Acquiring a good team at the worplace is essential to success. Good organizations need teams that are high-performing and can communicate clearly. As a supervisor or manager, you can contribute by cultivating strong teams and encouraging teamwork. According to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, teamwork is one of the most sought-after skills in the workplace. Advancements in technology have allowed companies to be more connected and collaborative than ever before, with a diverse workforce dispersed around the world.
As a result, it’s even more important for employees to demonstrate strong teamwork skills, in both face-to-face and virtual team interactions. Every year, untold numbers of businesses are launched across the world, and the unfortunate truth is that most of them will fail. Why is it that some businesses thrive and grow, while most close up shop within a few years?
There are many factors, including access to capital, understanding one’s marketplace, an ability to innovate, and not to be underestimated, some good old-fashioned luck. But there is one factor that nearly all business owners can control that may directly determine long – term business success. i.e., hiring the right people, and coalescing them into a successful and powerful team.
Now what is the purpose of a team?
Behind any business success lies a great team. This formula applies to start-ups as much as it does to international behemoths. A team exists to allow an endeavor to grow, scale, and thrive in a way that would be literally impossible for one person to do.
A successful team starts with hiring the right people who value working toward a common goal, are goal-oriented, and respect the hierarchical structure that most businesses require.
Once the right people are in place, the goal is to bring them together into a cohesive unit.
Why do you need a strong team?
Over the past few years, we have probably noticed people talking a lot more about the importance of teamwork and collaboration. Open-office layouts have become the norm and team productivity tools have exploded in popularity.
Some see this emphasis on open collaboration as a passing fad or a way to lower overheads.But a growing body of research confirms that when people work together smartly, it can unleash energy that boosts creativity, productivity, engagement, communication and efficiency.
Now let’s see the 10 major benefits of a strong team:
1. Great ideas don’t come from lone geniuses
2. Diverse perspectives help you come up with winning innovations
3. Teamwork can make you happier.
4. When you work in a team, you grow as an individual
5. Sharing the workload eases burnout
6. Dividing the work lets you develop your skills.
7. Recognition from other team members can improve your productivity
8. Working in a team helps you take risks that pay off.
9. When you work in a team, you’ll feel less stressed
10. Good communication boosts your creativity
7 Tips for acquiring a good team at the workplace:
1. Understand What a Great Team Is?
2. Respect your team members as individuals.
3. Experiment regularly
4. Practice emotional intelligence
5. Establish a Connection with Each Team Member
6. Embrace the Diversity
7. Look for ways to reward good work
1. Understand What a Great Team Is?
Flawless teamwork doesn’t just occur out of the blue. It demands conscious efforts from all individuals within the team, including the leader.
Clear Objectives – each team member must be aware of the meaning of a particular activity as part of a larger objective.
Clear Roles – everyone within the team must be aware of the hierarchy and their role in it.
Flawless Communication – whenever someone has a question or gets an idea, they should be able to communicate it.
Cooperation – teamwork is not about individual achievements; it’s about what the group accomplishes together.
A great team is one whose work is based on clear objectives, clear roles, clear communication, cooperation and opportunities for personal development. Remember that recipe, and you’ll be on the right path towards building an effective team.
2. Respect your team members as individuals.
At work, you want your employees to be part of a team, but you must also have perspective: these are individuals with stories of their own. They got this far in life without your company, and they presumably have rich and varied lives when they leave work each day. It is important to not regard new team members as bodies who will perform tasks. A robust team environment blossoms when individuals are honored and respected for their unique gifts and their ability to contribute toward a common goal.
3. Experiment regularly.
Although teams are often most productive when they have well-defined roles, consider experimenting with new ideas. The most successful teams tend to accommodate informed risk-taking and allow ample opportunities for learning, especially if these experiments have the potential to generate better results.
To introduce experimentation into your standard workflows, try making time for brainstorming before starting a project. During this thoughtful exercise, team members can contribute ideas for conducting research, structuring a project or collecting and analyzing results.
4. Practice emotional intelligence
Great leaders value the importance of emotional intelligence. In a nutshell, this means that their leadership style includes treating individuals as human beings, not living drones. Great leaders understand that not every person is motivated by the same thing. Some team players thrive on pursuing shared goals. Others seek healthy competition, either with an outside competitor or against another sales team in the same office. By embracing the realities of different work styles and different forms of motivation, an effective leader will treat people’s individual differences as an asset, not an obstacle.
5. Establish a Connection with Each Team Member
As a leader, you must get to know each team member as an individual. Each person has a specific set of skills, as well as interests and drawbacks. When you know these things, you can match each worker with the right task. That’s the best way to help them boost their productivity and become more satisfied with the job. Work to build trust and engagement with each employee on a personal level. Find out how their unique skills, interests, and strengths can be used to improve the team’s output. As you build your trust in them, they, in turn, will build their trust in you and the company to provide the necessary resources needed for them to grow and succeed.You shouldn’t get too personal with the employees, though. Congratulating their birthdays and attending their weddings (when invited) should be enough to keep the connection going. However, remember that you’re the leader, and you must keep these relations professional.
6. Embrace Diversity
When it comes to building your business, your team should be as diverse as possible—different backgrounds, experiences, ages, and opinions. Hire with the goal of covering your blind spots: surround yourself with people who will inform the judgment calls you make and the content you put out.
7.Look for ways to reward good work.
People love affirmation of their hard work. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to give financial bonuses, this is a great way to show appreciation. If you’re a start-up with little cash on hand, think of other ways to show gratitude and trust. An easy way is to practice the art of delegating. If a team member shows great judgement, allow them to make some key decisions that you may have once reserved for yourself. If they are particularly responsible with money, give them authority to use the company credit card. Find a small way to show that you’re paying close attention to your employees and their efforts are appreciated. It will reflect well on you as a boss and help remind people that they are a valued member of the team.
Pro Tip :
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate : As humans, we all love to know where we stand. Are my colleagues happy with the work I’m doing? Do I need to improve on something? Assume that people want to know. If they sense you’re unhappy but aren’t saying anything, that can lead to built up stress and even resentment, which will result in poor performance. Or if they think they’re doing a great job but you, as a boss, aren’t satisfied, this can lead to an unwelcome shock when you break the news that they’ve been underperforming. So brush up on those communication skills; effective communication can keep working relationships strong for decades, while silence can break things apart very quickly.
Hence, working effectively and proficiently requires a team to come together for a common goal. They should also have a clear understanding of how the company and fellow team members work. Which is why team management needs to be a priority for organizations. Building an effective team is one of the most important responsibilities of a leader. It’s not something you can instantly achieve. It’s an ongoing process, which requires constant attention and evaluation.
