“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean”. As rightly put by Ryunosuke Sataro, this quote pretty much sums up the importance of teamwork. Now, all you need to do in order to build a good team is to build healthy relationships with the people you are working with. Co-workers and employers and almost everyone else these days talks about developing a strong team in order to achieve the organisational goals more efficiently. What exactly does teamwork mean? It is an experience and a sense of belonging to something much larger than oneself. Each and every member of the team is responsible for a team’s success or failure. Most institutions value teamwork but some work so much towards diversifying people and their ideas that they forget about valuing its norms completely. It is important for such organisations to know that unless people relate to each other in a team, they cannot really relate to the bigger picture i.e., the organisation. And if you realise the importance of teamwork and feel that your team could do with a bit of this spirit then read through the following section and learn the various ways of building teamwork at your workplace so that your organisation doesn’t suffer from lack of coordination.
Improving Team Work
Express The Expectations
Working together is only possible when the target is known! It is extremely important that the leader clearly states his expectations so that the team can work around achieving that. An expected outcome can only be made possible when the deliverables are clearly explained to the group. Also, the members need to understand the priorities of the project at hand. The team leader must sufficiently emphasize on the above and give adequate attention to his team in times of discussions and meetings.
Keep Accounts
Keeping accounts doesn’t mean to literally finance your entire period in the company! It implies that a good amount of detailed records must be kept about each person’s progress/work in the team so that sidetracking is avoided. With this technique, conflict can be reduced and an increased opportunity for growth can be created. Feedbacks to improve the job hold the key to a successful relationship between co-workers and manager.
Equality In Decision Making
Each individual for his own! Letting in equality means actively allowing everyone to contribute in the decision making process. Making people feel important and showing them that they are an integral part of the group comes with a great boost to the morale. The only problem in such situations is when the team cannot agree upon a topic. In this case, a clear leader (who is higher in rank and thus more revered) must have the final say.
Communicate To Succeed
Nothing good ever comes out of excessive office politics! Reducing this by promoting good communication skills paves the path for effective teamwork. The skills that need to be sharpened are: active listening, patience, awareness, non-verbal facial expressions, negotiation powers, gestures, body language and the tone of the voice. This way the workplace becomes more about trust and commitment than politics and ego clashes.
Burdens Of Work
Loading one person with too much work while the others stay leisurely is a sure recipe to disaster. Balancing work between the employees is the most appropriate way to gain effectiveness within the team. A relatively manageable amount of workload spread evenly over the team would not burden anyone unduly and would keep the team harmonious thereby making team leading easy for the person in-charge! Based on this, rewards can be decided. Encouraging a coworker and making him accomplish his career best reflects on the goodness of the manager and company.
These are just a few tips that could be plausible areas of improvement in an organization. In a team oriented environment, there is always a question of compromise and faith in each other just like the saying goes – There is no ‘I’ in a team of ‘us’.
