Brick Wall Managers: No more barriers!

In my many years of teambuilding training, I discovered three common reasons teams do not bond properly. Certainly, others exist, but I am going to focus on three I have seen most frequently. Remarkably, managers and team leaders set the tone for the work group dynamic. Examine the following barriers to ensure don’t inhibit team cohesion.

Barrier to Teambuilding #1: ‘Who Are We?” Team

Most work groups draw their identity from their department name. In my workshops, I often ask: “Just because a bunch of people work in the same department, does that make them a team?” The answer is often a resounding NO!

Etienne Wenger, author of “Communities of Practice”, says that among other elements, a team needs a domain or a conceptual reason to exist. For instance, the accounting department must know that their significance is more than the processing invoices and handling fiscal matters. Who are they outside those tasks? How do they solve problems? How do they interact on a daily basis? Who they are defines how they will carry out their tasks – productively or problematically.

Wenger describes a domain as “a shared competence that distinguishes members from other people.” I assert that the competence to which he’s referring ventures far beyond the technical and relates to how individuals interact while executing the domain itself.

Barrier to Teambuilding #2 – A Hyper, Insecure Manager

A high functioning manager is confident and comfortable in their own “professional” skin. If a manager is highly functional, he or she allows the staff to grow, succeed and even fail without fear of reprimand. In the event of a missed expectation, the functional manager coaches the team through reflective processes that transforms a perceived failure into an invaluable teachable moment.

As a manager, be aware of your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses. This is the cornerstone of self-awareness. A confident leader can liberate and empower professionally, a bound person cannot.

Barrier to Teambuilding #3 – A Team with Blind Spot

Have you driven along the freeway and noticed a car hiding in your blind spot? Just like cars, teams often have “blind spots” that prevent them from seeing the personal assets within the group.

Meaningful teambuilding experiences allow teams to explore the myriad of ways each person contributes to team success. Further, a guided and well-facilitated exploration of communication styles, learning styles and stress-generating behaviors can propel a team to a high performance state of being.