Building the Team

Understand how to establish an effective team

Introduction

I work in a team of ten people in the Payroll Department of Powys County Council. The structure of this team comprises of one senior payroll officer, one team leader, three payroll officers, three payroll assistants and two control officers. I have been employed as a payroll officer since 2007 and our main aim is to pay people accurately and on time.

Develop and maintaining trust at work – Explain how you develop and maintain trust at work and why confidentiality is so important in building and maintaining trust.

Explain the benefits of effective working relationships in developing and maintaining the team

How effectively we build and maintain relationships largely determines the success we experience in our personal and professional lives. Interpersonal relationships allow us to grow and develop as individuals and assist our integration into teams and groups. Relationships in the workplace develop through choice or necessity. Sometimes we may find this occurs with some of our team members, colleagues, customers or staff from other areas of the authority who contribute in some way to the completion of my role. These relationships are often the most difficult to develop and maintain and will test knowledge of myself and others as well as my own interpersonal skills.

Understanding how to manage these types of relationships is vital to the success we achieve in our role. The time and energy spent building and maintaining relationships is returned through efficient, happy team members and organisational growth via satisfied customers. While the benefits of effective relationships are well known, the how to of building and maintaining them is often more difficult to find.

As a Team Leader you can establish and maintain effective relationships in the workplace by:

• Building rapport and trust

• Recognising and respecting individual differences

• Using open, honest communication

• Giving and...