1  2  3 

Building a winning team

The teambuilding process has tremendous value for organisations looking to improve team function and productivity at all levels, explains Drikus Kriek.

by Drikus Kriek

It is generally agreed that the role that teams play in organisational life has increased significantly in recent years. That this is a trend that will continue into the future, can hardly be contested. A number of reasons can be presented to support this view, namely:

• Organisations that employ teams have achieved success. 
• The nature of business has become increasingly specialised. Skills, expertise and knowledge have become so complex that they cannot be found in individuals only; thus necessitating multidisciplinary teams.
• In Africa, the philosophy of uBuntu underscores the use of teams.
• The advent of the information age has led to new forms of teams, e.g. virtual teams. 
• Increased competition has forced organisations to find a competitive advantage; accordingly the maximal utilisation of skills and resources can best be found in teams. 

Given the increased importance attributed to teams, it goes without saying that organisations should ensure the optimum use of this phenomenon. This can only be achieved by equipping managers and leaders of teams with the skills to understand how to optimise the use of their teams. One popular tool to enable the effective use of teams is teambuilding. However, the process to be employed to ensure its optimum implementation needs to be explained. The process can be presented graphically through the following depiction:

1  2  3