Home
About Me
Subscribe
FREE eBook
Blog
Articles What is Leadership
Leadership Types
Leadership Skills
Self Leadership
Articles
Team Building
Communication
Christian Leadership
Biographies Business Leaders
Sport Leaders
Political Leaders
Spiritual Leaders
Military Leaders
Tools & Resources Quotes
Icebreakers
Team Activities
Leadership Movies
Videos
Books
Leadership Tests
Other Resources How I Built This Site
Links
Contact Us
Advertise With Us

E-mail Address

First Name

Then

Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure.
I promise to use it only to send you Growing the Leader in You.
 

Team Building Strategies
Setting Expectations for
Your Team

Team Building Strategies talks about one of the most important components of initial team building, which is to set common expectations so that everyone will be clearly understood.

Before you set forth working with your team, one of the most important team building strategies is to set the tone in your working team.

Often, we see misunderstandings, conflicts and disagreements within a team simply because they forgot to do one thing before they started off together: they forget to set expectations right.

“Hey you didn’t include John in the inner circle. Why?”

“He didn’t do his job very well. I asked him to do this but he gave me a sloppy job!”

“But he did what you told him to, didn’t he?”

“No, he didn’t! Look at this.”

This might be something common to your organization; but did you ever consider it might be because you didn’t set the expectations before you gave him the assignment?

This is the same thing in teams. You need to be very clear about your expectations.

Every team has different dynamics because it is made up of different people.

Sometimes changing even one person on the team can change the whole culture of the team altogether.

That is why it is important to put everything on the table before you begin work together.

In my opinion, there are four things you have to place for discussion on the table before you proceed on as a team.

Team Building Strategies
Four Expectations to Set


Team Building Strategies #1: Goal Setting
You need to be clear about what goal you want to achieve in your coming together as a team. Good goals are specific, measurable, and realistic and have a deadline. Put it to the table for discussion about what you want to achieve as a group, and put it down on paper.

Once you do that, don’t hide the paper away!

Put it up on a board or a plaque at a place where everyone in the team can see it. This will help clarify expectations and set milestones for your group.

Team Building Strategies #2: Decision Making
You also need to clarify about the process of decision making. Is important decisions made by majority votes? Or do you need an unanimous vote? Or would it be by the leader of the team?

Team Building Strategies #3: Work Division
You need to divide the work clearly and assign people who will be responsible for which part. Who will be in charge of the beginning stages? Who’s in charge of the opening event? How about the ushering during the opening event?

The clearer you are about this, the less room you give to misunderstanding and the more effective your team will work.

Team Building Strategies #4: Conflict Resolution
When there is a disagreement, what is the process to resolve the conflict? Does a mediator bring the two parties together to talk it through? How about using an ‘Indian talking stick’, where only one person holding onto a stick may speak?

You might think that it might be easier NOT to set these expectations, since everyone is in the same spirit of wanting to achieve a goal.

That is the biggest mistake you can make.

It is precisely the fact that you want to sustain the team spirit within the group that you bring all these things to the table.

Ambiguity simply gives room to miscommunication, and hence misunderstanding. Don’t try to save time on this; you’ll be paying a bigger price later.

Basically, you need to set all these issues out on the table and get everyone’s consensus on it.

When everyone is exactly clear about how the culture, expectations and ground rules are, you give room for unity, and move away misunderstandings and discords from your team.

Return from Team Building Strategies: Setting Expectations to Team Building Techniques

Return from Team Building Strategies: Setting Expectations to Home Page

Articles on Team Building

Creating a Team Mission Statement
Before your team can work effectively, you must set the vision for the team so that every individual in the team understands the purpose of coming together. Are they coming together for a common interest, a specific project, or for a long term vision?

Examples of Team Mission Statements
Here are some examples of good mission statements used in the biggest companies in the world. Learn the elements required in a mission statement and how you can draft a good mission statement.

Formulating Great Team Mottos
A team motto captures the values of a team in a few words or a phrase. Learn about some simple team mottos and how you can create a great team motto for your team.

Setting the Stage for Teamwork
Before you send your team off to do their task, you must set the context and the foundation so that your team will succeed. You need to set expectations, make certain rules within the team and more.

The Barriers to Team Success
There are several barriers to building a successful team. Learn about the pitfalls in teambuilding and how you can avoid them.

Characteristics of Good Teams
Every good team has similar characteristics. Learn six invaluable characteristics that are required to groom an effective, successful team.

Why Doesn't My Team Speak Up?
Getting your team to speak up is probably one of the greatest challenges you will have as a leader. You need to move your team's mindset from the traditional top-down decision making process into the new paradigm.

Subscribe to the FREE Leadership With You Newsletter and receive a monthly e-zine with:

Latest Articles in Leadership With You

Great Product Recommendations

New tips and insights to help you become a better leader

When you subscribe, every month you will receive valuable information and wonderful tips for you as a leader!

Click here to see some back issues of the Newsletter

Each issue of the Leadership With You Newsletter is filled with quality content that will greatly benefit you in your leadership journey.

You will find the content simple to understand and relevant for you. They are straight-forward, practical information that you will use immediately!


Enter Your Email Address

Enter Your First Name

Then

Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure.
I promise to use it only to send you the Newsletter.

Return to Home Page


Sign Up Today


On a monthly basis, I write to you to share with you about my thoughts, some great articles and resources on leadership as well and I know it will greatly benefit you.

Sign up today and download a free leadership ebook worth USD 9.95!

Leadership ebook

E-mail Address
First Name
Then

Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure.
I promise to use it only to send you Growing the Leader in You.

Leadership Resources


Here are just a few of the pages that offer useful leadership resources for you. You will become a more equipped leader with these:

Great Quotes on leadership that you can use or be inspired by!

Movies: A collection on awesome leadership movies to teach leadership

Team Exercises: Some team building game ideas for you

Books: Some great books you can buy to enrich yourself

Testimonials


Let me begin by saying my deepest thanks to you for visiting this website. Your words of encouragement never fail to inspire and push me further to build this website to be a blessing to more people.

I have only skimmed over the website and the e-book so far, but what I've read was surprisingly deep for a non-commercial and easily accessible product. - John, Germany

Hello Yihan, I am veru gratiful for your book about leadership. It is very exciting and amazing. It's encouraging and give us all hope. - Radovanka, Serbia

I was inspired by your writing and i have started putting those principles into practice.- Mwanki Mercy

I am compelled to write you personally and say how excited I was to discover your website. Even though I have found many websites on leadership yours stands out because of your Leadership Movies section. - Emmanuel Lopez

Thank you for the article that you have been sending on the true leadership I really appreciate that. A one person who is aspiring to be a good leader but it starts with me first. Thank you very much. - Eagles Audacity

I have stumbled across your website a few times in my research and I wanted to commend you for the work you are doing. Your site is a great resource for leaders! - Johnny, United States

dear Yihan, thank-you for your leadership website. I am digging into visionary leadership. Thanks for your insightful summary. There are lots of valuable resources around. - Rudolf, South Africa

I like your website a lot. In fact, I m undertaking master in construction management and your articles help a lot. - Josephine Teo, Malaysia

Excellent site! Thank you so much for the time and effort you've put into compiling some of the best materials on leadership. - Patricia, Germany

If you have feedback you would like to give, please visit Contact Me and I would love to hear from you. Really.