Effective teamwork, is an important aspect of any organisation’s success. There are many benefits of teamwork, most notably, "an increase in motivation from your employees".
A recent study by Stanford University showed, that when people are treated as partners or team members, – even when physically apart, – their motivation increases. Motivation from your employees means, more success and productivity for your company.
Teamwork has always been an essential capability, for successful enterprises. but with today’s organisations undergoing disruption, and digitisation in an ‘innovate or die’ economy. it is now more important than ever, that employees can collaborate effectively across geographical sites, between business functions, and within increasingly fluid job hierarchies.
Teamwork has never been easy, but in recent years it has become much more complex. And the trends that make it more difficult seem likely to continue, as teams become increasingly global, virtual, and project-driven. Taking a systematic approach to analyzing, how well your team is set up to succeed, and identifying where improvements are needed, can make all the difference.
"Successful teamwork" is also an important for employee engagement and wellbeing at a time, when talent retention faces the highly competitive global job market, as well as the ‘loyalty challenge’ posed by millennial workers.
Teams in the future of work, will be increasingly follow 4-D planning. that is "diverse, dispersed, digital, dynamic", but the fundamental skills that comprise effective teamwork, are likely to remain the same. The elements crucial to building a productive team include:
1. Communication.
Effective communication is the most important part of teamwork, and involves consistently updating each person, and never assuming that everyone has the same information. Being a good communicator also means being a good listener.
By listening to your colleagues, you show them respect, which is an essential trust-building method. Offering encouragement also, a long way to getting the best out of team members. Collaborating and being open to new ideas, are also essential ingredients for a "harmonious team environment".
Good teamwork starts with a shared understanding of its importance. Communication bridges teams together, and needs to be practiced to ensure, "whether team is working smoothly and efficiently or not".
2. Delegation.
Teams that work well together, understand the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. One of the benefits of strong teamwork is that, team leaders and members are adept at identifying all aspects of a project, and allocating tasks to the most "appropriate team members".
You should always try to strike a balance, between monitoring and supporting. You need to give people enough freedom, to use their abilities to best effect.
3. Efficiency.
A strong and matching team develops systems, that allow them to collaborate efficiently, to complete tasks in a timely manner. Through working together, colleagues will be aware of their "own capabilities" and the capabilities of the group in general, and can organise the workload accordingly.
Teams that work together efficiently, should be recognized for their efforts. This will encourage other teams, to adopt the same practices. Through this recognition, each member of the successful team, will also feel appreciated for their hard work.
4. Ideas:
When a team works well together, colleagues feel more comfortable offering suggestions and ideas. A respectful and trusting team environment, will not only enable colleagues to think more creatively, but will lead to more productive, and collaborative brainstorming sessions.
5. Support:
All workplaces provide challenges, but having a strong team environment in place, can act as a support mechanism for staff members. They can help each other, improve their own performance as well, as working together, toward improving their professional development.
Building bonds on trust on each other, can be extremely important, when facing a particularly difficult challenge, or if the group is forced to deal with the loss of a team member, while continuing to maintain productivity.
"Good teamwork" means a collective way of working with each person committed, and working towards a shared goal. Teamwork maximises the individual strengths of team members, to bring out their best. It is therefore a necessity that leaders facilitate, and build the teamwork skills of their people, if they are to steer a company toward success.
"Last but not least", when it comes to teamwork, size does matter. "How many persons can work together at the same time without creating confusion?". While there is no general acceptance, among researchers on what that team size is. most agree it is somewhere between 6 and 12 people. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, came up with a "two pizza rule" that became famous, arguing that one should never have more members in a team, "than they could feed with two pizzas".
Effective teamwork brings lots of benefits to your company. With planning and strategy, but also with the help of technology, and good leadership, you can achieve better team productivity.
Are you working in a team? Is your team collaborating effective? Share your opinions and experiences with us, to our readers in the comments section below.
Comments
Post a Comment