Make or Break a Team: YOU Decide - by Yandaro Al-Amien

My long-standing stint as a team events and adventures facilitator has strengthened the old-age predicament that a team cannot function without its people. The great Guru of Confidence and Asia's No. 1 Motivator, Ernie Chen has never failed to remind me of the people who helped form the success stories we hear about today. "No man is ever an island," he said. His statement cannot be further from the truth.

Just like building a good home or running a substantial business, a successful team requires a solid foundation. Every single member of that particular team IS the foundation that shapes the values, culture, spirit and inevitably the passion within the team. The members are the ones who merge diverse backgrounds and ideologies to achieve a team identity that is uniquely distinguished from any other.

However, what happens when massive conflicts, clashes and disagreements take place within a team? Does a team break down and collapse from this negative experience? Do the individuals involved even bother to "communicate" their sides of the story to one another at all?

Let me stress my point once more for greater clarity - A TEAM CANNOT FUNCTION WITHOUT ITS PEOPLE. This is exactly why every single individual involved must pose the effort to glue together the particles that make up the team in the very beginning. Great teamwork stems from great cooperation. However, OUTSTANDING teamwork travels way back to the roles, responsibilities and contributions played out by the respective members. In simpler terms, MAKE THE EFFORT.