The Five Teams Every Organization Needs

 By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide 

Team work, effective work teams, and team building are popular topics in today’s organizations. Successful teams and team work fuel the accomplishment of your strategic goals. Effective work teams magnify the accomplishments of individual employees and enable you to better serve customers.

If you're experimenting with ongoing teams, start with a few to determine what team activities your organization can support. Teams require resources, and especially, time. Your teams are most effective when:

·         a diverse group of employees is able to participate,

·         you limit the number of teams on which any one employee may participate

·         the teams establish a regular meeting schedule,

·         you require periodic team goal setting,

·         minutes or notes are posted from team meetings or projects, and

·         teams self-perpetuate by regularly adding newer employees.

There are five work teams that every organization needs. I’ve seen many different approaches to team roles and responsibilities. Different organizations may also group responsibilities differently. As an example, I asked the safety committee to take on employee wellness responsibilities in one organization. The team refused, preferring instead to add environmental responsibilities. With this in mind, these are the five teams I most frequently recommend.

Leadership Team

Often an organization’s senior managers or department heads, the leadership team is the group that must pull together to lead your organization. The leadership team is responsible for the strategic direction of your organization, The leadership team plans, sets goals, provides guidance to, and manages your organization.

Motivation or Employee Morale Team

Known by different names in various organizations, the Employee Morale Team plans and carries out events and activities that build a positive spirit among employees. The team’s responsibilities can include activities such as hosting employee lunches, planning company picnics, fund raising for ill employees, and fund raising for philanthropic causes. The team leads the celebration of company milestones, employee birthdays, and the arrival of new babies. The team sponsors company sports teams. You can have fun with this team as the team’s only limit is the imagination of the team members.

Safety and Environmental Team

The team ensures the safety of employees in the work place. The team takes the lead in safety training, monthly safety talks, and the auditing of housekeeping, safety, and workplace organization. Recycling and environmental policy recommendations and leadership are provided by the team as well.

Employee Wellness Team

The wellness team focuses on health and fitness for employees. Most popular activities include walking clubs, running teams, and periodic testing of health issues such as high blood pressure screening. The wellness team can sponsor whole person wellness activities such as how to make a budget or lunch and learns about investment products – not investment advice.

Culture and Communication Team

The team works to define and create the defined company culture necessary for the success of your organization. The team also fosters two-way communication in your organization to ensure employee input up the chain of command. The team may sponsor the monthly newsletter, a weekly company update, quarterly employee satisfaction surveys, and an employee suggestion process.

Start several company teams, such as these, and nurture their success. When employees see successful teams, more employees become interested in serving on the teams. The teams make the company a better place to work and provide the opportunity for real employee involvement and commitment.