Without teamwork and a good support network in a business, productivity, and quality of output will start to suffer – and not only that, employees will become disenfranchised and less likely to commit to a common cause.
Getting a workforce to pull together and work as a team is essential so here are a few ideas on boosting your business’s team working capabilities to improve overall success.
Empower colleagues through outside events
Good teamwork can sometimes extend outside the office. Yes, work-life balance is important – and allowing employees time and space away from their duties matters more than ever, but every once in a while it’s good to think about team-based activities that foster a sense of empowerment and positive change.
Why not think about organising a few corporate challenge events throughout the year with a professional company such as WeAreMassive? Everything will be planned to perfection and events like this can offer a chance to raise awareness and highlight causes that are important to people who work for you. Working together on something like this can extend many benefits and chances to connect and communicate on a different level.
Build up a diverse team
DEI is more important than ever, and rightly so. When people from diverse backgrounds come together to work for the better good – great things can be achieved. It opens up new conversations and thought processes that can create positive changes.
Why? Well, if you have a team of like-minded individuals – there’s often little to discuss, or little that will change, as more than likely everyone will agree on everything the entire time. Getting together people from different age groups, locales, and backgrounds ensures that all bases are covered, discussions can be varied and discussion topics can be considered from every conceivable angle.
Develop a trusted community network
Working together productively requires everyone to trust each other – and for this to flourish, it’s important to think about things that can be done in the workplace (and outside).
Weekly team lunches or the chance to go for a ‘happy hour’ drink once a month after work allows people to relax a bit more with each other, chat, and get to know the other people they work with in a more convivial atmosphere. Trust is built and developed in this way and it can help with long-term working relationships.
Instil the need to communicate with each other
Communication is key and it’s sometimes quite astonishing how many business leaders don’t realise this. Improving teamwork is easy when team members simply talk to each other and discuss work projects as regularly as possible, so that everyone understands they’re on the same page and projects get completed in as short a time frame as necessary, with the best outcomes for everyone.
Good communication is another key to improving trust as well. If co-workers talk, discuss, and iron out problems as soon as they arise, they’re less likely to escalate into issues that can’t be dealt with or require mediation of some kind.
Pass more autonomy on to team members
When key projects are being worked on, trust the process, pass on more autonomy to team members, and allow them to make their own decisions. Provide everyone with their own opportunities to think independently wherever it is needed, but to come together to decide as a group when a core decision needs to be taken.
Never be afraid to restructure a team
As teams work together more often it’ll be evident what their key skills are and how those can be best utilised. As such, it’s important to never be afraid to restructure a team when necessary and highlight why those decisions have been made.
Great team players will always understand this and take on their new challenges with relish. If their skill sets are being put to better use, they’ll feel more comfortable in their role and be able to adapt quickly.
If someone on a team isn’t performing well, but their skills would be better used elsewhere it’s important to explain this and show how staying in a role that isn’t suited to them will negatively impact everyone else.
Using some or all of these techniques to boost teamwork skills and capabilities is a surefire way to gain a happier, healthier team that produces top-class project work.