A great team can perform like a well-oiled machine. Achieving goals and meeting targets while constantly looking to improve their processes and raise their aspiration. But building a high-performing team is not as easy as it sounds. So to help, we have put together some tips on getting the most out of your team.
Whether you’re part of an HR department or a team leader, there are many different things you can do to help a team bond and perform better.
We have put together 7 different things that you can start doing today that boost team spirit and help when building a successful team.
Building successful and effective teams
- Hire Good People
- Invest in Onboarding
- Focus on Teamwork
- Make Use of Workshops
- Share Feedback & Praise
- Be Inclusive
- Organize Team Building Activities
1. Be sure to hire the right people
If creating an environment where team spirit is central, you should start with the employment process. When recruiting new members, be mindful and ask questions that will focus on whether or not a candidate is a team player and will give the right energy to the team.
Culture interviews as well as some form of competency evaluation are becoming more common as companies seek to find employees that will be a good fit in terms of skill and culture. Remember that this goes for hybrid, in-person, and remote teams.
2. Invest in onboarding
Hiring talented people is the first step, onboarding them and helping them settle in is the all-important second step. This isn’t just about helping people learn about your ways of working, or what software you use - it is far more than that.
Onboarding is a vital way to help welcome people, ease them into a new environment, instruct them on daily duties, introduce them to their team, and more. Studies have proven that employees that go through a thorough and well-thought-out onboarding process are more engaged early on, more dedicated, and far more productive.
3. Focus on teamwork
As the cliche goes, teamwork makes the dream work. Strong teams, no matter what line of business they are in, all work well together and combine their strengths and help to mitigate their weaknesses. There are several ways to improve teamwork, among them open communication. Working to improve your team’s communication skills is a great first step.
Speaking of strengths and weaknesses, a good team leader should also examine everyone’s defined roles and responsibilities. The goal should be to improve synergy and make sure team members complement one another. Everyone will bring their own skill set to the table and good leadership should put those skills to use.
4. Utilize workshops
Workshops that look at your team’s ways of working, strengths and weaknesses, as well as goals can be a good way to define what ‘successful’ means for you. Focus on creating an energetic workshop that will encourage team building and support.
Remember, however, that workshops are only as good as the moderator running them and the organization behind them. There are plenty of different workshops out there that you can run no matter what the main goal of the session happens to be.
Workshops that don’t actively promote listening to colleagues and taking their opinions and contributions into account can do more harm than good.
5. Share praise and constructive feedback
Make the sharing of praise and feedback an integral part of daily and weekly routines. Use internal email or messaging tools to share praise for achievements and to recognize your colleagues in a public way. Also, encourage team members to share feedback and praise with others.
The benefits of feedback are innumerable; those receiving feedback will feel that they are being directed and allowed to develop without picking up bad habits along the way. Likewise, it can help solidify in them a sense of direction and purpose to hear from their colleagues about their efforts. Conversely, those giving feedback will be gaining leadership skills that will be available in any team.
6. Be inclusive
Being actively inclusive in the workplace can be as simple as making sure the language you use is inclusive to make sure that group activities are something that can be enjoyed by everyone.
An important part of ensuring everyone is included is to survey employees, colleagues, and teammates to see how they feel about your current ways of working.
Gathering insights from others is a great way to compile a variety of different perspectives but also a way to include everyone in the decision-making process.
7. Make an effort to organize team-building events
On a similar note, any kind of team-building event can be a good way to boost team spirit and improve bonding levels. Remember that these don’t just have to take place at the end of the year, you can arrange a team bonding session once a quarter or even every other week.
The first steps to performing better
So there you have it, some steps to help you when building a high-performing and successful team. As with any project worth undertaking, there will be hurdles along the way.
One challenge will be channeling those team members' individual goals into team success. Helping everyone to understand their role, highlight their contributions and work to combine their complementary skills will be a great way to go about this. That and building trust.
