It's time someone finally said it:

It's time someone finally said it: Most of what passes for teambuilding these days doesn't really build teams.

So why do American companies spend millions of dollars annually to make their employees go through ineffective teambuilding motions -- pushing them to walk around in blindfolds, navigate rope courses, and sit crosslegged on the floor with a pad of paper and a pack of crayons illustrating their "life paths" with their left hands? (See BW Online, 1/18/06, "The Antidote to Corporate Retreats."

Three reasons: While it's generally recognized that a great team will beat a mediocre team 99 times out of 100, little hard thinking goes on at most companies about how effective teams are actually built. Employees usually don't complain about silly teambuilding efforts, whether out of apathy or for fear of being labeled "anti-team." Finally, most teambuilding practitioners are wellmeaning, sincere people whom no one wants to offend.

So if conventional teambuilding activities are largely off the mark, how does one build a great team?

ESSENTIAL ASPECTS. My answer to this dilemma was shaped early in life. In college, I played a supporting role on a volleyball team that won the first Division I NCAA National Championship in our university's history. That 1978 championship team was made up of people who weren't the most physically-gifted athletes in the nation -- but before my eyes they merged into a force that was far greater than the sum of the players' individual abilities.

Nearly 30 years later, what I learned that season about the essence of teamwork remains one of the most important lessons of my life. Great teams -- whether composed of athletes, businesspeople, fire fighters, military commandos, or what have you -- have four essential characteristics:

1. An intense, shared passion to achieve a specific goal. One of the most memorable hallmarks of my 1978 team was the level of intensity which the players brought to every practice and game. The atmosphere was charged with an emotional commitment that caused members of the team to constantly push each other to give everything in service of the goal.

Far too often, a company thinks it has a teambuilding problem when what it really has is a goal problem. If you want to build a great team, make sure its members share a determined passion to accomplish something. How do you get that kind of commitment? By involving everyone in the development of the goal. Without it, all the Outward Bound trips and Kumbaya singing sessions in the world aren't going to make a bit of difference to team performance.

2. A shared strategy to achieving the goal. It's not enough to get a bunch of people together who care deeply about reaching a goal. They need to have a strategy for attaining it. In previous columns, I have said that the best teambuilding tool ever is a good strategy that everyone buys into.

The coach of my 1978 volleyball team laid out a detailed strategy for winning that the players bought into, mind, body, and soul. A part of the strategy was to overcome any disadvantage we had in terms of raw physical talent with a commitment to superior conditioning and training. The coach told us, "We're going to simply outwork the other guys." And he meant it -- for the next two months, the team endured a conditioning regimen so grueling that it was the talk of the campus.

If your team isn't functioning as well as you would like, you may actually have a strategy problem. I find that when a company clarifies its goals and involves a broad cross-section of members in crafting a strategy, often its team begins to function better together. What I have learned is that if you want to increase teamwork, don't focus on the team, focus the team on the task (see BW Online, 1/19/05, "A Better Scheme for Strategic Planning").

3. An unwavering belief in the intentions and abilities of fellow teammates. Yes, trust and respect are key. But ironically, often the best way to increase levels of trust and respect on a team is to get them focused on the goal and the strategy. That's because, if done correctly, the process of developing a strategy gets people saying what they really think. And when people say what they really think and are held accountable, trust and respect usually follow. Don't impose an atmosphere of false politeness.

There was plenty of conflict on my 1978 team -- I even remember helping to break up a fistfight between team members on one bus trip. When people are giving their all to something, tempers tend to flare. But what struck me about the team members was the atmosphere of respect that prevailed whenever they were on the court. All of the great business teams I have observed share that same quality.

4. A great coach. There's no getting around it, great teams usually have great coaches -- though some of the best coaches I have met in the business world operate without hierarchical authority. Marv Dunphy, the coach of my 1978 championship team, still coaches volleyball at that same university today. He has a 426-162 win-loss record -- the best in the nation for the sport -- and has gone on to win three more NCAA championships. Dunphy has also coached a U.S. team to a World Cup Championship, a World Championship, and an Olympic gold medal.

The advice I would give to anyone seeking to build a great team: Learn how to be a great coach. I have often thought that aspiring business leaders would be a lot better off if they spent less time reading management literature, and more time hanging out with people like Dunphy. The great college coaches may know more about teambuilding than anyone else in the world --after all, their leadership and teambuilding skills are measured in real time, in front of real crowds. And they start from scratch with a new team every year.

