Working in teams has always been a way for companies and firms to assign particular tasks for completion. These groups enable the completion of these tasks by concentrating on them in particular and formulating a plan for working together. There are, however, a number of setbacks that the team leader has to contend with considering the groups are made up of different people. Mainly, when such groups are made, small disputes that slow down the tasks management arise. Such disputes serve only to bring differences in line of thought. They occur out of the differences in the way of working for members, with different members having different ways of working. For any team leader, the responsibility of ensuring that the members stick together and work in the most reliable way possible, is critical to success (Hills, 2001). In this paper, we are going to look at the ways through which the team leader can ensure that all the members work together and that the entire team is successful at the end of the day. The first way through which the team leader can instill togetherness in the team is by engaging the members in creative exercise. This is particularly common with team building not just for a small group of people, but it is also applied for the entire staff.
This method calls for the team to come together and conduct certain exercises which are not work related, and make everyone at ease. One step that a team leader can start with would be by getting the members to come up with some of their personal beliefs which make them tick, such as their likes and dislikes, their strong points and weaknesses, et cetera (Goad, 2010). Retreats are where the members go out together and have an opportunity to bond with each other outside the office setting. It is extremely crucial that trust is built between all the group members, and the only way possible in this case is having the team work together at places where they are not under the direct inspection of the firm or company managers. At the group retreat, the group leader has to come up with activities which will bring trust in the group. These are the activities which serve to build a stronger bond between the members of the team as well as instill trust among them.
Even without going on retreats, the team can also hold team bonding sessions. These sessions are not necessarily work related and do not need physical presence at the office. They are activities which put the team members at ease and enable them to understand each other better (Kanda, 2011). Such team bonding sessions can be sessions like corporate cooking classes, or even hiking trips where the entire team is involved.
On creating a team, there is the mixing of different personalities, which share nothing in common with each other. There may appear to be people who do not like working together, or people who are loud mouthed. The team leader has to create a plan to deal with all these people, not just through team building, but with certain behavior during working sessions. It is advised that the team leader has time for every person in the team, so that he or she could share time together with the team discussing what is expected from each of the staff members. There are some specific ways which have been formulated for dealing with different behaviors in the team.
As for the considerate memebers in the group, they are usually quiet, agreeable ones who are not much trouble within the group. They usually carry out the tasks accorded to them without any trouble, and when they are slow with their work, the leader can just stipulate the time without being rude. There may also appear to be aggressive team members, who view everything as competition, they like to be in charge of the situation and usually know what they are supposed to do. The main obstacle with thisspecific group of people is that they end up making decisions alongside the team leader, even without their assistance being required. It is required that the team leader knew such tactics and would be able to ensure that the entire team respects the power hierarchy in the team to avoid any confusion when it comes to making decisions (Doherty & Guyler, 2008).
There are those who are analysts, people who see a problem with everything. This group finds it hard to follow instructions since they see everything in a different light. The team leader has to listen to their advice, and if it is not helpful, then he or she moves on to the next point.
Finally, a common trait to be found is that of sensitive members. These are people who take everything personally and are too confrontational, especially when corrected. The team leader should be prepared to meet such people. Team leaders are advised not to be too direct with such people and instead just ensure that they are encouraging them. There are numerous other behavioral characteristics that can be found in teams, but these general traits enable the team leader to keep them in check.
With ensuring that the team is bonded and is working together, it is vital to notice decent work of the staff and hype their moral values. The team leader, just like any other leader, has to ensure that those who do a marvelous job are awarded. If they had not been given such powers by the management, they have to get the names of these members to the higher members so that they can get their work rewarded. The inclusion of incentives is also a convenient way of increasing motivation. Whatever the team leader does, the team and its tasks at hand are extremely important. The team leader has to ensure these tasks are met with the best professionalism possible (Daft, 2011).