10 Effective Team Building Strategies
An efficient, hardworking team is an asset to any organization. Successful teams stand the test of time with mutual understanding and co-ordination
Globally, people work as teams in organizations to achieve results and come up with exciting innovations. Good teamwork brings out the best in all employees. This bodes well for the company too. Various surveys have indicated that teamwork always surpasses individual performance, especially in pressure situations. Companies are constantly looking for ways to create an effective team at the workplace.
Some tried and tested tips to encourage teamwork are:
- Be an effective leader: Just as the captain is most important to the ship, so is the leader for his team. It is very important for the person heading the team to have the required leadership skills. This will help the team function better, even when the leader is not around. The leader must work with all the members of the team to achieve the best results.
- Give equal importance: All the members of the team are equally important as they bring their own individual strengths and capabilities to the table. Do not indulge in favoritism while carrying out any task; all members must be evaluated in the same manner.
- Set rules: As soon as a team is created, it is best to establish some ground rules for its smooth functioning. Every team member must be instructed to follow these rules strictly.
- Praise performances: Everyone loves being acknowledged for their work and your team is no different. Once targets are achieved, be lavish with the praise and acknowledge the contribution of all members.
- Build inter-team relations: As all the team members need to work in perfect co-ordination, it is important that they have good relations. The team leader must work to improve communication, trust and co-ordination among them.
- Effective conflict resolution: Disagreements and difference of opinion are bound to happen in any team. Any conflict must be solved in a cordial manner by hearing out both sides and most importantly, involving them. Work with your employees to find solutions to common problems. This will work wonders for team bonding.
- Know your team members better: Getting to know team members on a personal basis helps to better understand their skills, their strengths and drawbacks. This will come handy while assigning work to team members as you can designate work based on their strengths.
- Give regular feedback: For any team to function better, feedback is very important. Team leaders should be generous with their feedback and it must come on a regular basis. Do not wait till a problem happens to offer feedback.
- Define designations/responsibilities: As soon as the team is created, designate roles and responsibilities in an effective manner. When roles are clearly defined, work is done better and conflicts are reduced as everyone knows what they have to do.
- Celebrate the highs: It is very important to celebrate all the successes with the team members. Celebrating the highs motivates the team and instills confidence to pursue new goals as they know that their contribution is valued by the company.
