In Part I of “Building Teams: The WHYS, the WHATS, and then the HOWS of Authentic Teamwork,” we discussed why team building games and activities only answer the question HOW instead of building the foundation of an authentic team by first asking the WHYS and the WHATS.
In the second half of this article, you can dig a little bit deeper and learn more about the WHYS and the WHATS of building teams that are truly effective.
Selling Your Core Beliefs: Building Teams with Patient Persuasion
So, how do you sell your beliefs to others? I have to admit that selling beliefs to others is like trying to sell sand to a buzzard. Wouldn’t it just be easier to offer everybody a free lunch and a mandatory invitation and hope they come?
Cheer up! Actually, changing people’s core beliefs so that they want to help build your team doesn’t have to be tough. It might take longer than insisting that employees become a better team but it will sure produce better results.
So, start building teams through your beliefs, but remember that true persuasion only happens with patience and kindness, which by no means requires that it has to be boring! Take a look at the following persuasion strategies:
1) Building Teams: Kind Persuasion with Humor
Using humor. This is a great strategy and also a very honest one when used effectively. With humor you can change the world without expending quite as much effort as it might take to persuade with—oh, let’s say an atomic weapon.
I found an interesting segment online1 about humor. The author (unknown) spoke of a video that he or she had seen which was made to present certain sensitive issues but which had chosen the medium of humor to expound upon those issues. The author noticed the effective nature of humor in persuading (or at least opening the minds of) the watches themselves. The author says that with humor:
• “You are more likely to pay attention.”
• “You are less likely to argue back.”
• “You will tend to like the persuader, giving them more power to influence you.”
• “You will feel happier, which opens your mind to new ideas and behaviors.”
Humor, is a great method of persuasion because it can truly open minds to look through new doors of thought. With humor, building teams is a pleasant process.
2) Building Teams: Kind Persuasion with a Look at Yourself
Another strategy that will help you persuade others to believe in your core beliefs is to be persuadable yourself. Yes. Your core beliefs may actually change (even in regards to something as relatively simple as your business) which is okay because a team is still being created regardless of whether your employee’s beliefs are changing or yours are. As long as two or more people’s beliefs and attitudes are coming into alignment, then there is a team that is being created.
Test your own beliefs by asking your team members why they think they would or would not need team building training. You might find that your own core beliefs will change and make room for a better team.
Once again, building teams that are effective really doesn’t have to be an unpleasant series of tasks. Make it fun!
Building Teams: Continue by Asking the WHATS
To answer the question WHAT you simply need to decide what the principles are that you want to base your team building activities on. If you want to first work on building a team that focuses on honesty and respect, then focus on rules, activities and games that are devoted to teaching or demonstrating those principles. You can also choose to continue training with additional principles such as courtesy, sincerity, fun, charisma, happiness, communication, intelligence, etc. When building teams, it is important to base your processes on the WHATS or in other words the principles that you think you business should be built on.
Isn’t that more fulfilling than jumping over ropes?
1 http://credibility.stanford.edu/captology/notebook/archives.new/2004/04/
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