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Overview

Teams have always been pivotal in a playground, personal life, or cut-throat corporate world. Further, it is hard to underestimate the role and impact of a team in a highly ambiguous and complex business environment. Businesses are also exploring ways to boost team development and achieve goals of increased team performance, productivity, and maximum results. Also, the onus of building a highly productive team is on managers, who must encourage their team members to work together for common organizational goals and objectives.

According to a report by Hays, 47% of employees said that they would leave their jobs due to a bad company culture.

With this astounding figure, managers should focus their priorities and efforts on team development and growth. By creating a positive work environment, managers can improve team performance and develop a culture of teamwork to accomplish desired business goals.

Leverage These 7 Tips to Improve Teamwork

No individual effort and contribution can beat the impact and potential of collective teamwork. Therefore, motivating your employees for enhanced teamwork, collaboration, and maximum team results is vital. Below are the 7 tips to increase effective teamwork in your organization.

1. Promote Open Communication – Effective communication is critical to building a strong team. A manager should further motivate team members to ensure open and fair communication for brainstorming, team interaction, and feedback sessions.

As per an online survey by Harry Poll for Interact Studio, 69% of managers are uncomfortable communicating with their employees and giving them feedback.

As the problem is severe, managers should invest their time, energy, and efforts in creating a more collaborative work environment.

2. Develop a Sense of Community – To nurture team development, it is essential to create a sense of community within your team. Encourage team members to socialize and build interpersonal relationships beyond the corporate space. To develop a community culture, encourage your employees to indulge in team building activities, social events, and informal gatherings.

3. Offer Ample Opportunities for Growth and Development – As a manager, you must provide your team members with adequate professional growth and development opportunities. You can also indulge them in various training and upskilling programs, mentorship opportunities, free access to resources, and other perks. By investing in your team members’ professional development, you can help them feel valued and motivated, improving team performance and building a culture of teamwork.

4. Specify Clear Goals and Expectations – You need to provide a better understanding of organizational goals and objectives to help your team members achieve their key responsibility areas (KRAs). However, ensure that your business goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) to help you achieve maximum results. Further, when employees know their roles and responsibilities and what is expected, they are more likely to work together cohesively and contribute actively to team development and growth.

5. Encourage Them to Learn from Failures – Employees in an organization should celebrate team successes and learn from their failures to remain relevant in their business domain. Managers must take up the responsibility to recognize team members’ accomplishments and milestones, provide constructive feedback, and offer them support when things don’t go as planned. It can further help build resilience, foster a growth mindset, improve team performance, and create a healthy culture of teamwork in a company.

6. Emphasize Collaboration over Competition – Encourage team members to collaborate and share knowledge and resources rather than compete. It can help build trust, improve communication, and create a more supportive work environment to boost team development teamwork, and achieve better results.

7. Set a Good Precedent for Your Team – In the words of John Maxwell, A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
An effective manager or leader should act as a role model with their behavior and value system and set a practical example for others to emulate. It can include demonstrating a strong work ethic, communicating effectively, and treating others with respect and empathy.

Conclusion

Nurturing team development and creating a culture of teamwork is essential for improving team performance and achieving better results. Also, remember that your role as a manager is beyond leading a team and is more about driving your team members for enhanced cooperation and teamwork. So, work toward creating a positive work environment that fosters teamwork and collaboration for the optimum success and growth of your organization.