Teamwork best practices
Start the discussion!What is Teamwork?
Teamwork is described as the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal.
Why is Teamwork important?
Teamwork is often a crucial part of business, as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, trying their best in any circumstance. Teamwork means that people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal conflict between individuals.
8 quick tips to improve Teamwork
- Make sure the team is clear about their mission
- Ensure the team environment encourages reasonable risks
- Ensure that respectful communication is the norm
- Maintain a strong sense of group commitment
- Ensure that creativity and innovation are the norms
- Engage in continuous improvement
- Be committed to solve teamwork problems and conflicts
- Practice participative leadership
Top 5 benefits of Teamwork
1. It Boosts Productivity First things first, working within a team allows for the workload to be shared equally among members and distributed according to each member’s skills and strengths. With more hands on deck, tasks are completed faster and more efficiently, thereby increasing productivity.
For example, if one employee has to deliver an important report within 24 hours but has a backlog of 72 hours’ worth of work, the end result will most likely be subpar. Worse, still, he might not even be able to finish it at all. However, if he were to collaborate with someone else, chances are the report will be delivered with plenty of time to spare.
2. It Provides a Support Network
A strong team environment is essential for the success of any business, especially during difficult and challenging times when team members will help and rely on each other for support and guidance. This allows them to remain focused on the goal and they can complete projects more efficiently. Conversely, a stressed-out individual with a heavy workload working alone is at risk of becoming overwhelmed and making bad and costly decisions.
3. It Encourages Innovation
Two heads are better than one, and this is especially true in the workplace. Teams are better able to produce more creative, innovative and practical solutions to problems than someone working alone.
When bouncing ideas off one another in a brainstorming session, employees tend to feel more confident about coming up with unique and more outside-the-box ideas. On the other hand, someone working alone will usually present the safer option to their manager
4. It Improves Morale
When the workload is shared and members of a team collaborate, they can feel a greater sense of accomplishment when they complete a task and reach a goal that they would not have been able to achieve had they been working alone. This, combined with a sense of belonging, appreciation and recognition, can drastically improve employee self-esteem and morale. In turn, when employees find joy in their work and experience job satisfaction and less stress, companies see a drastically lowered turnover rate.
5. It Attracts Talent
Within the next 10 years, the global workforce is expected to be almost entirely comprised of Millennials. And considering how Millennials value collaboration over competition, it’s important that companies cater to the needs of their future employees by creating a company culture they want to be part of. By doing so, companies are able to attract – and retain – top talent.