Teamwork makes the dream work. It’s a decent saying, but there’s a lot missing from the statement. When it comes to improving teamwork, defining what improvement looks like is the first step. A business owner cannot simply ‘improve teamwork’ for the sake of improvement alone. Instead, you and your team must assess and strengthen together.
Why is teamwork important in the workplace?
Teamwork is essential if you are keen to retain your best people, drive revenue, and engage your employees in the brand. Teamwork is the key to a successful company, and no business can survive poor team communication and disengaged employees. There are two main facets of why teamwork is of the utmost importance in the workplace:
- Individuals who know their strengths work together to form stronger partnerships. In turn, more thoughtful partnerships create stronger teams. Strong teams start with the individual.
- The strengths and dynamics of your team directly affect business outcomes. Collaboration and accountability help your business produce more at a higher standard. Team members can focus on accomplishing their delegated tasks, knowing that their teammates have other areas covered.
What makes great teamwork?
There are no objective factors to what makes a team great. However, this doesn’t mean that top teamwork is born from a hit-and-miss approach. It takes patience and understanding to ensure a healthy dynamic of a group of individuals. That said, here are some aspects a business can use to assess how well people are working together:
- Communication – Do team members and teammates actively listen? Are they able to ask questions and show comprehension? By actively listening, teams can strengthen their everyday communication. To effectively share one’s ideas, it is important to be understood by clearly communicating.
- Recognition – One of the top indicators of how well a team is working is how well members can deliver appreciation, criticism, and recognition. Every member should be treated as an equal and have the right to give praise, express gratitude, or give constructive feedback. It should be a healthy enough environment where these should not be issues or cause conflict.
- Leading a team – Managers are important. Around 70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager. Managers should not assume that employees always know how to accomplish their goals. As the go-to person and delegator, the leader should know how to engage employees, set goals, and handle interpersonal dynamics.
Get practical
The bottom line is if executives don’t create the culture, the culture will create itself. This leaves you and your organization susceptible to losing your best employees. Teamwork is not something that always happens organically to the best of its ability. It is your responsibility to ensure your team works collaboratively and with the brand message in mind.
Your employees are your business’s greatest asset. Be sure to strengthen the team for a more solid and productive workforce. For more guidance on growing your own business, contact the Economic Development Collaborative. Conveniently located in Camarillo, California, we’re here to help and have a free resource guide on how your business can handle the COVID-19 pandemic.
