Though some jobs are perfectly suited to individuals who work better alone, with minimal need for communication and cohesive work with others, most jobs within a lot of industries require a certain level of teamwork.
The ability to communicate effectively, and to get along with a variety of people, is often paramount within many jobs, and it is the job of the employer to make sure that all members of their team can work together effectively.
Otherwise, the efficiency of work completion will be dramatically affected. If you are looking for a way to encourage healthy teamwork within your staff, here are a few tips which you might find useful.
Recognize people for their individualities
One of the reasons some people don’t work well as a team is that they like to be recognized for their individual qualities and achievements.
If someone feels like their hard work is going unrecognized, then they are less likely to want to work with others, for fear that they will receive even less recognition.
Therefore, it is important to make sure that you give individual encouragement and recognition to all of your employees.
Regular team meetings
Regular team meetings give everyone a chance to express their opinions and concerns on a variety of matters, and this allows people to feel their voices are being heard.
As well as this, it also gives your staff members a chance to discuss with one another, and get to know each other better.
You can also use non-worked related, informal teamwork activities to help build team cohesion. There are a lot of companies which run adventure courses which require teamwork to complete.
Alternatively, you could organize something yourself, such as having the staff take part in an Escape Room experience. This sort of trip will boost morale, as many members of staff will enjoy the experience, while also serving an important purpose.
Actively partner people for jobs
If you have noticed that there are some members of staff who don’t tend to communicate well or are not well known to one another, then sometimes the best way to bring these two people together is to actively partner them on a job.
Give them a collective task and ask them to work on it together, and this will allow you to monitor the situation, and see if the distance between the two of them will cause problems in the workplace.
It should hopefully also force them to work better together, as they will have no excuses not to work with one another. If partnering with others doesn’t work then you may want to consider a team building facilitation consultation to guide you around potential pitfalls.
A clear chain of command
If you want your business to run efficiently, then it is important to have a clear and accessible chain of command in the workplace.
Your staff will work better knowing exactly what each person’s place in the company is, and where they stand, as this will negate and confusion between staff as to who has the right to dictate jobs to others.
It will also mean if your staff have any problems, both within themselves and between one another, that they are clear on who they can turn to for assistance.
What are you doing to promote teamwork among your employees?
