How To Build A Productive Team Part 3

Previously, we have discussed the importance of taking the right leadership approach to building a highly motivated and productive team. Today's article will wrap it up with a final few more vital team-building approaches that you can take and implement immediately.

1. Involve team members in key decisions. Certainly there will be many opportunities for involving your people in key decisions. Again, it would be inappropriate to involve them in every decision. But you should involve them whenever the decision is likely to have a significant impact on their jobs. In a decision-making meeting with your people, you might consider any one of these approaches: (1) Present to them a problem, solicit their ideas, and you make the decision; (2) Present to them a tentative decision that is subject to change based upon their inputs; (3) Present to them several alternatives and let them choose what they consider to be the best alternative; or (4) Present to them a problem situation and let them generate the alternatives and even choose the preferred alternative. Depending on the circumstances, any one of these approaches might be appropriate. The important thing is to let your people know up front which approach you are using.

2. Review progress and decide upon corrective action. With the heroic leadership approach, the leader is diligent in monitoring group performance and deciding upon corrective action. In most situations, a more effective approach would be to involve the team members in this activity. This latter approach will be superior to the heroic approach for a least two reasons: (1) The ideas of the people on the "firing line'' are likely to improve the quality of the decisions regarding corrective action; and (2) The motivation of the people on the firing line to implement the decisions will surely be enhanced.

3. Involve team members in a team-building program. You should set aside at least one day each year for a team-building program. Involve your key people in the all-day meeting and, if possible, get away from the work site. The primary purpose of this meeting is to formulate recommendations for being a more productive team. To be addressed are these questions: (1) How well are we functioning as a team? (2) What barriers are preventing us from being a productive team?