Who can forget the famous Gatekeeper/Keymaster scenes of Ghostbusters? Their roles helped advance the movie plot and brought together the team of Ghostbusters to successfully defeat
Zuul. So how does this apply to team building outside of the ghost world? Team building depends on each individual to benefit the whole. The roles of the individual change during the course of the problem the team is solving; ideally the strengths of each individual are utilized to reach the best possible outcome.
For our team building scavenger hunts, we keep the teams small enough so every individual has a role and can contribute. The roles change throughout the team and include a team leader, problem solver, time keeper, negotiator and navigator. The most successful teams are teams that effectively fill these roles to solve the goal and complete the hunt.
This applies to the workplace as well. Team members should:
Have a defined role. This prevents duplicated efforts and one person from having all of the responsibilities
Agree on the role and be satisfied in the role
Remain flexible in the role
Share input with other team members when appropriate
Establish goals, so that everyone knows how to move forward as a team
Thomas L. Quick, author of Successful Team Building, wrote that in addition to defined roles, effective teams have several roles that are filled at various times by the different team members. Examples of roles that make teams successful include:
Initiator – Suggests Ideas
Recorder – Notes the ideas
Skeptic – Plays Devil’s Advocate
Optimist – Encourages participation without judgment
Time Keeper – Keeps the team on task
Gate Keeper – Ensures all team members are participating in the discussion
Summarizer – Organizes discussion into priority and next steps
So, Gatekeeper or Keymaster?………
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