by Karen Goins

The project is due, there are six more waiting and the investors are clamoring for results.   On top of that our resources are strained, we need more space and our team is feeling the heat.   So often when things are hectic, we forget the value of continuing to build our team.  In fact, it is often in these extremely challenging situations that there are great opportunities for our teams to leap in growth and become even more productive.  Continuing to develop our teams ensures the group is able to adapt and be successful while adjusting to our changing environment.   

There's no time, we declare!   Yet there is time, in smaller doses.  

Most often our success depends on collaborative effort, teamwork.   When we continue to focus on the dynamics of our team we can improve morale, improve the bottom line and strengthen our team while creating synergy, alignment and revitalization.   Teamwork in smaller doses allows us to routinely check the temperature of our team, thereby allowing us to provide the required first aid long before requiring triage.   It also helps the leader continuously reunite and inspire the team.
By making the time, great things can happen:

• We slow down long enough to listen to one another
• We discuss the blocks that impede our progress
• We learn what we do not know
• We become aware and appreciate the skills of others
• We become a more unified team and improve morale

To conduct successful team building in small intervals:

• Schedule the time and communicate the importance of attending
• Communicate the goal; what, when, where and why
• Meet in a place away from the usual workspaces
• Focus on building the team, avoid working on specific projects
• Have a facilitator so all can participate fully
• Conduct only the most relevant discussions
  
• Schedule next team building event

This fall, Karlin Sloan & Company is conducting a series of market research interviews with organizations across the United States and Canada. We are delving into the question "what is most important to your organization" as we create new programs for 2010.

If you would like to participate in our study by providing us an interview, we will compile our findings by the end of 2009 and deliver a report based on our results. If you would like to participate, please email Robert Demaree at rdemaree@karlinsloan.com by November 5, 2009. We appreciate your interest, and look forward to providing valuable benchmarking for our clients.