From the author: A. G. Belyaev, NLP practitioner, coach, highly qualified manager (MBA), director of the consulting company "El - Consul" When reprinting, a link to the link is required! “Have no illusions, there will be no disappointments” (Buddha) Over the past 5-7 years, the desire of Russian managers and HR directors to solve, if not all, then most of the problems of organizations and relationships in the team through team building and training aimed at this, has noticeably increased. However, the choice of team building training is constrained by stereotypes, making it difficult to promote a truly innovative approach in this area. Analyzing the practice of conducting team building trainings over the past six years, we came to the conclusion that persistent illusions in this area have arisen among managers and employees of HR departments. Illusion No. 1. Any training that has “team building” in its title is aimed at building a team. Often, using some “cliches” in our speech, we do not think about the true meaning of these words. We are familiar with the phrase “management team”, “sports team”, “team of employees”, etc. At the same time, there is no doubt that those whom we call “the team” actually are it. It seems that calling a group of people a “team” already makes them part of the process. But can any group of people really be called a “team”? One of the classic definitions of a “team” says: “a team is a work collective with a high level of cohesion, commitment of all employees to the common goals and values ​​of the organization” (Glossary.ru, Dictionaries of Social Sciences "). "Team" is a group of like-minded people united around their leader, who is also the highest official in a given organization" (Glossary.ru, Economic and financial dictionaries) "Team" is a group of psychologically compatible individuals united by strategic goals conceptually and technologically thinking in the field of professional competence and working according to certain rules. “Team” is a small number of people (most often 5-7, maybe 15-20, rarely more) who share goals, values ​​and common approaches to implementing joint activities, have complementary, interchangeable skills, take responsibility for the final results, are able to change the functional-role correlation (play any intra-group roles), establish both their own and their partners’ belonging to this community. (Glossary.ru Dictionaries of a practical psychologist and consultant) In Russian, the word “team” (“team” in English) has two basic meanings: order and specific group. Please note - “specific group”, i.e. a group that is not like all the others! Now let’s look at other terms that define an association of people and are generally accepted in our terminology, such as “team”, “small group” and “working group”. “Collective” is a relatively compact social group of people united by a single type of social activity, common interests, value orientations, attitudes and norms of behavior and embodying relationships of cooperation, mutual responsibility and assistance to each other. A special type of interpersonal relationship is formed in the team, which is characterized by: high cohesion; collective self-determination - as opposed to conformity or non-conformity manifested in groups of a low level of development; identification is collective; the socially valuable nature of the motivation for interpersonal choices; high referentiality of team members in relation to each other; objectivity in assigning and accepting responsibility for the results of joint activities. Such relationships contribute to the development of collectivist qualities, create conditions for the comprehensive and harmonious development of each member of the team, and contribute to the emergence of collectivism as a special quality of group development. A number of socio-psychologicalpatterns that are qualitatively different from the patterns in groups of low levels of development. Thus, as the team increases: the contribution made by its members does not decrease; the level of effective group emotional identification does not decrease; the motivation for joint activities does not weaken; there are no sharp contradictions between individual and group interests; there is a positive connection between the effectiveness of joint activities and a favorable psychological climate; the best possible opportunities for integration and personalization processes are created. In random communities, the probability of providing assistance to the victim decreases with an increase in the number of eyewitnesses, but in a team this effect is absent. Group processes in a team are hierarchized and form a multi-level structure, the core of which is joint activity, determined by socially significant goals: the first level of the team structure is formed by the relationships of its members to the content and values ​​of collective activity, ensuring its cohesion; the second level is interpersonal relationships mediated by joint activities; the third level is interpersonal relationships, mediated by value orientations not related to joint activities. The patterns operating at this level of the team structure do not appear at the second, and vice versa; therefore, assessments relating, for example, to facts obtained within the third level cannot be transferred to the characteristics of the second level and the team as a whole. This directs the specialist diagnosing the development of the team to turn to parameters that reveal essential, rather than random, superficial qualities. (Glossary.ru Dictionary of a practical psychologist) “Small group” is a group in which social relations take the form of direct personal contacts. “Work group” - two or more people of the same or different professions: - working together and in concert to achieve the goals of completing a production task, providing services; - bearing overall responsibility for the results of the work. Based on all the above definitions, the question arises - what exactly is , is the customer going to form by ordering team building training? And how will the existing association of employees at the enterprise differ from the one of the future, which will be called a “team” after team building training? If you conduct a simple comparative study through the definition of concepts, then, in most cases, nothing. The existing employee association will better fit one of three definitions - team, small group or work group. In fact, little will change at the enterprise. If this is exactly what the personnel service or the head of the enterprise needs, then you can safely order two-day team building trainings, often called team building. If you need a qualitative change that corresponds to the definition of the term “team”, then in two It won't be possible to do this in a day. The misconception that you can build a team in a short time with minimal material and managerial resources is associated with the following illusion. Illusion No. 2 - You can change the behavior of employees without changing management’s thinking models and related norms, rules and laws of behavior. One of the most important limitations to the efficiency of domestic enterprises is the approach to personnel management as a simple phenomenon that does not require high qualifications. You can talk as much as you like about what needs to be changed in the work of staff so that it brings more income to the enterprise. But, without changing the management’s thinking model, and, consequently, its behavior, it will be extremely difficult to implement these changes at a qualitative level. You can endlessly hold corporate events to unite employees and develop their loyalty to the enterprise, including short-term team building. But this will not change the structure of enterprise management and decision-making models qualitatively. Thisthere will be a linear process of minor improvements. There will be no systemic changes affecting all areas of the enterprise. And accordingly, the organization will NOT make a qualitative change, a transition to another level of work. Practice shows that the most effective