Business literature often emphasizes the significant role of teams in constructing a successful company. Effective teams consist of people who share a common vision and values regarding their professional development within a business structure. A leader should be able to manage teams and make them cooperate with the goals of a company. Team building is an effective tool to make people work together and contribute to a company’s success. This paper examines how leaders use team-building activities to increase team satisfaction and productivity, and claims that leaders are vital for team development.
Team building starts with the establishment of the leadership of a manager. Managers should ensure that employees know about their positions so that they will know their responsibilities and required skills. There is a Biblical verse that states,
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace (1 Peter 4:8- 10).
Here, it explains the need for teammates to use their skills to contribute to the common good and help others in a team. Employees should understand that in an effective team, each member knows what to do and does not interrupt the work of others.
After establishing leadership and positions, team building should proceed to create a cooperative environment in a workplace. People in the team should feel the support of other members and rely on them if something unexpected happens. Additionally, a friendly environment was found to be more effective as opposed to other types of workplace environments (Priyotomo et al., 2019). This is because employees feel less stressed since they do not compete but rather understand the value of each team member. Most team-building activities promote a friendly environment, providing means for a supportive team.
Employees increase their soft skills during team-building events. For example, they socialize and create networking that can help them to improve their career and personal development. Saenko et al. (2018) argue that an effective chosen strategy correlates with increased creativity, sociability, and stress resistance, contributing to the success of a business structure in an industry. Employees are also more motivated to work towards reaching common goals as benefiting a team leads to personal rewards and recognition. Leaders engage employees by promoting team spirit, celebrations, and having fun together enhancing the bond between team members. Such an approach also helps people to communicate and work better. Team building provides means to develop the soft skills of employees, making them cooperative and able to communicate with each other more effectively. Once teams establish a friendly environment and start to develop their soft skills, their team satisfaction increases. This further leads to an increase in team performance as people will do their job more willingly and in favor of their teams. Moreover, this also can enhance a culture of a company, creating an image of the company that cares about its employees.
It is seen that the role of team leaders in constructing an effective team is critical. As such, leaders should understand the importance of team-building activities and know several strategies on how to make employees work together productively. Organizational leaders motivate employees via various methods, such as prizes, incentives, and extra pay (Priyotomo et al., 2019). Yet, leaders should not be too generous, here, being moderate is key to preserving workers’ motivation. As such, the choice of an effective strategy for team building should be carefully examined. Leaders can decide what strategy is suitable for their teams through observation and team-building training where they will learn from professionals how to effectively create teams.
Moreover, a team is a combination of different people, and each of them should be rewarded and recognized for their contribution. As Biblical verse states that:
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body (1 Corinthians 12:17-20).
This verse shows the importance of each teammate for the success of an organization. Each employee plays a crucial role in the overall performance of a team that further increases a company’s productivity. Team building activities should demonstrate the value of employees and make them feel a sense of belonging to an entity. They should understand that they are an integral part of a big working business structure and be involved in its every procedure.
Team building activities can vary according to the preferences of a leader and the issues that a team has. For example, to break the tension between new employees, a leader can have an informal dinner with their workers, or the team can have lunch with the leader once a month. This will help employees to get acquainted with the manager. When a leader is open to communication with their team members and can be engaged in a conversation, it increases team satisfaction (Saenko et al., 2018). It also helps new members to understand the type of leadership in a company. Moreover, leaders can call for professionals in making team building. For instance, there can be some courses or training on how to increase the team’s effectiveness and productivity. During the sessions, employees will understand why they should work together and how they should communicate and interact with each other, in which the concept of respect is critical. The team cannot operate successfully without respect and being respectful contributes to a friendly environment. As such, team building training is a good option for leaders to foster team cohesion.
To conclude, a team is a crucial aspect of every entity. An effective team leads to the success of an organization since it increases overall productivity and improves performance. To build such a team, there is the need for a good leader, who can manage employees and teach them how to cooperate. Team building ensures the environment in which people will work, thus creating a friendly atmosphere should be a top priority of team building activities. As such, the choice of team-building strategy is solely on leaders as they should establish their authority and demonstrate the culture of a business structure. Leaders are essential in deciding how a team would operate and to what extent it would be successful. Therefore, the role of leaders in team building should not be neglected to ensure an effective team.
References
God’s Word. Translation. (1995). Bible Study Tools. Web.
Priyotomo, P., Setyowati, R., & Suharnomo, S. (2019). The Role of Team Building Training on Team Cohesiveness and Organizational Commitment in an International Manufacturer in Central Java. Calitatea, 20(172), 56-61.
Saenko, L. A., Barsukova, T. I., Khokhlova, E. V., Ivashova, V. A., & Kenina, D. S. (2018). Team building as a tool to strengthen the company’s position in the market. International Journal of Engineering and Technology, 7(4.38), 431-433.