Team building is vital for fostering trust and loyalty and increasing productivity. It’s also a great way to establish your company culture and values. But getting it right requires careful consideration and strong leadership.
Here are seven tips for building a successful team.
1. Make Your Company Goals Clear
One of the best ways to boost team cohesion is through a collective sense of purpose. All businesses have goals and KPIs. Ensure that you communicate these goals and clarify how each team member is instrumental in achieving these objectives.
No one should feel in the dark or disconnected from their overall purpose in the team. When your staff understands their goals — and what they need to do to achieve them — they can start pulling together in the same direction.
2. Set a Pathway For Success
Setting goals is just the start of the process. Great leadership also involves establishing deadlines and milestones and offering regular progress check-ins. Try celebrating or rewarding your team as each goal is hit, even with something minor.
3. Use Team Building Activities to Make Employees Feel Connected
As many teams shift to remote or hybrid working, problems can emerge. A Gallup study found that isolation can result in a 21% drop in productivity. Of course, isolation and loneliness were issues in the workforce before the pandemic, but a lack of day-to-day interactions can exacerbate these issues.
Team building exercises — even done remotely — can be hugely beneficial. However, it’s best to consult your team before planning the specific activities. The best leadership styles encourage listening and understanding what interests and motivates your staff.
4. Encourage a Level of Risk-Taking
Building a successful team requires a leadership style that promotes a reasonable level of risking-taking. For example, employees should feel that they can advocate for contrary positions and disagree without fear of punishment.
Teams will naturally disagree about specific directions or processes. Ensuring that they feel free to express their opinion openly is a huge part of creating an environment where employees feel shared and valued.
5. Set the Tone with Honest, But Respectful Communication
Management plays a crucial role in setting the tone for how the team communicates. If leaders are open and respectful, this trickles down into how the team talks to each other and influences how they resolve conflict.
6. Team Building Starts at the Interview Stage
If you want to build a cohesive, well-integrated team, you need to start at the hiring stage. Some candidates with outstanding qualifications and skills might not be a perfect fit for your current team due to poor interpersonal skills, a lack of teamwork skills, or low empathy.
So don’t forget to test social skills by asking behavioral questions at the interview stage.
7. Organize Team Building Exercises Away From the Office
Company off-sites are a great way to build successful teams. With the office distractions a distant memory, your staff can communicate and get to know each other more personally.
Make sure to organize activities that people like. Not everyone will appreciate high-octane group events. So canvas for opinions before making any plans.
In our book, Maximum Accountability, we dedicate an entire chapter to the topic of Team Building. Order your copy today!