 In business, it does not matter whether you work in a typical office a shop or a factory. You are built up of a group individuals with specific goals towards producing the goods that the company sells. This is what defines a team.
From the most mundane task like answering a phone call, to the most complicated job like designing products, every individual making up the team plays an important role. As a whole, every employee is working towards a common goal which is to earn profit for the company and for themselves. This is what team building is all about. It is the process of enabling a group of people to reach that common goal. That is why it is a good practice for companies to come up with regular team building activities to enhance the oneness of the group and to build a feeling of solidarity and pride of work. A company is made up of different departments which sometimes causes conflicts of interests and individual differences. Team building aims to eliminate these issues. 1. What Is The Main Goal Of The Company?
2. What Factors Caused Poor Team Performance In The Past? Look into your company's successes and failures. Determine which area is in need of improvement and look for ways to do so. By looking into the strengths and weaknesses that each member exhibits, you would know which areas to improve on. Also, this would give you an idea of how to optimise the team's strengths to reach that common goal and contribute to the company's success. 3. How Can You Improve The Way Team Members Interact? Even siblings of the same genes make up different personalities. As a team, you are made up of individuals from different cultures, and would have various ideas on how to improve the way your company operates. There is bound to be friction of some kind since your team is made up of different individuals. Team building aims to avoid this and bridge the gap by coming up with activities which bond the group. Thinking of fun activities to break the ice and personalize the interaction between members is a great way to start. 4. How Can You Improve The Team's Ability To Solve Problems? Every company is faced with challenges every now and then. One way to forge team solidarity is to look into past problems and see how they were solved. Ask each team member how they would have handled that particular problem. This would let a leader know which team member has good problem solving, analytical and critical thinking skills. The team members may be asked to share ideas and decide together which solution would suit the problem best. This is another way to build team solidarity. 4. How Can You Forge The Support And Trust Level Between Team Members? A team leader should have people and management skills. However, it is still important for the leader to earn the trust of his team members. Supporting each other is a vital quality that a team should have. Even a simple problem like an employee who disobeys out of sheer contrariness should be looked into. What is causing this team member to contradict his superior? What can be done to improve his attitude? By team building, you can some up with ways to build trust and increase the support level between colleagues. 5. How Can You Apply The Team Building Activities In The Day-To-Day Operation Of The Company? In the end, after all the activities that the team has performed together, there should be a sharing of experiences and thoughts on what each member has learned about their peers and about the company's goal. These should make them aware of how they can further contribute to the company's success in the future. All in all, team building activities enhance team solidarity. It is good to remember that the whole organisation is team working towards the company's main goal. After a set of fun and team building activities which inspire team spirit, each member would have a clear idea of how to improve their attitude towards their peers, their superiors, and especially towards their work.  Do you want a highly motivated team who don't take time off work, don't keep looking for other jobs and make a positive contribution to your business?
If the answer is "yes," then there are three steps you need to take with each member of your team. Step 1 - Spend some quality time I didn't say "quantity time" I said "quality time." One or two minutes of quality time on a regular basis are far more productive than a one hour review every year. You need to get to know each member of your team better and they need to get to know you. This will help you build a positive relationship with each team member. You'll gain a much better understanding of them and how they're handling the job. It will also give the impression that you care about the individual and show that you're there to help with problems both personal and business. Spending quality time will encourage opinions and ideas to flow from them and allows you to explain the company's mission. It gives them a feeling of being in on things which is a huge motivator. It will also help you build an "early warning system" of any problems both business and personal. Finally, it builds team spirit and morale. Step 2 - Give feedback and coach You need to regularly tell each member of your team when they're doing well and when not so well. I read some recent research that suggested 65% of employees in the US received no recognition at work in the past year. My experience tells me that it's much the same throughout the world and much worse in some countries. Some managers still believe - "why should I praise people when they're only doing what they're paid to do." If you want a happy and motivated team then you need to tell them when they're doing well. It's also important to tell people when they're not performing well. There are too many managers who either ignore poor behaviour or come down on the person like a ton of bricks. There are particular ways to give feedback and coach and they're described in detail in the book - How to get More Sales by Motivating Your Team. Step 3 - Be a believer We're now getting into the area of "Empowerment" which was first introduced in the 1980's and became a bit of a management buzzword. However, I believe that it's one of the most promising but least understood concepts in team motivation today. I'm a fairly down to earth practical sort of person (probably comes from my engineering background). I'm not big into motivation theories unless I can see the benefits for me - I see a great deal of benefit for managers and team leaders in Empowerment. Empowerment is about utilising the knowledge, skill, experience and motivation power that's already within your people. The majority of people in teams and organisations throughout the world are severely underutilised. Your team have probably more to offer in terms of skill, knowledge and experience. Put this to the test right away - implement these steps, motivate your team and achieve your business goals.  If you’re thinking about developing a marketing program, you need to begin with a marketing plan. Some are short and to the point, others are hundreds of pages thick and cost thousands of pounds to produce.
The irony is that many of the expensive marketing plans end up on a shelf and rarely get implemented. The simple plans, if researched and implemented effectively, have the greatest impact. Regardless of the scope of your marketing plan, you must keep in mind that it is a fluid document. Every business needs to begin with a well structured plan that is based in thorough research, competitive positioning and attainable outcomes. Your plan should be the basis for your activities over the coming months. However, you should always be willing to enhance or redirect your plan based on what proves successful. Marketing Plan Basics 1. Market Research Collect, organise, and write down data about the market that is currently buying the product(s) or service(s) you will sell. Some areas to consider:
2. Target Market Find niche or target markets for your product and describe them. 3. Product Describe your product. How does your product relate to the market? What does your market need, what do they currently use, what do they need above and beyond current use? 4. Competition Describe your competition. Develop your "unique selling proposition." What makes you stand apart from your competition? What is your competition doing about branding? 5. Mission Statement Write a few sentences that state:
6. Market Strategies Write down the marketing and promotion strategies that you want to use or at least consider using. Strategies to consider:
7. Pricing, Positioning and Branding From the information you've collected, establish strategies for determining the price of your product, where your product will be positioned in the market and how you will achieve brand awareness. 8. Budget Budget your cash. What strategies can you afford? What can you do in house, what do you need to outsource. 9. Marketing Goals Establish quantifiable marketing goals. This means goals that you can turn into numbers. For instance, your goals might be to gain at least 30 new clients or to sell 10 products per week, or to increase your income by 30% this year. Your goals might include sales, profits, or customer's satisfaction. 10. Monitor Your Results Test and analyse. Identify the strategies that are working.
By researching your markets, your competition, and determining your unique positioning, you are in a much better position to promote and sell your product or service. By establishing goals for your marketing campaign, you can better understand whether or not your efforts are generating results through ongoing review and evaluation of results. As mentioned earlier in this article, be sure to use your plan as a living document. Successful marketers continually review the status of their campaigns against their set objectives. This ensures ongoing improvements to your marketing initiatives and helps with future planning. |
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