Human beings are herd animals who have historically always sought to be part of a group and collaborate. Today, the importance of this is more relevant than ever. A smooth collaboration is key if an entrepreneur is looking to boost productivity among employees and make their business flourish.
Engaged employees are often described as the key to high-performing teams. It is the employees who, through their expertise and ability to handle complex problems, form the core of most knowledge-intensive companies today. Without a collaborative team, there is no business and no success.
Exactly what employee collaboration and engagement consist of varies between organizations and cultures. It is basically about behaviors that, when repeated over and over again, strengthen the group and contribute to the company achieving its goals.
In this article, we look at how to get started on building strong team collaboration and achieving long-term positive results.
Create Common Goals
An important step towards creating a collaborative team is to develop common goals. What will the team achieve by working together that would not have been possible if the members of the group had worked separately? In the corporate world, it can be more difficult to define, especially if it’s a group that is expected to work together over a long period.
In a project, the sub-goals may be fully sufficient, but in a work team that collaborates for several years, the overall goal may need to be updated, as expectations change. Each team member must be able to answer what the team should try to achieve. The answers must also be in the same direction, otherwise in reality it will result in different teams working towards different goals.
Build your team with people who can and want to do the job. Gather them around a common goal picture (proper goals are concrete, measurable, and time-bound) and make sure that everyone understands what should be done and why it should be done.
Remember the Fun Factor
Remember that a team must also have fun together. Just working and discussing projects will ultimately lead to reduced performance over time. So those who think that coffee breaks are a waste of working time haven’t understood what makes a team effective. It’s during these moments that new input usually appears, which can lead to the business’ next success.
Check out SnackNation’s list of improv games for work for some ideas on how to plan entertaining team-building activities for your employees. These types of events help team members improve communication skills, boost engagement, encourage social interaction while creating a fun experience.
There’s a reason why innovative companies have created playful and creative environments, as it pays off in the long run. So dare to let go, laugh together and embrace your differences.
Clear Division of Roles
In a team, not everyone can do everything, because then the team wouldn’t be needed. As a result, it’s important to clarify who has what role.
In addition, different expert knowledge may be needed at different times in the work process. To create a strong and collaborative team, it’s important to distribute the tasks to the person or persons who are best suited to carry them out.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that the solution is to throw a lot of mixed tasks at that person. This rather risks tying up resources unnecessarily and often leads to a worse result. So, think in advance about which main tasks and secondary tasks different people should have so that there is a logic in which tasks are performed by whom.
Psychological Security
Creating an environment where employees feel safe and can be themselves is one of the most important factors in building an effective and collaborative team. But it’s also one of the most difficult as it requires a culture where people’s differences are seen as strengths and not deviations that violate the norm or “the way we work here.”
A culture that fosters Psychological safety or security is created by emphasizing the importance of everyone’s contribution, asking for honest feedback, allowing everyone on the team to continuously provide both positive and negative criticism as an opportunity to develop, and encouraging team members to share and be open about their mistakes.
Final Thoughts
For a team to be efficient and able to perform at its best, you must build a strong collaborative team environment. To achieve this, everyone in the group must be well aware of their role, have fun, and thrive together at work.
You need to have a good group dynamic and spend time letting members get to know each other to build trust and confidence. Add a strong workplace culture, clear division of roles, and continuous psychological security and you’ll be on the right path to success.
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