Effective Team Building

Effective Team Building

The company description of EcoSeagate states that it is “about identifying and overcoming barriers and excelling as an individual and team member. Be ready to learn through activities and speakers about achievement and excellence. Be prepared to experience our corporate values and Seagate competencies in new and unexpected settings and get ready to see how our objectives can be reached by challenging ourselves, adapting to new circumstances and contributing to an aligned focused team.” (Larson, 2008) EcoSeagate employs four types of team building with varying degrees of success to accomplish this lofty goal, Goal Setting, Role Definition, Interpersonal Processes and Problem Solving. (McShane & Von Glinow, 2008 p. 304)

The first type of team building that EcoSeagate addresses is goal setting where the team clarifies the performance goals, increases the team’s motivation to accomplish these goals and establishes a mechanism for feedback on a team’s performance. (McShane & Von Glinow, 2008 p. 304) Four months before the EcoSeagate ever begins, teams are chosen so that they can discuss preparations for the event including supplies, gear, physical training and nutrition. (Larson, 2008)

The common goal at the beginning is to make preparations for the supplies and gear that will be needed to be successful in the upcoming competition and to make sure that everyone is well trained in the physical activity to come. In addition, they must decide together when they will arrive in Queenstown before the competition to get to know each other on a more personal level. (Larson, 2008) To supp...

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...ek with all of the tasks at once, the team’s successes had built up their confidence sufficiently to allow them to persevere despite injuries and fear because they trusted that they had someone to back them up.

Overall EcoSeagate was designed to make sure that the groups were small enough, to get to know each other well enough, to accomplish goals set forth and to finish the race together even if meant they didn’t come in first. (Larson, 2008)

References

Larson, K. (2008, March 4). Making up for lost time. Message posted to EcoSeagate 2008, archived at

http://ecoseagate.blogspot.com

McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. (2008). Organizational Behavior : Emerging Realities for the Workplace Revolution (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.