Samuel Holz, a recent graduate from the University of Colorado at Boulder, has served as a team builder in many different capacities. He was a student manager for the University of Colorado's basketball team; his responsibilities included maintaining healthy relationships between team members. He is well aware of how a fracture in one link of a team can cause the downfall of the team as a whole. He also worked as a camp counselor at the Denver Kent School where he was in charge of constructing schedules and managing over 150 campers each week. Samuel Holz shared with us some of his most valuable tips for building a functional team.

Samuel Holz's first tip is to ensure that each team member knows what their responsibilities are. Clearly defined roles are important so that everyone has a personal set of goals, and so that everyone can hold themselves accountable to their own work. A truly great team is one in which each member is devoted to exceeding their personal goals because they know it contributes to the success of the team as a whole, says Samuel Holz.

Another crucial aspect to building a successful team is to make sure each team member knows each other, says Samuel Holz. This does not mean that every team member must like each other; rather, it means that every team member must be aware of each others' strengths and weaknesses and of the role that each team member possesses in relation to the team. A lack of communication is the primary ingredient to the failure of a team, says Samuel Holz.

Once each team member is aware of each others' roles and responsibilities within the team, the basis for communication and feedback is established, says Samuel Holz. The ability to give out and receive feedback is critical to the success of a team. As stated before, everyone does not have to like each other personally but they need to have the confidence to dish out and the humility to receive criticism. Again, this arises naturally when the goals of the team are more important than the egos of each individual member.

Going along with the necessity of proper communication and feedback, says Samuel Holz, is a necessity to reward exceeding individual efforts. In the context of managing a basketball team, this reward can be the mere acknowledgment of one's efforts, which will reinforce that person's belief that their hard work is being appreciated because of its contribution to the team's goals.

Samuel Holz was a part of a very successful team during his time as a student manager for the University of Colorado's basketball program. The team won its first ever PAC 12 tournament championship and also advanced to the NCAA tournament in three consecutive years. Samuel Holz is well-aware that if not for the tight-knit unity of his team this success would not have been realized. Samuel Holz is excited to apply these virtues of team building to other areas of his life as he enters the labor market.