What separates the greatest teams from the rest is their mix of talents and, crucially their understanding of one anothers’ strengths.
When team building there are a number of questionnaires (or psychometrics) that can be used to help teams identify their strengths and preferences. When this information is used to assign roles and tasks true teams are formed.
All teams need a blend of the following:
Gluers – people that motivate, encourage and develop relationships inside and outside the team (Lady Penelope)
Creators – people that offer ideas and solve problems, either through analysis or lateral thinking (Brains)
Doers – people that can focus on the task, apply expertise and get the job done. (Scott, Virgil, Alan, Gordon and John Tracy)
Leaders – people that set direction, monitor progress and take decisions (Jeff Tracy)
These headings shouldn’t be confused with job roles, in fact often the best managers might not score highly in the ‘leader’ area but they will surround themselves with a mix of team members that suits the work they are tasked with achieving.
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For more resources, see our Library topic Team Building.
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This blog is written by Fresh Tracks: Experts in running team building activities , team development programmes and staff conference organising.
Website: www.freshtracks.co.uk
Thanks for the informative bullet points and article regarding teambuilding. All businesses can benefit from excersises, training, and other methods to reinforce teamwork within the workplace.
http://www.CincyBusiness.com
Great point on blending personalities to form an effective (and more efficient) team. So very true. This is a strategic use of an organization’s resources to achieve its business objectives.
But how should companies identify these superheroes inside their organization and assemble this team? Measure the people themselves via talent analytics data.
Roles generally depend on a person’s skills, knowledge and personality. The role a person has within a team is often evident in the title of their position or is summed up in their job description. However, a team role can be quite different from a job function, depending on the situation and the type of team.
Different teams and organisations may expect different things from managers and team members. Some managers see their roles as leaders and motivators, while others see the role of manager as more supportive. In some teams, it is important that members are able to take direction and complete tasks quickly without questioning their instructions, while in others, team members need to be creative problem solvers and gather and provide their managers with information.
As well as roles determined by work functions or the environment within which the team operates, often a person’s attributes or personality determine what their role is within the team:
• Action-oriented roles – shaper, implementer, complete finisher
• People-oriented roles – coordinator, team worker, resource instigator
• Cerebral roles – monitor, evaluator, specialist
These role definitions are intended to help team members learn about themselves rather than ‘pigeon-hole’ them.
Nice Thunderbirds analogy and great blog, Dan and Tom.