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Facilitating a Conducive Environment for Effective Teamwork
Team spirit, one of the most common characteristics you'll find listed on resumes. This might be as a result of the fact that a company is not made up of one person, and there's always a need to work hand in hand with a group of individuals. Getting along with the people in your team and being able to effectively work with them ensures that work produced within your team, is at par with the standard of the company. You know all those sayings about unity and togetherness? feel free to insert here.
Due to the importance of having and being part of a team, it's critical to understand how to build and encourage effective teamwork in the workplace. Here are some tips that will help you achieve this.
Encourage informal social events: Instead of trying to force people to do things together as a team, you can encourage bonding in a low-pressure setting. It might be TGIF at a bar or karaoke or maybe even lunch as a team. Whatever social event you choose, ensure it is in an informal setting where team members feel relaxed and at ease to instinctively bond with each other.
Establish effective communication: You don't have to be best friends with your team members to be able to work well with them. Understand how your team members receive information and communicate to them in that manner. For example; how you might talk to Team Member ‘A’ might not be the same way you would talk to Team Member ‘B’. Understand everyone's peculiarities and shortcomings with communication and deal with them accordingly.
Set ground rules for the team: Rules set boundaries, this is why they are necessary.
They are needed to ensure efficiency and success as a team, these rules can reflect general guidelines for the teams on punctuality and how to carry out tasks.
Encourage trust and cooperation among team members: Even though the team members might not be friends, it is important they respect each other. You can inspire trust by giving your team collective tasks.
Get feedback from everyone: It is important to show your team that their input matters, have brainstorming sessions with them and while you are doing this ensure that everyone speaks and not just a certain group of people. You can also use effective feedback channels to ensure that everyone is heard since the communication will be directly with the line manager.
As you strive towards fostering effective teamwork, it is important that you acknowledge the importance of understanding each person in your team.
Contributed by: Nifemi Fowler