“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is a success.” – Henry Ford.
A team’s strength is usually the deciding factor between success and failure. It is essential to achieve the goals and objectives as a team and establish purpose at the workplace.
Effective interpersonal work relationships are the cornerstone of success and satisfaction with an individual’s job and career. Everyone should get along—not just for the sake of the work environment, the company, and its success but also for the individual’s peace of mind.
The Economic Times published a report stating that companies in India that emphasize teamwork experience a 30% increase in accurate decision-making.
Assessing the teamwork culture in an organization is as necessary as retaining the best people, driving revenue, and maximizing profits.
How can leaders encourage better teamwork?
- Be honest and communicate better:
- When building relationships with your co-workers, be open and honest. Learn to be observant, learn from others, and modify your approach to increase understanding and communication.
- Asking questions is a great way to listen and let others share. When they share about themselves, they will feel closer to you, and you will demonstrate your interest in what they say.
- Write down team goals you want to achieve or business outcomes you want to improve to narrow your focus. Then, set specific dates you want to achieve these goals. Aim for the big picture.
- Identify triggers:
- Think about people or situations that set your employees off. Reflect on why this “trigger” keeps popping up and what an employee’s role is in perpetuating the pattern.
- Find a common interest:
- If your employees feel uneasy about befriending a co-worker they don’t know, focus on a common interest and assign tasks/activities around it.
- Team members should be able to identify and appreciate the unique talents of each individual on the team.
- Pay attention to the company culture:
- Motivate employees to determine what is acceptable in the environment and what is not. Provide them with tools and training to recognize the cues about values in the organization’s culture. (An open-feedback system where leaders discuss what new measures or changes they wish to see in the organisation will accumulate trust and ensure employee satisfaction.)_
- According to Adobe’s Future of Time Report, employees who are satisfied with their company’s culture are 15% more likely to stay at their jobs next year.
- As a leader, it is vital to cultivate ownership and accountability in your team. This begins with trusting them with their work, knowing their strengths, and recognizing their work.
What Are The Benefits Of Promoting Teamwork At The Workplace?
According to a report by NASSCOM, companies prioritizing teamwork and collaboration experience 20% higher employee retention rates.
Teams that stick together through all organizational changes usually have clarity on their personal and team goals. They contribute to building businesses.
- Healthy work-environment:
- A work environment where abundant unity and teamwork help promote employee engagement and optimism. Managers can get to know each individual and their strengths and establish expectations that align with the person’s strengths and the organization’s overall objectives.
- Enhances resilience and decision-making skills:
- An organization that encourages teamwork has better structures and processes for work, as team members appreciate a cohesive and collaborative working style.
- A study by KPMG India emphasized that companies relying on team-based approaches during crises had a 40% higher recovery rate than those with fragmented work cultures.
- Host scenario-based workshops for team decision-making, guiding, evaluating risks, and making data-driven choices.
- Fosters problem-solving and increases motivation:
- Team leaders in organizations that approach tasks and responsibilities with the spirit of teamwork are natural problem-solvers. The manager determines 70% of the variance in team engagement.
- As a leader, create diverse teams with members from different departments or expertise areas to tackle specific challenges. Set clear goals for each group and ensure they have regular touchpoints to discuss progress and brainstorm solutions.
What Are Some Ways To Improve Teamwork In Your Teams?
- Identify the suppliers and drainers of a team member’s energy within the team. Try seeing how much of that applies to you. This will aid in improved team awareness and better problem-solving strategies.
- Allocating time to discuss the team’s future and its road ahead establishes trust and clarity. Additionally, jotting down common interests/themes helps keep the motivation levels at bay. Ensure that you build a culture that actively problem-solves.
- Conduct activities with imaginary business-related problems and ask your team to solve them collaboratively.
- Think about the teams you’re currently serving. What is the greater purpose of the team? What goals are you trying to achieve? And how do you connect to those goals?
A healthy workspace with a strong culture of teamwork keeps the employees engaged and creates a happy and productive work environment. While implementing the abovementioned steps may seem complicated and require dire effort, teams can establish strong bonds and motivate each other by following these to the T.
If you want to establish this culture in your team and use it to enable growth and create thriving workplaces, our professionals are here to assist you. Click here to learn more.
