What is the secret of world class team performance? Dr Raymond Belbin, who studied team-work for many years, suggests that by understanding team members’ tendencies to behave, contribute, and interrelate with others, one can develop strengths and manage weaknesses as a team member, which in turn will improve their contribution to the team (Mind Tools, 2008). Today, as people are becoming more sophisticated and society is becoming more technically advanced, functioning as a team makes it easier to carry out goals. The benefits of team-building programs are so significant that many corporations and learning institutions have incorporated teamwork strategies into their standard training and curriculums. The following will discuss ways to improve performance of team work using individual differences of every team member.
The main goal of team building, which is an important part of teamwork, is to improve productivity. An old expression”two brains are better than one” refers to the idea that people get more done when they work together effectively and productively. So, when members of a team do not work well together, performance and productivity can suffer. That is not good for anyone.
Every team member has a different style of working and communicating. Some people can come off too strong, even pushy. A pushy person may think everything is going great while team mates might have a different perspective. Some team mates prefer listening to themselves only. In conflicting situations they will speak their mind and will not back down from an argument, concentrating solely on their personal needs completely disregarding the common goal at stake. Some lack basic skills of diplomacy and prefer communicating through loaded questions. Such distrusting personalities are alwa ...