As work settings become more complex and involve increased numbers of interpersonal interactions, individual effort has less impact. In order to increase efficiency and effectiveness, a group effort is required. The creation of teams has become a key strategy in many organizations. Team building is an essential element in supporting and improving the effectiveness of small groups and task forces and must be a key part of a total program of organizational change. Hellriegel, Slocum, & Woodman (1986) state that team building is used to improve the effectiveness of work groups by focusing on any of the following four purposes: setting goals and priorities, deciding on means an methods, examining the way in which the group works, and exploring the quality of working relationships. A cycle then develops; it begins with the awareness or perception of a problem and is followed sequentially by data collection, data sharing diagnosis, action planning, action impl

Recognition and appreciation is the next attribute. When team members have accomplished what you have asked them to, reward them. An organization should recognize both the individual and team contributions simultaneously. For example, when a team's project is finished, the members can be publicly praised as a group for their work and additional individual praise can be given to top performance. Members feels highly regarded within the team and experience a sense of personal accomplishment in relation to their team and task contributions. How you reward team members depend in part on what you are rewarding any why. Your rewards should focus team members' attention on the importance of both building and maintaining team success. There is a range of possibilities, rewards of days off, salary increases, coaching for career opportunities, or certificates.

Team building is directed toward improving group effectiveness and the ways in which members of teams work together. These teams may be permanent or temporary, but their members have either common organizational aims or work activities. The general process of team building attempts to equip a group to handle its own ongoing problem solving. Team building incorporates a conglomerate of skills and behaviors used to develop effective teams. Skills such as team development, communication, training and exercises, and feedback. Teams, in other words, are tools. As such, each team design has its own uses, its own characteristics, its own requirements, and its own limitations. Teamwork is neither "good" nor "desirable"; it is a fact in today's environment. Wherever people work together or play together they do so as a team. Which team to use for what purpose is a crucial, difficult, and risky decision that is even harder to unmake. Managers must learn how to make this decis!

Not all work groups are teams. Reilly and Jones (1974) list four essential elements of teams: goals, interdependence, commitment, and accountability. The members must have mutual goals or a reason to work together; there must be an interdependent working relationship; individuals must be committed to the group effort; and the group must be accountable to a higher level within the organization. A good example is an athletic team, whose members share goals and an overall purpose. Individual players have specific assignments they are responsible for, but each depends on

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Approximate Word count = 1633
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)