Lola Khasanova
Professor Sarah Wing
BUS 224 Research Paper
12 December 2014
Team Building
One of the fundamentals of life is that people are meant to exist in community. Because we are the product of value systems that have been influenced largely by the people we are surrounded by, and less by indirect relationships such as heroes or leaders, it can be concluded that success, when achieved, is not achieved by oneself. At some point in time, every professional in the business world has thought about team dynamics and what it takes to succeed; this is largely due to the fact that success cannot be powered by any one person, beckoning the one desiring success to formulate a team (Walker 224) which is a form of community. Arranging a productive team therefore, is at the heart of success of which qualities and habits will be discussed in this research paper.
The fundamentals of productive team building require knowing an individual’s character traits and tendencies which can be identified by several different means. Similarly, the skills and talent acquired by a candidate can be captivated by the same means. If the skills and traits match that which the company seeks, it is important to provide clear benchmarks (Dessler 370) to accurately gauge employee and team success. Then, developmental techniques can be implemented which must always be personalized to the team. Subsequently it is valuable to examine in detail the tendencies which exist in high performing teams.
First on the road to success is therefore picking a candidate that fits your team and your Company vision. It is important that the hiring manager has a clear vision of what the perfect candidate will be like. Writing down specific, measurable qualities of the perfect candidate is suggested by Jim Mumm (14) of Business West; this can be done by building a team matrix as well as identifying the primary function indicators. All this helps design questions that reveal the true tendencies of a candidate, and is done before resume’s are reviewed and candidates are invited for an interview. In the first interview, it is good to include personality tests such as Meyers-Brigg Type Indicator (Walker 75) and Emotional Intelligence which allow the team builder to assess the candidate objectively. Traditional approaches (Dessler 198) to screening candidates have produced tolerable results; however, there is a better way. In conjunction to the methods listed, the hiring manager must look for soft skills such as eye contact, handshake, and friendliness; this serves as an audit to the written information the candidate provided. This personal interaction also gives the manager an opportunity to notice unmentioned talent. It is vital that all observations be recorded on the spot or immediately after the interview, as to accurately record the observations.
Once the hire has been made and responsibilities are understood by the new team member, the next step is to meet the team. In order to measure productivity, the manager and team go through a collaborative brainstorming session or in some cases a debriefing on progress of previously set goals. These goals are often prepared with benchmarks in mind. Benchmarks are defined as “any standard or reference by which others can be measured or judged.” Because dynamics of a team are continuously shifting, there is always room for growth. Stagnation could take place if new benchmarks are not identified and agreed upon. A team that understands the world to be a changing environment will adapt to it more readily.

In the words of Sean Malone, “good doctors don’t write prescriptions without a diagnosis...treat your sales force as your patient” meaning, if it is not broken, do not fix it, nor look for problems. A team’s intrinsic growth is dependent upon developmental techniques that are offered them. While incentives persuade employees to do well, according to Dessler they sometimes turn into hygienes which become expected (400), in turn having