How do you do team building with only three on a team?
The Team Doc Says…
Although the definition of a team indicates that you can build a team of two to 25 team members with eight to twelve members being the optimal size, having a team of only three members is definitely a challenge. But it’s not impossible.
Your team success will rely on your ability as team members to leverage the strengths of each team member. You certainly don’t have the luxury of larger teams where there is a smaller impact if the strengths of a team member are not used. So here’s what you need to do.
- Define what roles are critical to team success. As a team, get together and brainstorm a list of team roles. Talk through this list until you have agreement among the team members that the roles are valid for your team purpose.
- Identify individual team member strengths. Each team member should do two things to create this list of strengths. First they should make a list of their own personal strengths (e.g. great communicator, good with customer service, very organized, etc.). Next they need to make a list of strengths they see in each of the other two team members. Then the team should get together, share the lists and agree on a consolidated listing of strengths for each team member.
- Put it all together. As a team, use the list of roles you determined were critical to team success and the individual team members strengths lists to determine who should do what role to accomplish the team purpose. Implement any needed changes and communicate to your stakeholders.
Follow this process to build your small team and you will be unbeatable!
Have you been part of a very small team? Share with us what worked and what didn’t by leaving a comment below.
More info on this topic at:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
We have a small sales staff who just make their numbers. The problem is they say they are working hard but they seem to need ‘down’ time mid week. I’m told they will burn out if pushed. Many times when I walk into the department there is a lot of gossip going on or funny emails being viewed and such. Many days seem wasted on nonproductive work. I don’t mind a fun work atmosphere but it must be limited. My feeling is that they are on my time for 8 hours and that time should be used to the best potential. How do I get this across without seeming like the bad guy or being accused of demotivating the salesteam by their salesmanager?
Carol —
If this team is “just making their numbers” perhaps there is room for improvement. On the other hand, since they are making their numbers the down time should be OK. Remember that the focus should be on OUTCOMES, not ACTIVITIES.
You don’t identify your position, but it sounds like you are the leader of this organization. I think you need to have a frank discussion with the sales manager and a meeting with the team about their performance since it seems as though you would like it to improve.
In your meeting, don’t make the “you’re on MY time” statement — it will create the opposite effect that you are trying to achieve. Your feedback to them should be positive since they are achieving their goals. It would be a good idea to share with them how much you appreciate that effort and to hear from the team what actions they could take to crank it up a bit.