Did you know that the word ‘team’ has Indo-European origins meaning ‘to pull’? These days we see a team as individuals ‘pulling together’. Though not always as easy as it sounds, working together can be made easier when you apply a few simple rules.

Here are my top five tips for boosting your team’s performance:

1. Hold meetings at least once a fortnight
Put the agenda in a shared folder so everyone can add input before the meeting. Use a formal process to keep the discussion on track.

2. Apply a ‘no gossip’ rule
If a colleague starts to complain about someone else, respond assertively by saying “I’d rather you take this up with [name] directly.”

3. Find out what sensory system they use most and match it

Listening carefully to their words will tell you whether they think in pictures (“that looks good to me”), sounds (“that rings a bell”) or feelings (“that sits well with me”). When you reply with words that trigger the same sense, they’ll be compelled to listen to you.

4. Always use positive language

Instead of saying “No”, say “What I can do instead is…”

5. Use their name

It’s a word they have been trained to respond to from an early age. So repeat it during your message and they will stay alert.

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Cole, K 2000: Crystal Clear Communication

Kris Cole says that ‘true listening is done with our hearts and eyes as well as our ears.’ Then she explains how to listen well at work and at home.

She describes five skills involved in active listening and teaches you how to develop them. Her chapter on rapport-building is also a great read. In combination with the listening skills section, it sets you up for success in any communication context.

Want someone’s attention? Then make your message attractive. This means talking about what matters to the other person.

Here are my five top tips on how to do this:

1. Describe what’s in it for them

Start by highlighting what benefit they’ll get from your message. For example,”If you’d like to beat stress at work, listen to this…”

2. Tell them how long you’ll be talking

This fixes their attention on you, rather than what they need to do or say next. For example, get a colleague’s attention by saying “I’d like five minutes to talk through the annual report” rather than “We need to talk about the annual report.”

A just for fun’ event can be easily organised in-house – even the organising becomes a team builder. Of course, a professional team building company may also be able to run a cost effective event.

To run an event that has minimal cost yet can still boost morale, consider utilising your own team and the power of google to come-up with ideas for a round-robin series of timed activities in the office.

Keeping an event on-site or very locally to avoid travel costs and down-time will reduce cost and, if catering is needed, how about a BBQ or even try pot-luck.

The second area of pain is around public perception – should we be seen to be spending money on ‘having fun’ when the economy is so bad? This is a very valid question in today’s environment where a lot of people are really hurting.

The dilemma remain however, that you still want to motivate and build your team.

There are plenty of events and activities that remain out of view of the public to consider, but there are also opportunities to build your team in the public arena AND improve your company’s public perception.

These philanthropic opportunities involve your team participating in projects or events that benefit the community or those in need – and benefiting your team at the same time.

More and more companies are aligning themselves to charities with some going that extra bit and investing time working directly within a charity. A recent ad campaign about beach clean-ups springs to mind.

For those companies that place a high importance on the ‘social bottom line’ of their business, these alignments make powerful statements about their values to their customers and their staff.

Plenty of opportunities, whether organised directly or through a team building company, exist for businesses, big and small, to partner with community groups in either one-off or ongoing projects.

The simple act of a team ‘giving back’ or ‘paying forward’ can produce remarkable team cohesion and bonding in and of itself.

With some thought and careful consideration, a lack of budget and negative public perception can be fairly easily overcome in terms of boosting morale and building your team – especially when you consider the possible return on investment.

We all know that tough economic times can take their toll on a team and compounding this, in such times, we are finding that our clients are facing two key areas of ‘pain’ when considering a team building event.

The first area of pain is the obvious – budget – or lack thereof. When times get tough economically any ‘unnecessary’ spending is cut back or eliminated. Quite often this includes any budget set-aside for team development or entertainment.

There are some ways that you can still build your team on a shoe-string but, first, be clear and realistic about what outcomes you are expecting. Is it a ‘just for fun’ activity to life morale and boost energy that you are after or are you looking to really develop and ‘build’ your team? What outcomes will you be expecting from the length of time invested?

We are finding more and more that organisers of team building are expecting a lot from a team building event with a low budget – it is unrealistic to expect massive outcomes for $20 per person including food!