Building and Bonding Your Team

Dr. Naomal Balasuriya, the first doctor of medicine in Sri Lanka to hold the degrees of Master of Business Administration (MBA) and the CIM (UK).

This week he speaks on Building and Bonding Your Team with the Daily News Business.

Q. How would you describe a team?

A. A team in my opinion is like the parts of a vehicle put together. You have the engine, the windscreen, the tyres, the steering wheel, the seats, the mirrors etc. The point we have to understand is that all these parts are absolutely essential for high performance of that vehicle.

Given any team be it in a business entity, social team or even as a family the important thing is for every member of the team to understand that each and every member’s contribution is important for the maximum output of that team.

Given another example, a team is like the organs of the body. Every single organ is important for the proper functioning of all systems. For instance the brain is a very important organ. However, if the heart does not pump sufficient blood to the brain, then the brain does not get its blood supply. Therefore, the brain will not be able to do its job.

On the other hand, the lungs help the diffusion of oxygen into the blood stream. So if the lungs do not do its job, then the blood will not have enough oxygen.

In this instance, in spite of the heart doing its job, if the lungs are inefficient, then the brain does not get sufficient blood and therefore unable to do its job. The point I want to stress is that every team member’s function is important for high performance.

Q. What are the Key Success Factors of building a high performance team?

A. Firstly, the team must have a compelling cause to work together. In other words, it must have a shared vision. Every member of the team must know what it wants to achieve and where they want to get to. Not only should they know this clearly, but they must also believe in this dream.

Secondly, each member of the team must have at least one core competency that other members of the team does not possess. For instance, if the entire Sri Lankan cricket team consisted of Muralis, would the Sri Lankan team be what it is today? Or for that matter, had it all Sanath Jayasuriya’s would it be a world class team? No, as in any world class cricket team it must have world class batsmen, bowlers, wicketkeepers and fielders.

Thirdly, there must be clear expectations of each team member.

Every executive in an organization must clearly know what he or she is expected to deliver in terms of adding value to the company.

Q. How important is the spirit of competitiveness for a team?

A. Very important. You may be on the right track, but just sitting there will not take you anywhere. You must go considerably fast in order to reach your destination.

Given the current global business environment, a team must assume that their next competitor will be a top global player, not another local company. Should they have this mindset then they will feel and act totally differently.

Q. What role do values play in building and bonding a team?

A. To look at basics, values tell us the rightness of our direction. In other words values tell us whether the way we do business is right or wrong. Values tell us if the means to an end is ethical or not.

Given the premise that we have to do business ethically, values provide us with an inner conscience of how we achieve our business objectives.

It is here that business ethics and spirituality come into play.

Once you look at a team with this frame of mind, automatically the team becomes a closely knitted family. Values become the bonding glue.

Q. What is the importance of a team for a business?

A. Building a business team is like building an army and preparing it for war. Competitors in a sense may be looked at, as the enemy. Each and every soldier of the army must know what they want to achieve as an army.

In other words their hearts must beat together, minds must think together and hands must work together. Building a team is important for any group to perform at peak level.

Bonding a team is even more important because if you don’t bond your team, then you can’t keep it together.

Even through stormy weather, rough seas, bad economic times, larger and stronger competitors, keeping your team together becomes an uphill task.

Q. What in your opinion are the most important factors that a company in Sri Lanka should inculcate in their employees?

A. Two things. Passion to be world class and a never ever give up attitude.

As I always say, if Sri Lankans could be world class in tea, garments, ceramics, tiles, cricket and many more, we Sri Lankans could be world class in any sphere that they choose to be in.

If these two factors passion to be extraordinary and a nothing is impossible, attitude can be developed in every single Sri Lankan, Sri Lanka will certainly be the happening place in the world.

Q. What advice would you give an organization who is interested in building a high performance team?

A. Know where you want to go as an organization, identify exactly what your dreams are as an organization and make sure that dream is a world class dream, one worth achieving.

Then you convert that dream into a compelling cause and communicate that compelling cause to every single employee.

Ignite the passion for excellence in your team. Inculcate a ‘I can, I will,’ positive attitude and finally bring in emotional and spiritual intelligence to bond and keep your team together - in good times and bad, for better or for worse.

Q. As a trainer, can you give our readers an example of building a world class team?

A. Three weeks ago, our company Success Factory, trained the first batch of Police officers from the Maldives Police Service here in Sri Lanka.

Around twenty-five of them were here in Sri Lanka for a seven day training titled “Building a World Class Team”.

What we basically did was to build a world class team and bond a world class team through interactive, inspiring and life changing mini workshops and a whole range of indoor and outdoor team building activities.

Dr. Naomal Balasuriya, is a Motivational Speaker and Corporate Trainer in Sri Lanka and the Maldives has trained executives of over 100 top companies in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. For more details visit www.naomalbalasuriya.com or

email dr @ naomalbalasuriya. com