way to overcome this limitation is to build a management team that is in a state of continuous learning and launches this process in the enterprise as a whole. This process is complicated and takes much longer than two days. Although this is a real chance to begin the process of qualitative changes in the management system. In this case, the created association will meet the requirements of the definition of “team”. It will also include elements of the definitions of a team and a working group. This process will affect the following aspects of management’s activities: distribution of responsibility, atmosphere within the team, acceptance of colleagues by each other, mutual understanding, attitude to mistakes, attitude to conflicts, decision-making, attitude to criticism , the role and place of the manager, the relationship between personal and social goals. All of the listed aspects of the enterprise’s activities will begin to change as a result of the creation of a management team. As a result of these changes, a system will be created in which the enterprise will begin to operate differently. This will lead to a new mechanism for defining the mission of the enterprise, which will be created and, as a result, shared by members of the management team. Based on the new understanding of the mission, the priority of goals and business processes in the enterprise will change. The organizational structure of the enterprise will change. This does not mean an organizational chart with “squares” or “circles”. We mean the existing structure of interaction between people in the organization in the process of solving problems. Structure involves how people make decisions that translate goals, rules, and norms into action. And it is absolutely obvious to us that it is impossible to create a new quality of work for the company’s personnel without changing the structure of interaction between the people working in it. A strong team of managers will appear that will be able to convey the impetus for personal development and improvement of professional skills to their subordinates. Thus, new conditions will be created for the development of all categories of personnel of the enterprise. Illusion No. 3 – It is possible to conduct team building training based only on the process, and not on the methodology. Most team building trainers replace the methodological basis with a description of games and tasks that make up the content of the team building training. They cannot clearly explain why they conduct their training this way and what theoretical basis underlies it. And this causes little controllable and predictable consequences of such trainings. Here are some statements from trainers operating in the local Barnaul market regarding their understanding of team building trainings and the consequences of trainings built on the basis of these beliefs that are widespread in the market: “We show that it is more effective to complete a task together than individually.” As a result of such training, managers begin to devote a lot of time to regular and abundant interaction between everyone and everyone. They are trying to create feelings of universal love and affection. There comes a time when everyone gets tired of collective communication and real work situations turn out to be more effective to handle individually than all together. “We are building a team focused on achieving a common goal.” This is an essential sign of team activity, however, only if the goal is outside the group (the goal of an enterprise, division, etc.). If the goal of the group is “improving relationships”, “finding common interests”, “interestingly filled leisure time”, etc., then in this case it is not a team that is being formed, but a company. A company is also not bad if its goals do not begin to contradict the goals of the enterprise. More often than not, the established company begins to work for its own personalgoals, not the goals of the enterprise. Another important point in such work on creating groups, aimed at achieving a common goal. The group should not be “closed”. Otherwise, upon entering the enterprise, group members will begin to isolate themselves from the rest of the employees who have not undergone team building training. As a result, we will receive a group separate from the enterprise, aimed at achieving goals. Such a group may begin to work for themselves to the detriment of the enterprise. “We select a team based on the principle of “psychological compatibility.” But in a team, the goal and joint activity are more important than the psychological characteristics of its members. A group selected solely on the basis of compatibility does not necessarily become a team. There are vivid examples of well-chosen employees in a team who work to achieve their own goals that contradict the goals of the company. For example, a sales department whose employees believe that doing more than they do is harmful, otherwise management will increase the plan. “We create a warm psychological climate and avoid conflicts.” Conflict is an integral part of developing relationships with any group. Groups go through various stages of conflict - from conflicts related to personal ambitions to constructively conducted conflicts related to finding optimal solutions. Avoiding conflicts can lead to various consequences. In some cases, conflicts can become hidden - they are not spoken out, but the overall tension in the team grows. In this case, everyone pretends that everything is fine. Communication is superficial; when solving problems, they try to “keep their heads down,” avoiding punishment for dissent. In other cases, the group selects employees who are zealously trying to show that they are doing great and that they all love each other. Moreover, maintaining this myth negatively affects their work. They do not enter into conflicts related to discussing solutions and searching for the best options. Such groups are characterized by impersonal voting - an indicator of formal relations and avoidance of personal responsibility for the result. “We are creating a team that is loyal to the leader.” In this case, some coaches begin to work with a team without a leader. A group is created that is more like an “entourage” than a team. In this case, the leader acts as a monarch who may not comply with the laws created for the members of his “retinue.” Loyalty to the company fades into the background. More important is loyalty to the leader. Currently, there have been enough examples of such “teams”, when the leader left and took people personally devoted to him away from the enterprise. In this article, we tried to draw attention to the stereotypes that are most often encountered and accumulated in the minds of managers and employees of HR departments, which give rise to unjustified expectations and illusions in conceptual approaches to team building. But there are also stereotypes regarding the content and methods of conducting team building trainings. They are directly related to the above illusions. These illusions and stereotypes can be found in many books describing team building training, both by our and foreign authors. We are convinced that a qualitatively new level of work of trainers in the field of team building, focus on the implementation of the mission of the enterprise, coordination of the goals of the training or training, modular program with the mission, goals and development strategy of the companies will change the attitude of managers towards this product and give a new impetus to the development of enterprises, regardless of their industry and size. List of used literature Ackoff R. Planning the future of the corporation. M.: Progress, 1985. Belykh L.P., Fedotova M.A. Enterprise restructuring: Textbook. manual for universities. M.: UNITY-DANA, 2001. Gorbachev V. L., Makarov V. V. Industrial and financial restructuring of the enterprise. Methodology and practice / Ed. prof. V.V. Makarova. St. Petersburg: Publishing house St. Petersburg GUEF, 2001. Kovalevsky A. Stages of market formation // Economics and life. 1992. No. 20. Dictionary of. 1-2.