Over the next few days I am going to introduce you to an number of concepts about team building. I could release it as a single post, but that would make for a very long article and you probably only have a few minutes to spend on my article - just enough time for the timer to run down and (hopefully) tip me.

The sequence in which I introduce the concepts isnot coincidental and should form a coherent framework for you to use in any context in which you are engaged in team working whether it be personal or professional context.

As always I would appreciate your feedback to help improve my writing and the quality of my resources.

Why are Teams essential?

Team building is at the core of corporate life and an essential cooperative mechanism in all walks of life.  Team is central to many sports and organisations as well exist for more simple reasons such as a pub quiz team.  Built on the principle of synergy – that the sum is greater than its parts – teams are essential to the collective success of any endeavour. 

The basic point of synergy is to ensure that at least the following formula is adhered to:

2 + 2 = 5

Or alternatively T.E.A.M means Together Each Achieves More.

Consider a Formula One team. The driver gets the headlines and the glory but behind him (this is a statement of fact - there are currently no female F1 drivers - that's another discussion for another time) is a dedicated team whose sole focus is to make him the best he can possibly be and be able to compete with others around them. This is a particularly apt illustration at the moment because there are two drivers currently competing realistically for the 2022 championship, namely Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc and the fact is that the contrast between the two couldn't be any different. In terms of both the car and the driver I would personally give the current Champion Max the edge, but what is not helping is that Charles is constantly being hobbled by the incompetence of the team behind him. On 31 July (2022) Charles' team cost him dear by putting hard compound tyres on during a mid-race pitstop despite the obvious evidence from another team (Alfa-Tauri?) who'd done the same earlier with a serious downturn in performance. Not only did they call it wrong and Charles lost time and track position, but they had to bring him in for yet another pitstop to stop a bad situation getting even worse. In the meantime Max (who I am no fan of) powered through from starting 10th to win the race and in addition to his skill as a driver (just look at how he recovered from his spin with a minimal time loss) this was because he has a great team behind him.

I joked on Noise at the time that maybe Charles' Ferrari team were maybe on the payroll of Max's Red Bull team!

So in microcosm we have seen how a team both should and shouldn't work. In my next posts I will look at, Purpose, Goal Setting, Leadership, Getting the Right People (Skills), Getting the Right People (Blend), Delegation, Performance Management and Sharing Success.

All in all I hope it proves to be an interesting series for you, as I remind you that among other things I am a professional business trainer.

As always stay safe and stay well.