Humans are social beings who need constant companionship and interaction with others. This stands true for personal as well as professional life. When in a professional setting, individuals work together as a team to achieve the same goals and contribute to the organization. While working together as a team, there may be individual differences in choices, opinions and ways of working. It is very important to put these differences aside and work together to make the achievement of goals much smoother.
Team building is a process which requires equal contribution from all the members of the team. All of them need to cooperate with each other and contribute to the functioning of the team. The common differences which obstruct the smooth functioning are as follows:
Individual differences
In case of a diverse and inclusive team where the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of the team members differ widely from each other, individual differences are bound to creep in. There is a lack of understanding and that gives rise to internal conflicts.
Lack of communication
When most or all of the team members are individualists, that is, prefer to work individually, there is a probability of miscommunication in the team. When these members refuse to work with the whole team and take on the majority of the work themselves, the other team members are left ambiguous about the team goal and the responsibilities they are expected to perform.
Strict hierarchy
When members in a team follow a hierarchical structure, that is, some members of the team have more decision-making power than the rest, an internal conflict is bound to arrive. This hierarchy may make the ones on the lower end of it more hostile towards other team members and less responsible for the task assigned.
Corporate soft skills trainers offer training and development training courses to help people work better as a team. These soft skills training classes are not only for individuals but also for teams as a whole, for them to understand the individual differences and learn to look past them. These human resources training programs help team members understand their own working style, and how to align it to the working style of the team for group effectiveness.
An important aspect of these team-building training programs is that the team members are encouraged to get to know each other personally. When that happens, and the members are personally connected, there is less hostility amongst them and they are willing to work together better. The decisions they make then are based on consensus instead of power, and that gives a sense of direction to all the members within that team. Appreciation and admiration are also a contributing factor to enhance the cohesiveness of the team. The more the team members appreciate each other, the better connected they will feel with each other. This will bring them closer personally and they will respect each other’s opinions and ideas. These factors improve team effectiveness and will transform the chaos into success.
