Joining the Team Building Dots

As a child I loved dot-to-dot books. Being completely lacking in artistic talent, each then and now, I found it fascinating that I might "produce" a picture out of nothing. Well, virtually nothing. Generally the dots gave it away beforehand, however the clever ones seemed ready to hide the large picture until the last of the dots were connected. Then suddenly I had drawn a bear. Or a dog. Or a clown. For some fleeting moments I used to be as good as Rolf Harris. There is an argument that I still am, but we'll save that a lot of adult topic for an additional article perhaps...
Oh how useful it'd be to own a dot-to-dot like facility for building effective teams. Assemble a group of people, then, using the numbers that magically seem above each of their heads, connect them along and suddenly it all makes sense. A good team seems, ready to travel above and beyond the call of duty. I might take a number of that.
It may not be as simple as that, however connecting individuals is what effective team working is about. Just putting a group of individuals along and calling them a team isn't enough. As a colleague of mine usually quotes, great teams don't just happen. They need sensible processes to decision upon - sensible strategies if you prefer. Strategies that connect the dots between individuals and indeed the team's work in a very means that makes sense and adds to the individual strengths at intervals the team. Ways that facilitate team members work with one another and also the external groups and individuals that they cope with in the course of discharging their duties, no matter they may be.
How do you go regarding finding the best dots to attach? There are 3 main ways:
1.    The team puts time aside to explore the means that it works specifically for the purpose of uncovering better ways in which of working.
2.    The team puts time aside to try to to some "proper" team building, selects an activity that has real parallels to their operating atmosphere and then uncovers relevant learning from how it tackles the activity.
3.    The team makes mistakes and learns from them.
For me, they are listed within the reverse order of effectiveness. Setting time aside for even the most effective of facilitated navel-gazing sessions is tough to mention the least. Team members can notice it exhausting to be honest about enhancements that they would love to determine happen as they feel their comments could be interpreted negatively. They additionally notice it arduous to see the wood from the trees, thus will miss spotting opportunities to enhance team practices.
You'd suppose that the Managing Director of a team building company would recommend team building sessions as the simplest option for improving teams, but no. This one at least makes it the second best means of developing teams. Carefully selected team activities with lots of parallels back to the workplace offer an glorious means of uncovering team problems and finding ways in which to improve the team performance during a safe environment, however does not hit the high spot.
While not doubt, the simplest way is for a team to form - and learn from - its mistakes within the workplace. That's not as daft as it sounds. I've invariably thought that a manager's job was, in half, to prevent his or her team from creating critical mistakes however encouraging them to form non-important ones. Providing they learn from them. It's by so much and away the best way of developing a team. Forget standard knowledge and ditch the sadly almost ancient blame culture and instead produce a learning culture where (non-critical) mistakes are actively encouraged and celebrated, providing they're solely made once.
However supplement this with good, professional team building sessions. Well run team building sessions provide a completely different perspective, nice motivation and recharge a team's batteries superbly. And, in fact, by their very nature, they offer an environment in which mistakes are not only expected and encouraged but which do not matter one iota. It's a great place to start.

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