Effective Team Working

A team is a group of people working together towards a common objective, this gives all team members a focal point of what’s expected of them. Without a common objective, they’ll just be a group. A team’s objective must be SMART, which stands for: specific, measurable, achievable, resource and time bound. Other than objectives, teams require synergy, which means that they’re cohesively working together more productively than they would alone. At the wider picture, a team exists to benefit the company’s quality, cost, and delivery performances, which thus allows a company to be competitive, hence keeps you employed, and therefore allows you to live your lifestyle. Again, a domino effect. Another aspect that can only be done in a team is brainstorming, which is a crucial team activity, used to compile lots of ideas to develop solutions for problems. Teams work better when each member has a specific role, this in turn provides a diversity of skills and experience in the team, which will allow it to work at its best potential, this is referred to as a cross-functional team. To determine who fits where best, use a skills matrix, which is a visual method of displaying skills and experience of each team member. It’s handy to remember that effective teams work within a set of rules and conventions created by them, which they must abide. This can be even simple aspects, such as politeness, and being on time for meetings. In addition, an effective team will share knowledge and find consensus. Once a team decision is made everyone is to support it. Action plans allow a team to achieve their objectives, they set out the actions needed, by whom, and by when. Tasks or activities are allocated to each member.