Management Transitions

Team Building in the Workplace:
Building a Better Team with the STAR model

Team building in the workplace is a key element of our work. In the rapidly changing dynamics of today’s business environment, flexibility and responsiveness are critical. Effective teams can make all the difference. Teams may not be the answer to every organisational problem, but they could be to most.

There is a renewed emphasis on the importance of helping teams to perform, especially as organisations cope with a recession, and the difficult decisions this can bring. Forming new teams, taking over or re-focusing existing teams, requires some crucial management skills.

Effective team building in the workplace means understanding the answers to some key questions. For example:

  • How do teams develop?
  • Where does the team leader focus emphasis, as the team develops?
  • What do teams need, especially to help them cope with internal dynamics and issues, and with external contexts and circumstances?

Good team leadership means bringing the right people together and managing them effectively. The STAR model is an effective way to do this. It consists of five key elements:

  1. Star InfographicIndividuals flourish as they use and develop their Strengths. This means team leaders should focus on individual strengths, identifying where an individual’s best contribution can be made.
  2. Individual strengths are rarely enough. They will only achieve the synergy of teams when the individuals are led, co-ordinated and managed effectively, with the aim of promoting Teamwork.
  3. The team leader’s role is to Align and manage. That is, align the strengths of individuals, using teamwork, with appropriate resources, whilst ensuring all of these are focused on achieving team and organisational goals.
  4. Addressing these points means team leaders are far more likely to achieve meaningful Results, releasing the power of team synergy.
  5. The STAR team model can be used to identify and address the impact of any factors from outside the team. For example, influences from other teams, from the rest of the organisation, or from the external operating environment.

Teams don’t just happen, they need to be built using: STRENGTHS, TEAMWORK, ALIGNMENT, RESULTS, OUTSIDE FACTORS

At Apex Leadership we specialise in team building in the workplace.

Combining our process of facilitated workshops with our comprehensive resources, we can work with your managers and team leaders to:

  • Start well – getting the basics right will give your managers a head-start on building a cohesive team.
  • Build the team – taking a group of individuals, with a range of strengths, and making them into a team. Developing a group of individuals into a team is certainly one of the more demanding team stages, but it’s not enough.
  • Create a team that performs – performance requires individuals to excel in what they do for the team.
  • Lead a team – that can sustain its performance and exceed expectations.