10 Ways to Promote Team Spirit Within Your Group

10 Ways to Promote Team Spirit Within Your Group is an effort to focus the importance of Team spirit within an organization. Team Work is an essential element if you are working in any field. It is a mechanism by which your strengths complement the shortcoming of other team members in order to achieve the common goal. The power of being one has tremendous advantage to overcome big hurdles in any task. This is a trait which has the ability to attain success in any Endeavour but at same time its absence can make things fall like house of cards.

Team work comes into picture when everyone has a common goal. The motivation to achieve the Goals comes through Team Spirit which keeps the fire burning inside the heart and mind of every team member. You can be a part of team but it holds no meaning till the time you demonstrate the spirit which is required to achieve the common goal. Two or more can always be a team if there is a burning spirit to help and be part of common cause.

The big question comes when you as an individual member or a manager have a challenge to promote the team spirit. This is one of the important aspect which not only drives the composition of any team but also maintain the spirit it in future. There can be many ways to promote the Team Spirit and there are different methods which suits different situations. However there are some methods which relate to majority of situations and are very effective in promoting team spirit. You can be as innovative as you may want to be but the core remains the same- All should behave as one. While working tough the team you can take several steps and the major ones are

1) Give Good Name to Teams- This is very important and the core tool. Teams need a name; they need an identity to which they can relate to. Major brands like coke, pepsi have created an image in minds of people and everyone relates to them very well. In same manner you need to give an image to the team to which they can relate to. Name like Alpha, Romeo, Alligators, Roaring Tigers are just few names which we have used in past. When used in a sporting spirit these names gives team members something to look upon and feel proud of in tough situations.

2) Help them Define their USP- Onece the name has been given it becomes natural for teams to realize and define their USP. You can have a team which is very good in execution while there can be other which is good in research. An ideal mix promotes a habit and confidence with which they go for a kill. This helps you as a member and manager too for allocating work for best productivity and great results. The Ultimate Selling Proposition (USP) keep them in defined path and help them to be on their toes for maximum results.

3) Charter Out a Yearly Plan- Just like you have Goals and appraisals system in place it always help to define Goal which relate to the growth of the team. When team members know what they have ahead in future and how they would be evaluated it becomes easy for them to be prepared. The plan can be in form of breakup of events and associated points that make the evaluation process extremely transparent. The activities can be in the form of the results related to your work and other events which give them opportunity to score points.

4) Treat them as Profit Centers- Treat each team as independent profit centre. Assign them goal and challenge them to score points. Compare the points after definite interval and declare the winners. We have taken various initiatives quarterly where each team was evaluated on specific number of projects and winner was decided based on their performance or target conversion. It worked wonders because some members pitched in to help other members so that team target exceeds the expectations. While doing this it is important to come out with some accolades and make sure that everyone performs to their best. These accolades can be in form of a. b. c. d. e. Acknowledgement for speed Acknowledgement for Quality All rounder Budding performer Surprise of the month etc.

5) Make them Compete in Events- While Maximum weight age can be given to the core tasks, Group should conduct various events and come out with winners. Prizes can

be given for individual events and points should be accumulated to grand total for final winner. The events you can conduct are a. b. c. d. Sports Associating and setting an example of charitable cause. In-house competition like face painting, decorating your lead etc Coming out with events like dance, decorating your work area etc.

6) Give Extra Points for Helping other Teams- It is important that the competition should be healthy and each member should display their best spirit. The team members should not be selfish and think about themselves only. While you can talk about it with team members it is always beneficial to associate a reward with it. A true spirit should come naturally or with some effort and there should be no hindrances to it.

7) Publicize the Vacancy- This one is my favorite. Whenever some team gets dissolved or there is a rebalancing act there should be a lot of thrust in attracting star and good employees. Right from canvassing, horse trading (in lighter sense), to final selection you have opportunity to create a jovial environment. This one tricky but its fun if this gets handled in an efficient manner.

8) Make Sure Values of Your Company Remains the Core of any ValuationCompany values are the foremost. Associating values with each step and making them contribute to final decision helps everyone to stay on common path. Values are the strongest weapon to keep everyone aligned even when they form part of different teams.

9) Celebrate the Success- You need to celebrate. You need to do it in a manner that everyone should be happy about it. The situation can be best if everyone participate in happiness of other people and enjoy it too if they have won the ultimate competition.

10) If Required, Dissolve and Recreate Teams after Regular Intervals- This depends upon the type of teams you belong to or run within the company. Sometimes it is important to close one chapter and start with the second. The tenure can be yearly where you get a chance to rebalance the team and create an opportunity for everyone to know and mix-up with each other. It works really well and people get opportunity to

know each other too. At times it helps people make best friends both within and outside the team.

Remember, the team is like soft clay which you can mould anyway you want too. This is your best opportunity to help people become productive and stay on path. You have to be innovative and understand the capabilities of each individual. It works wonder not only in understanding the best of each person but also in giving good direction to your hiring activities.

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