TEAM BUILDING - Corporate Team-Building Coaching

by Andrea Carson, Demand Media

A good team atmosphere can improve business productivity.

A strong, effective team works in harmony to achieve a specific goal. Techniques, theories and exercises have been designed for the purpose of building a cohesive team and can be found on www.businessballs.com for free. Managers must take on several roles to facilitate development of an outstanding team that demonstrates confidence in the results produced and projects the company image in a positive and professional way.

Empowerment

Empowering others is an absolute necessity for an effective manager. Your employees were hired because they possessed a certain level of ability. Individuals tend to work more diligently when they have some autonomy in the workplace. Empowered employees are more likely to make better decisions and act in ways most beneficial to the company. Effective coaching means allowing the team to develop its own processes to accomplish a task. Your guidance can ensure timely project completion, problem intervention and resolution.

Respect

Corporate executives must break down the barriers that separate them from other employees. Employees consider their directors and managers as unapproachable and out of touch. Many employees feel management has no idea what they go through on a day-to-day basis. The barriers come down when they see that their managers are willing get down in the trenches and work side-by-side with them to get a job done. This is a powerful tool in gaining respect and lets employees know you are as dedicated to the team effort as you expect them to be.

Ethics

A code of ethical behavior clarifies the mission of an organization and outlines its values and principles as well as presenting standards for professional conduct. Ethical behaviors should not only be something included in the employee handbook, but should be mirrored by management and strictly enforced. A well-defined code of conduct outlines what is expected from an employee and helps build teams that work effectively within established guidelines.

Coaching

Effective coaches can extract extraordinary work from ordinary people. A good coach focuses on solutions, not on problems. Employees are more effective when they feel there is an atmosphere of forgiveness about any mistakes. They benefit from an approachable resource to help them so they don't make the same mistakes in the future. If coached property, employees will feel that they have a personal stake in the success of the company.

Communication

Team coaches encourage feedback. It's not necessary to be the manager whom employees want to have a drink with after work, but it does help to talk to your employees from time to time. Engage them one-on-one or as a group to keep everyone on the same page.

If a team member has an idea or suggestion, she deserves to be heard and should feel that you take her idea seriously. Your body language and verbal responses demonstrate whether you are receptive to others' ideas. Don't be unyielding to changes or only willing to do things a certain way because "that's the way we've always done it." This makes you "unapproachable" and stifles creativity and motivation. Statements like "It sounds like you put a lot of thought into this" encourage the employee and make him feel he is getting through to you. Try nodding during a presentation to foster feelings of encouragement.