Team Building Tips

I was hoping to get some feedback on one of my teams. There are some very strong personalities that have clashed previously. Currently the team atmosphere is very combative (maybe this is too harsh of a word), but everyone watches what they say, there is eye rolling when each other talks and a lot of back talk. I wanted to regroup with the team and somehow kick the team off to a different start (these individuals have been working together for over a year). Any suggestions? Would doing something like Myers Briggs or SDI help? How can I get the team to work together rather than against each other? Thanks for listening (or I guess, reading).

Daisy --

Regardless of the cause, that type of behavior is unacceptable in the workplace. You need to address it head on with the individuals before having any type of group intervention.

Schedule sessions with each team member and conduct some exploratory questioning to determine what might be causing the behavior.

Start with giving some feedback about the person's behavior. Be specific. For example -- "John, I noticed when Sandy was talking about her suggestions about the new process that you were rolling your eyes, but you didn't participate in the discussion. Can you help me understand what that was about?"

If you need some feedback guidelines, take a look at http://www.teambuildingtips.com/team-building-articles/team-communication/the-dos-and-donts-of-giving-feedback.html

Once you've done your exploring in individual sessions, then you can determine what group activity to conduct. It may be helpful to do a role clarification to help renew focus toward the organization goal.

Give these suggestions a try and let us know how else we can help you.