How do you make the environment in your business conducive to team building.

In the past this was often done with merit pay raises, employee of the month awards and other performance based gifts. Many businesses that are interested in team building have found that these approaches do not work as well as they would like.

For instance if you have an employee that gives his or her all and they are routinely named Employee of the Month you may find fewer and fewer people working as hard because they know they dont really stand a chance and they just dont feel it is worth the effort. The end result is less output from the majority of your team (and your Employee of the Month cant make up the difference no matter how hard they work).

Please dont think that I am opposed to gifts based on merit, but work to make the merit system based on improved personal performance and let the rewards be presented personally and without making it something that is publicly lauded. There may be a time and place for that, but these individual gifts of appreciation may be given as the team leader sees improvement.

Let me be clear, the only competition a team member should face is themselves. You can help them set and achieve certain goals that make them a more valued member of the team.

This does not mean you hand out rewards all the time, but you should look for moments when you can honestly compliment your team members for their service and hard work.

Gifts can be personalized based on the unique interests of the team member. You can learn a lot abut your team by having them fill out a questionnaire regarding their interests, hobbies and what they could do if they had a whole weekend away.

These can all be fuel for rewarding your team members in a way that packs more punch than flowers, a box of candy or a company pen and mug.

When your team members understand they are challenging themselves they will often rise to the challenge in a much greater way than if they feel they are competing with everyone else. The later concept breeds discontent and mistrust among the team while the former works to ensure everyone improves. It also lets your team know you are paying attention and that their work is important to you.

If youve been modeling your team approach with company-wide competition you will likely find it is only effective with a minority of your team. When you work to make the competition personal and attainable everybody wins.

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects.

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