Working as a team is a great idea, but what sort of team should it be? The type of teams and the way in which they function vary enormously, depending upon the task in hand and the skills of the team members. Teams are complex machines and it's not surprising that they malfunction occasionally or need re-alignment through team building.

To work effectively as a team the team needs to agree upon exactly what sort of team they are: what are the team’s goals, what is each member's role, who needs to work closely with whom, what is the game plan? Sometimes it's as simple as learning more about the people you work with, and sometimes it is more complex - such as working through entrenched difficulties or defining how a long-distance team communicates.

A tailor-made event allows you to tackle this by taking some time away from the workplace to slow things right down – and Leeds has hosts of good venues at which to hold your team building event. Through discussion, brain storming, game play, role play and goal setting, you can sort out problems, plan the future, put forward new ideas, look at the team's purpose, vision and mission and learn more about each other as people and as a team. Subsequent to a team building event team members will enjoy a fresh perspective, they will achieve a sense of focus, build confidence and prepare for the real "game" ahead.

A team building event in Leeds will have a positive effect on the morale, motivation, confidence and the effectiveness not only of the team and its individual members and the benefits will immediately transfer back to the workplace.

KDM Events will create your team building event from your specific brief and it will be tailor-made by KDM working closely with your company to ensure that you have most appropriate programme or event to suit your objectives.

Tailored specifically to each group KDM’s Team Building events are designed to help create and nurture successful, professional, productive and happy teams.

In the latter part of the last century, "Team Building" became recognised by many companies as an important factor in providing a quality service and remaining competitive. Yet as we stride into the 21st century, the term "team building" can still sometimes seem rather nebulous - people often know that they need it, but aren't quite sure what it is and the power it can unleash for them.

If a team is a group of people working towards a common goal, 'team building' is the process of enabling that group of people to reach their goal in the most efficient fashion. It is therefore clearly a vital management issue, and the most effective form of team building is that undertaken as a form of consultancy, rather than as pure training.

In its simplest terms, the stages involved in team building are:

• Clarify the collective goals
• Identify the inhibitors that prevent the team from reaching their goals and remove those inhibitors
• Put in place enablers that assist the team to reach that goal
• Measure and monitor the progress made, to ensure the goals are achieved

Traditional techniques to team building often address the inhibitors to collective performance: relationships and communication. However, if a group is only a group, then the benefits of such team building techniques may be limited. At best, there may be no need to resolve relationship problems; at worst it can be a waste of time and detract the people involved from achieving their individual goals.

Summary

• A team is a group of people working towards a common goal
• Team building is a process of enabling that team to achieve that goal
• If they are only a group – rather than a team - then traditional team building techniques can be a waste of time and money or even counter-productive
• There may be better ways to resolve problems in groups; e.g. putting distance between people who don't get on or enabling them to understand what motivates the other and building an understanding of personality differences.

For help in getting your people to work more effectively as a team and for help with Team Building both in Leeds and elsewhere in the UK contact KDM Events on 01782 646300.