Getting people under your supervision to see things your way can be difficult, especially if they were from a different regime. Following are some suggestions to make it work.

Getting along with others, a concept learned in kindergarten, is now the highest rated key to success, way ahead of leadership skills. With this in mind, managers are starting to rethink their role. Many now view that building trust and relationships with their employees is the key to their company's survival.

Workplace teamwork does pay off. As customers become more demanding, the organization that is fast and flexible will be able to compete most effectively. The only way a business can respond with speed to customer demands, is the cooperation of those on the front lines.

But it isn't always easy to get this cooperation, especially when you have a diverse background of people, with many different ideas of what a team is and what it is not. Following are some answers on how you can build a team from your workforce.

Before you do anything else, take stock of what you've got. Determine what your employees' capabilities are for creating a team by picking several projects that can be turned over to employees for their input and execution. A good project to start with is one that generates enthusiasm like planning a company picnic. Provide your "team" with a budget and a few necessary ground rules, then have the team establish a timetable and funds required. After the event, have the team review what worked and what didn't.

The "picnic team" was a start to building a team, however, there are some basic steps that you should use to build a team-based organization with the employees you've got.

Step One: Rethink Your Role

The first step begins by rethinking your management role. In successful team-based organizations, bosses envision themselves as coaches. A coach doesn't play every position, or tell the players precisely how to make every move. It is the coach's job to define the goals, know the team intimately, and pump energy and enthusiasm into the workers. A sports coach knows how to bring out the best in every player. And, as boss of a team-based organization, that's precisely what you do with your employees.

Step Two: Evaluate Your Players

The next step is to take a look at precisely whom your players are. Write down the names of all of your employees, and what qualities you've observed in each of them. How does each employee interact with others? How quickly does he or she absorb information or solve problems? How does he work under pressure? What seems to motivate her? What sort of outside interest does each have? Does he or she have team-oriented hobbies, like belonging to a social club or being on a softball team. Or, does the employee enjoy solo activities like painting or hiking?

Answers to questions like these give even more insight into how much of a conscious team player each will be, and what company goal you might assign them to. When you have a clearer idea of your workers' strengths and weaknesses, match them up against their job responsibilities. You may realize that one of your employees has a natural talent for something that is not directly in his or her job responsibility. That means that he or she will be a good adviser on a team project that handles that responsibility.

Remember, you are not assigning teams yet--you are merely envisioning them. During this process, consider your employees who work with either a common customer, a common process or a common objective. Only when you have a clear idea of the players, their qualities and their responsibilities, go to Step Three.

Step Three: Call a Meeting

At this meeting, simply ask for brainstorming, and have members list the company's goals--customer satisfaction, dealing with suppliers, handling data, etc.

Then open the floor to discussion of what various employees have noticed about what is being done to achieve the goals. For example, what specific reactions have they observed relating to customer satisfaction or discontent? What problems have come up with suppliers? How were they solved? Or were they? What else could have been done? Ask for suggestions even from employees who are not involved in dealing directly with the task on the table.

Step Four: Post The Progress

Once the employees become comfortable with offering suggestions, it's time to start taking notes for all to see. Putting the questions on a flip chart is very effective. Tell the group there are no bad ideas, and encourage everyone to participate in the discussion. When all the ideas are on the board, take the ideas one by one, and ask the group for feedback on them. This process subtly opens up the notion of empowered employees and team decisions.

Since some people are more hesitant to speak up in a group, it is your job as coach and facilitator to try to elicit the feelings of those who are not offering their opinion. Conversely, if one or two people are dominating the discussion, you can suggest that you go around the table letting each person express their opinion.

Step Five: Assign Your Teams

During the meeting, the manager should observe carefully who offers ideas on what goals and solutions. Then you can suggest that the several people who have offered ideas on one particular goal get together and toss around some ideas at a later date. They can then get back to you or the group at the next meeting. Unbeknownst to them, this will be their first team meeting on their own.

These five steps are just the foundation. Four other crucial concepts enter the equation. They are 1) keeping a scorecard; 2) establishing a decision-making and conflict resolution process; 3) giving recognition; and 4) celebrating successes for reinforcement.

Keep a scorecard. Why keep score? Because it lets the team know how it's doing. The National Productivity Review presented the results of 18 studies on feedback. The editors found the average increase in productivity was 54 percent when there was feedback on team progress.

Keeping a scorecard is also just plain fun. Ask any kid. Have someone in your company draw a big, colorful graph that is easy to read. Then post it in a position where employees see it every day. The scorecard will be an especially effective motivator if past trends, current performance and goals can be seen at a glance.

Establish a decision-making and conflict resolution process. Solving problems and resolving conflict successfully begins with this philosophy: "Problems are good because there are opportunities to learn and continuously improve." A successful team leader takes great care to establish this precept, and make sure that all team members during their meetings attack the problems, not each other.

When conflict arises, the manager's best skill is listening. Then the manager's role, as coach is to help the team members pinpoint the problem, and make it measurable and observable.

Give recognition. Recognition reinforces desirable behavior. Successful managers look around to catch an employee doing something right. The employee is then given immediate, sincere and specific reinforcement.

In addition to recognition by the boss, team members are encouraged to give each other reinforcement. Many successful team-based companies have ways for one employee to recognize another's contribution.

Celebrate success. When your team reaches its goals, it is definitely time for celebration--whether it be a picnic and then the afternoon off, a party, or a dinner out. Since various employees are motivated in vastly different ways, you should reward a worker in the way he or she likes to be rewarded--not in the way you'd like to be rewarded. The manager can offer suggestions, but the team should decide the method of celebration.

Building a team does not take place overnight. It takes time for both management and employees to build a company culture that utilizes teams. It takes time for managers to let go of areas that used to be their sole domain. And it takes time for employees to understand that managers can be trusted to accept the recommendation and guidance that comes from the team process.

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