Many people see team as an acronym for "Great, someone else does it!" – instead of “Together everyone achieves more». And if you ask the dictionary, you will get the following answer: A team is "a group of people working together on a task" or "a crew". Companies usually refer to a working group composed of employees for a specific purpose as a team. But when does a working group become a team? From my own experience in many different so-called teams, I know that there is often a lack of a sense of real shared success. Because working together on a task does not mean pursuing a common goal. What happens in these cases is a loss of energy and resources such as money, work performance and motivation. But especially today, when resources are scarce in almost all companies, it is essential that a team knows where the journey is going, who is responsible for which parts of the journey, how to get there, and how the team will work together. This is not possible without communication and investment in the team. Team building is one of the most difficult tasks for a team leader, and team building means hard work. But when that is done, it results in a team that is committed, organized, focused, flexible, and therefore capable of performing, using its skills and talents to the full. How effectively and efficiently a team works can be determined with the GRPI model:
G: "Goals & Objectives": Are there clear goals and objectives for the team that everyone understands and supports? These goals must be consistent with the team environment and S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, timed).
R: "Roles & Accountabilities": Does each team member have a clearly defined role and responsibility? Here a competence matrix shows which competences are needed and who in the team has the respective ability.
P: "Processes & Procedures": Is there a plan that defines processes and procedures in terms of time and people in order to achieve the goals? It is important that team members can make efficient decisions and exchange information.
I: "Interactions": How well do the team members work together? Common ground rules as well as existing corporate values and behaviours form the basis here.
These questions must be clarified by the organization together with the team when putting together a new team, when planning the first steps and then every three to four months as a validation procedure.
In consulting, I experience again and again that teams immediately jump into the operational tasks. That is a risk. Conflicts don't take long, and that just burns resources and energy unnecessarily. First, team leaders have to create time to create a common basis for teamwork. Because a well-established team can quickly compensate for this time in the follow-up and achieve better performance. The team leader guides the team and reacts to difficulties in cooperation, changes in the team composition or new challenges. The development of frameworks for effective teamwork based on the GRPI model is not a one-off process, but a permanent effort.