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这时候终于有人说的那样：多数什么通行证团队建设这些天并没有真正建立团队。那么，为什么美国公司花费数百万美元，每年使员工通过无效的团队建设运动 -推自理于眼罩走动，导航绳网，坐在地板上盘腿与纸垫和一包蜡笔的illustra婷他们的“生活道路”与他们的左手？（见BW在线，06年1月18日，“解药企业退。”原因有三：虽然它普遍认识到，一支伟大的球队会打一个平庸的球队99次满分100，小勤于思考的推移约大多数公司如何有效的团队实际上是建立。员工通常没有抱怨傻团队建设的努力，无论是出于冷漠，或因担心被贴上“反的球队。”最后，大多数队伍建设的实践都是善意的，真诚的人谁没有人愿意得罪。因此，如果常规，团队建设活动在很大程度上是没谱，一个人如何打造一支伟大的球队？重要方面。我回答这个两难的生活月初形成的。在大学里，我演的那个赢了第一排球队配角我NCAA全国锦标赛在我校的历史部门，1978年总冠军的球队是由人组成的世卫组织不是最实际，有天赋的运动员在全国-但在我的眼里，他们合并到远远超过了一些更高的力量球员的个人能力的。近30年后的今天，我所学到的那个赛季团队合作的精髓一直是我生命中最重要的教训之一。伟大的球队-无论是由运动员，商务人士，消防员，军事突击队，或者你有什么- 有四个基本特征：1。一种强烈的，共同的激情，以实现特定的目标。我的一个1978队最难忘的特点之一是强度，该球员带到每一个练习和比赛水平。气氛被指控导致团队，不断推进海誓山盟放弃一切的目标服务的成员的情感承诺。太多太多OFTEL，公司认为它有一个团队建设问题，当它真的是一个目标的问题。如果你想建立一个伟大的团队，确保其成员共享立志成就一番激情。你如何得到这样的承诺？通过让每个人的目标发展。没有它，世界上所有的拓展训练游和Kumbaya唱歌会不会做出一点区别团队的表现。2。一项共同战略，以实现这一目标。这还不足以让一堆人在一起谁深切达到一个目标。他们需要有一个战略，八算什么呢。在以前的专栏中，我说，最好的团队建设的工具曾经是一个很好的策略，每个人都买成。我1978年排球队制定了详细的战略制胜，球员超买成，思想，身体和灵魂的教练。该战略的一个组成部分是克服我们在原材料的身体天赋，并承诺以卓越的调理和培训方面的任何缺点。教练告诉我们，“我们要简单地外发其他人。” 而他的意思是- 在接下来的两个月里，球队经历了预处理方案让绿蓝灵这是校园里的热门话题。如果你的球队没有发挥作用，以及你想，你实际上可能有一个战略问题 。我发现，当一家公司明确其目标，并涉及在制定一项战略，成员的广泛代表性，OFTEL的团队开始更好地运作起来。我所了解到的是，如果你想增加团队合作，不注重团队，团队重点任务（见BW在线，05年1月19日，“英雄方案战略规划”）。3。在意向和同胞队友的能力，坚定不移地信仰。是的，信任和尊重是关键。但具有讽刺意味的盟友，ofter加大对球队的信任和尊重程度的最好办法是让自理的目标和战略聚焦。这是因为，如果操作正确，制定战略的过程中得到别人说什么，他们的真实想法。而当人们说出自己的真实想法，并追究责任，信任和尊重通常遵循。不要叠加假客气内斯的气氛有大量冲突对我1978年的团队 -即使我记得帮助打破了团队成员之间的拳头打在一个公交出行。当人们给他们的所有的东西，脾气眩光点燃到。但打动我的团队成员是尊重的气氛盛行每当他们在球场上。所有伟大的商业团队我观察分享共同的品质。4。一个伟大的教练。有没有避过它，伟大的球队通常有伟大的教练-尽管一些我遇到过在商业世界上最好的教练工作时不分级授权。马福邓菲，我的1978年冠军队的教练，还是教练排球在该联合大学今天。他有426-162输赢记录-最好在国家为这项运动-并已经赢得三个NCAA冠军。邓菲还执教过美国队以一个世界杯冠军，世界冠军和奥运金牌。这个建议我想给任何人寻求建立一支伟大的球队：学习如何成为一个伟大的教练。我曾经想过OFTEL有抱负的企业领导者将是一个很大的改善，如果他们花更少的时间阅读管理文献，并有更多的时间挂出与人喜欢邓菲。伟大的大学教练可能会更了解团队的建设比其他任何人在世界上--after所有那些领导能力和团队建设能力的实时测量，在真正的观众面前。而他们从头开始一个新的团队每一年。