everyone is able to work together to achieve the group objectives.
↪ Employers believe that highly collaborative teams will add value through greater productivity, higher morale, less counter-productive conflict, and better customer relations. Some organizations use team building to spur productive competition between groups such as sales teams covering different products or regions.
↪ Basically, when a group works well together, it tends to achieve the best results. Employers therefore want to hire people with team building skills. These are people who can get groups to work together well and meet their goals.
↪ Team building skills are particularly important in managers, supervisors, and outside consultants who oversee groups of employees.
● How to Use Skills Lists
↪ You can use the skill words listed below as you search for jobs. For example, apply the terms in your resume, especially in the description of your work history. You can also incorporate them into your cover letter. Mention one or two of the skills mentioned here, and give specific examples of instances when you demonstrated these traits at work.
↪ You can also use these words in your interview. Keep the top skills listed here in mind during your interview, and be prepared to give examples of how you’ve exemplified each.
↪ Each job will require different skills and experiences, so make sure you read the job description carefully, and focus on the skills listed by the employer.
↪ Also review our lists of skills listed by job and type of skill.
Top Team Building Skills
● Communication
↪ If you are helping to unite a team, you need to have strong communication skills. Using both written and verbal communication skills, you will have to explain company goals, delegate tasks, resolve conflicts between members, and more. It is important that you are able to clearly express ideas to teams.
↪ In order to problem solve and make sure every team member feels heard, you will also have to listen. You will need to understand the concerns of every member so that they each feel they are being considered and understood.
● Other skills related to communication include:
• Clarity
• Facilitating group discussion
• Listening
• Reading body language
• Reducing ambiguity
● Problem Solving
↪ When team building, you will need to solve problems. These might include problems related to the group’s goals. However, these might also include interpersonal problems between group members.
↪ A team builder must help to resolve both. He or she needs to be a mediator who can listen to two sides of a problem and help everyone come to an agreement. The goal of a team builder is to solve problems in a way that helps the team achieve its goals and keeps its members working well together.
Some skills necessary for problem solving include:
• Brainstorming strategies and solutions freely
• Drawing consensus around goals and strategies
• Mediation
• Recording and disseminating team solutions
• Solving interpersonal conflict
● Leadership
↪ Being a team builder often requires taking on a leadership role for a team, at least part of the time. You need to make decisions when there is conflict, establish group goals, and manage team members who are not producing their best work. All of this requires leadership and management.
Other leadership skills related to team building include:
• Aligning team goals with company goals
• Establishing group norms
• Hiring team-oriented staff
• Terminating chronically unproductive team members
● Teamwork
↪While being a good leader is important in team building, so is being a good team player. You can help build a strong team by showing the team what it means to work well in a group.
↪ You will need to collaborate and cooperate with team members, listen to their ideas, and be open to taking and applying their feedback.
Some important teamwork skills include:
• Ability to follow direction
• Adaptability to changing circumstances
• Cooperation with team members
• Cooperation with managers of other departments, especially for cross-department teams
• Reliability
• Responding to constructive criticism
• Willing to take on tasks
● Motivation
↪ A team builder gets other team members excited about setting and achieving project goals. This kind of motivational energy can take many forms. Perhaps you come to work every day with a positive attitude, or maybe you encourage your other teammates with positive feedback.
↪ Another way to motivate team members is to provide incentives. These might range from bonuses and other financial rewards to extra days of to fun group activities. A team builder can think of creative ways to inspire the team to do its best.
● Some skills related to motivation include:
• Cultivating positive group leaders
• Developing interpersonal relationships between and with group members
• Encouraging input from reticent members
• Recognizing and rewarding group achievements
Delegation
↪ A good team builder knows he or she cannot complete group tasks alone. Team builders clearly and concisely lay out each team member’s specific tasks. This way, everyone is responsible for a piece of the group goal.
↪ Good delegation leads to project efficiency, and can help a group achieve a goal on time or even ahead of schedule.
● Skills necessary for good delegation include:
• Being able to assign roles
• Defining work roles clearly
• Delegating tasks to appropriate members
• Setting expectations
● Providing Feedback
↪ To work effectively, team members need to receive feedback on what they are doing well and not so well. They need feedback on both group and individual levels. A team builder knows how to praise and point out progress, but he or she also knows how to provide constructive criticism.
↪ He or she must train and advise team members so that everyone is doing his or her best, allowing for the team to do its best.
Some skills related to providing feedback include:
• Addressing behavior which disrupts group harmony
• Assessing group progress
• Coaching
• Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of team members
• Mentoring new members
• Training
