The quality of teamwork is fundamental to most businesses, industries, and organizations. If there’s one thing that a business, organization, or company can do to succeed, it is to create, lead, and manage good teamwork.
In fact, a well-managed team is the key to success. There are certain things we can do as leaders to create good teamwork for our teams.
It all starts with good communication
Communication is the most important part of teamwork. Even a good, well-executed team will fail if there’s no communication and effective teamwork.
The work performed by an individual may be simple, but without the leadership, guidance, and guidelines to execute, it is virtually impossible to have a successful outcome. Effective communication requires all members of the team to be on the same page.
It needs to be a two-way dialogue between both groups.
There are two basic types of communication:
- The silent, unspoken kind. This includes both verbal and nonverbal communication.
- The spoken, written, or textual kind. This is the direct exchange of words.
The final team effort to get something done, especially when there’s a goal to accomplish, requires both types of communication. It can’t be one or the other.
Leaders need to work together to share the vision, define expectations, and agree on the road to success. This is the only way to succeed at achieving the goals, creating teamwork, and building a strong team.
Good leadership and teamwork
Effective leadership starts with communication. This includes creating clear roles and responsibilities, collaborating on the project’s direction, and establishing expectations.
Effective teamwork also requires clear roles and responsibilities and sharing of knowledge and skills. Leaders should also ensure that there’s some feedback loop between them and their team members.
This helps in continuous improvement, identifying performance gaps, and improving quality.
Once these basics are met, teamwork is implemented. Leaders must be available to all members of the team and hold each other accountable to deliver results.
Teams that are constantly challenged are those that perform well. But it’s always important to remember that the more effective a team is, the more valuable it will be.
Creating good teams
Creating and maintaining a team is not an easy task. Often, companies grow and fall due to poor teamwork.
Successful teams that have high-level performance are the ones that align and work well together. Each team member must focus on their role, listen to and share feedback, and hold each other accountable to their individual goals.
Identifying and managing the appropriate skills and roles within the team is also critical. If one member is out of their depth, other team members will often get frustrated and work with the out-of-depth team member to help them learn and grow.
Similarly, as this team member grows and becomes competent, the focus shifts to someone else.
Perhaps the greatest skill an individual can have is to recognize each team member’s strengths and weaknesses. This leader’s task is to recognize which members have the qualities and skills that will be essential to building a great team and getting the most out of each member.
These are the members that the company will want to maintain.
Leaders with a high level of commitment will show their confidence in their team members by giving them the space to be creative and innovative. Moreover, they will communicate regularly and directly with their team members to share progress, tell them when they are falling behind, and provide feedback and guidance.
This builds trust, camaraderie, and loyalty between the team members and builds a strong team.
Building teams
Creating effective teams is about more than working together. It’s also about working together toward a common purpose.
Teamwork often means crossing organizational lines. There are times when this can be challenging, but the rewards can be enormous.
Good teamwork builds a sense of collaboration. It brings a sense of shared purpose and the alignment of their actions toward this purpose.
But to do this, teams must communicate and work together effectively. This allows for collaboration without top-down control.
When team members are constantly asked to serve in roles that are out of their normal comfort zone, they often find it difficult to work effectively and feel frustrated and unfulfilled. The leader must recognize these feelings, evaluate them, and set clear expectations that the team member will meet their goals.
If team members are expected to take on more than they can handle, they are likely to quit and look for a new team.
Being good at managing people and creating teams have more to do with the skills and abilities of the team leaders and how they lead them than it does about the “right” management style. A great leader knows when to intervene to help create a problem-solving environment and when to step back to create an environment that fosters innovation and creativity.
Good teamwork also requires continual evolution. As a team develops, its strengths and weaknesses are identified.
A high-performing team will regularly assess and evaluate their effectiveness. They will identify their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
But a team needs to be flexible enough to adopt changes and incorporate new ideas. This is best accomplished when the leader holds open and honest communication that builds trust and goodwill.
An effective team and effective leadership require a balance of personal relationships and communication skills, team training, and the right skills and experiences of the team members.
The main goal of teamwork is to get tasks completed. Because it’s a team effort, everybody’s input is important. How each team member contributes to a task influences the quality and speed of the completed task.
Factors that might affect the team
The main factors affecting a team’s ability to complete a task are culture, communication, structure, and prioritization. Let’s take a closer look at each of these factors.
Communication
Team members have to communicate their ideas so that they can achieve the intended goal. However, this communication doesn’t only have to be verbal.
By using technology, teamwork communication can also be done electronically.
Managing a business using technology means that all team members have access to all the information about each task and can contribute and interact with other team members via platforms like Slack. Using text-based chat enables you to give and receive feedback and share information with your team.
Culture
Different cultures guide team members when they work together. These cultures are created through team dynamics and the opinions and thoughts of team members.
When different cultures within a team become conflicting, communication is no longer effective.
Building a culture is an ongoing process that occurs over time. It is something that’s always changing and evolving, so it’s best to monitor team dynamics and ensure that they don’t become an impediment to working together effectively.
However, some team members might be so passionate about an idea that they neglect the needs and concerns of others. This may make some team members feel uncomfortable and may create more conflict between teammates.
To avoid this, team members must prioritize their own needs and concerns.
Other team members may feel that they don’t contribute to the team as much as they’d like, so they are less motivated to contribute. This can cause problems in team meetings and discussions.
This is a common problem when you have some very competitive team members, while others are very cooperative.
Structure
Many times, a team is not built to achieve a certain outcome. The best thing to do is to put the team structure in place to encourage all team members to do what they can and do it well.
Creating a structured structure also keeps the team motivated and productive.
What matters most is the effectiveness of teamwork when the team size is small or even when a team has many members. What’s essential is to include everyone to ensure that there is cooperation and effort.
The importance of team dynamics
Creativity and innovation are crucial to the success of most businesses. To harness this creativity and build sustainable momentum, teams need to move forward together.
However, sometimes the collective will of the team is not in sync. For some teams, there may be internal power struggles and siloed behaviors.
In these situations, team members need to understand that it is not the leader’s responsibility to handle internal problems or differences. It is the team member’s responsibility to resolve the issues.
