In this article, the writer first makes the reader to understand what group dynamic entails by talking about the basic nature of most groups, the stages that they go through during their development and ways and means of supporting these teams to evolve through the stages of development. The author also addresses on how to build highly effective teams. Here, he points out that teams are most effective when they are carefully designed. He provides some guidelines to follow when designing effective teams. The guidelines pointed out are:-
- Setting clear goals for the results to be produced by the teams. This goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bond.
- Setting out clear objectives for measuring the ongoing effectiveness of the team.
- Defining a mechanism for clear and consistent communications among team members. With regard to this, he points out that without communication, non of the other traits can occur.
- Defining the procedure for the members to make decisions and solve problems.
- Developing staffing procedures such as identifying what roles and expertise are needed to accomplish the groups' mission.
- Determining the membership of the group focusing on the different skills that each member has.
- Determining the time frames for starting and terminating the team.
- Determining the membership of the team focusing on what expertise the team might need in order to achieve its goals.
- Assigning the role of a leader who focuses on the systems and practices in the team.
- Assigning the role of a communicator who will be responsible for updating other team members on any developments.
- Identifying the needs required for the team to meet its goals.
- Identifying the cost of providing the necessary resources for the team.
- Contacting each team members.
- Regular monitoring and reporting on the status of the team members toward achieving the goal.
- Regular celebrations after some accomplishments.
The author also points out that, engaging people in lot of physical activities in the name of team building may not be very effective in promoting the growth of the members but something a bit more creative and less physical might work out (Carlene & Kreitner, 2009).
The various stages that a team goes through are also pointed addressed in this article. Forming which is the first stage where members meet each other for the first time and at this stage good leadership is required in order to make members feel welcomed. Storming which is the second stage allows the members to get connected with each other and starts to know each other. Norming stage allows the members to get committed to the purpose of the group. In the forth stage which is performing, members work effectively toward achieving the teams goals. The final stage is marked with closing and celebrations in recognition of their achievements (Carlene & Kreitner, 2009).
The author of this article seems to have been interested in coming up with guidelines which are helpful to people intending to carry out some team building activities. This is because, all through the article, his main focus in on ways of creating very effective teams.
From the article, it is clear that the guidelines provided by the author are very effective in coming up with very effective teams during the process of team building. This is because they address all the aspects of team building which ensure that everything is balanced.
My view on this article is that it provides the necessary guidelines which will facilitate a team building process in a very balanced manner. I also feel that it would be necessary to include more technical activities as part of team building activities which will facilitate critical thinking. This will ensure that members develop both physically and intellectually.