Any organisation's success depends almost entirely on its capacity to function as more than a bunch of unconnected individuals. Formal structures can only do so much, you also need to engage people. So how do we make a crowd into a team?

This month we are looking at any and every aspect of team development, and we want your input. If you work in a team, lead one, or train others to do so, we want to hear your opinions on how this works... and why it sometimes doesn't.

Latest Features

Ruth Spellman looks at how to develop the crucial relationship between manager and team.

Barrie Friend outlines some of the ways HR can involve line managers in performance management, and stresses that to manage the individual is to manage the business.

Robin Collie looks at how to choose a training provider to fit your team.

How do you respond when a team runs into trouble? Share your experiences and insights with the TrainingZONE community by e-mailing us.

Among global economic uncertainty, the anxieties of individuals within the workplace are often overlooked with dire consequences. Julie Heavens explains how to minimise the damage to employees and to the employee relationship.

Kit Thacker looks at how to promote diversity to create the most inclusive and effective team.

Jim Welch explains how emotional intelligence contributes to team effectiveness.

Roy Davis answers our featured questions about making teams work.

Tim Drewitt explains what leaders need to do to foster team spirit.

In a powerful, provocative and exploratory feature, Kim Coe suggests that corporate life actually undermines the human tendency to loyalty. The only way to success in team development is to eliminate internal competition...

Advances in communication technology have always created new opportunities for teamworking and in recent years these opportunities have mushroomed (remote teams etc). But what problems can arise with this? What can go astray with teamworking that is heavily reliant on communication technology, and what can you do to avoid this? Let us know...

Jane Cranwell-Ward describes some of the lessons about leadership and teamwork that emerged from research conducted during the BT Global Challenge Round the World Yacht Race.

Do you work with a challenging team? Tell us about it!.

Team building: where do you start?

What do you really mean by team building? Julian Dodson looks at the terminology and all it can mean. As a manager, what exactly do you want from a team development programme? Or, as a trainer, what do you aim to deliver? Post your comments.

The Chartered Management Institute provides some first principles to rely on when setting out to work with a team.

When you put a team together, what are the first principles to start from? And can you teach people to be effective team members? Post your answers.

David Archibald asks what we want from a team, and shares his analysis of the qualities found in the best corporate teams.

Fire Officer Peter House launches this month's feature by describing his experiences of teamwork in critical and non-critical situations.

TrainingZONE Poll: what's the most important issue to consider when developing an effective team? Have your say...

Recent research

Many organisations are failing to embrace employee suggestions.

Meetings can offer the best examples of how not to work as a team. How do you survive yours?

How do teams fit into the wider workplace community? 94 per cent of employees in the UK feel that organisations could do more to develop and take advantage of the workplace community, improving continuity of employment and productivity.

What makes a team work?

Any organisation's success depends almost entirely on its capacity to function as more than just an accumulation of unconnected individuals. Formal structures can only do so much, you also need to engage people. So how do we make a crowd into a team?

We are inviting contributions and discussions that explore any and every facet of team development, from the promotion of a large-scale corporate identity, down to the specification of individual team roles.

If you work in a team, lead one, or train others to do so, we want to hear your opinions on how this works... and why it sometimes doesn't.

What special qualities does a manager need to be a good team-developer? Are some people natural team players and others not, or are apparent individualists just waiting for the right circumstances? Do tests really help to place people in roles within a team, or are they overly prescriptive? How do you fit the small team within the larger one? How do you keep competition within and between teams at a constructive level? Does technology enable teamworking, or can it detract from it?

We welcome items of any length, from a short question or a pointed opinion, to full-length features. Guidelines are below. We will be accepting contributions up to the end of March. We are also keen to receive questions from members, on Any Answers or to the editor, outlining areas which they would like to see covered.

For more details or to send your contribution, mailto:editor@trainingzone.co.uk

Guidelines

Our editorial policy is not to use material directly promoting an organisation or goods and services. However, we do include a link to contributors' nominated sites.

Length: 300-1000 words. People tend to scan read on the internet. It is a habit we are all developing in response to the massive amount of information available. So it's good to alert readers quickly to what you are going to put before them by using headings through a long piece, and splitting the text into relatively short paragraphs. People are accustomed to scrolling down to a point, but there is a limit to how much they are at ease with that, so pieces over 1200 words can work better split into two.

Feel free to link to other sites of relevance within the piece, but, again, not for promotional purposes.