Literature Review: Team Building

Abstract

Team building is a process that can be explored in a range of ways and settings. From the Korean Army to a pilot program using an escape room to help a dozen diverse team members come together as a single unit to problem-solve a way out, team building can be accomplished in a variety of ways. What this literature review shows is that ethics, emotional intelligence, respect to others from different backgrounds, and relationships are all vital aspects to team building. The review highlights the characteristics of 9 studies while integrating a Biblical worldview into the analysis. The features of the studies that are highlighted include the theoretical lens applied by the researchers, the methodologies used, the sample and demographics of participants, and the findings and conclusions of the researchers.

Keywords: team building, emotional intelligence, relationship building, authentic leadership

Introduction

This literature review focuses on the keys to successful team building. The literature most relevant to this issue provides insight on what factors lead teams to develop well, including how team members relate to one another, how to create a sense of urgency, what Kotters 8-step model has to do with that, how emotional intelligence plays a part, and what leaders can do to bring it all together. The literature review shows that respect for team members, emotional self-leadership, and authentic leadership are all essential factors in developing a successful team.

The Need for Urgency

Zhang et al. (2018) used a gamification approach to team building by having teams escape a locked room. The exercise required them to use problem-solving skills, collaboration and communication to achieve the desired outcome. This was a pilot study, using a novel approach to team building based upon educational learning theory. The concept driving the pilot program was the idea that stress, conflict, and varying levels of skills among participants is typical of a team environment. The researchers used a sample of a dozen participants of both genders from a diverse range of generational employees in an organization to test their approach. They based their approach on the idea that training sessions like this one provide participants with the ability to adapt on the fly, learn to get along with one another in spite of differences, and find ways to get everyone involved in a meaningful manner in order to address the puzzles that must be solved to get out of the room. The participants reported that the gamification approach to team work helped everyone to manage conflicting personality types (such as introverted or extroverted types of personalities) and who would be the leader and who would be the follower, along with dealing with the issue of groupthink and embracing different ideas. This corresponds with what Werner (2017) describes as the importance...

Zhang et al. (2018) cited behaviorism, social learning and constructivist learning theories as the foundation for their theoretical approach to the pilot program. Their method also corresponds with Hebrews 10:24-25: And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one anotherand all the more as you see the Day approaching. The participants in the study by Zhang et al. (2018) encouraged one another to collaborate and get along without criticizing because they saw that they had work to do, had a problem to solve, and that it was no time for contention or bitterness. That sense of urgency was crucial to the performance of the participants.

That...

…point in their study of authentic leadership and its role in managing the ethical behavior of teams. The setting for their study is the military, and the researchers collected survey data from both subordinates and leaders in 150 teams from the Republic of Korea Army. Surveying participants allowed the researchers to see that ethics matter a grow deal to followers and leaders; however, because this study was done entirely in the Korean Army, the findings from its sample are not very generalizeable given the cultural differences between Korea and much of the rest of the world. At the same time, the study is helpful in showing that there is a need to understand the important role that leadership plays in the formation of effective teams.

Conclusion

Team building effectively requires certain skills such as emotional intelligence and authentic leadership (Crawford et al., 2020; Flores et al., 2018; Johnsen, 2018). It also helps to have a good relationship building model, such as Kotters 8-step model, which provides leaders a way to develop coalitions among diverse team members (Kang et al., 2020). Still, emotional intelligence remains one of the most critical individual skills that team members can develop to reduce conflict and create an environment of trust (Khosravi et al., 2020; Lee & Wong, 2019). Coming together as a single unit, even by way of fun exercises like an escape room can help a diverse team to unite and learn to engage with one another (Zhang et al., 2018). Most critical is the importance of openness and honesty that comes with ethical leadership (Kim & Vandenberghe, 2020). And as the Bible points out, one must control ones own passions: What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? (James 4:1). This understanding can…