Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is a success – Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motors.
There are 75% of people who regard collaboration and teamwork as essential parameters for success. Working in collaboration and knowing how to promote teamwork in the workplace makes all the difference because you increase your productivity with skills and exchanging ideas. When you come and collaborate, it’s just the beginning because the primary purpose of teamwork is to keep the work in progress and continue together to make it successful.
The idea of working together as a successful team is not rocket science and rather stems from building a highly effective team. Building a good team requires effort, consideration, and a thoughtful group process based on the essentials of teamwork.
Why is Teamwork Essential?
Teamwork is the foundational stone upon which all successful organizations are built, and, in today’s digital world, it makes things easier. Now, let us dive in and know why teamwork is essential.
1. It Brings in New Ideas
When you know how to promote teamwork in the workplace, you bring people from different walks of life together and allow the fresh exchange of ideas. The exchange of ideas would help foster innovation and brilliance, which will help you thrive in the competitive business environment.
A unique perspective transpires when people exchange ideas, opening floors for discussions and deliberations, allowing the work to flow.
2. It Helps in Making Work Easier
Teamwork in an organization promotes collective energy among individuals in the group, incrementing both imagination and resourcefulness inside the organisation.
By working together, the team can make a considerably more effective fix to an issue than an individual would have. Likewise, the camaraderie made by working together makes the work easier.
3. Improves Productivity and Efficiency
When you are working together in a team, you have the chance to break your tasks into manageable units. This will empower you to allocate tasks to those who are most suitable.
Performing tasks in a team will make people more accountable, leading to more productivity and enhanced efficiency.
4. Boots Confidence and Morale
Morale results from faith and self-discipline. Working together in a team will boost your morale as when you know that there is someone to support you, your confidence increases.
This applies to everyone in the team, and you’ll witness a boost in the overall morale of your team.
You can see why you need teamwork in your workplace. However, the real challenge lies in promoting the true spirit of cooperation.
How Do You Promote Teamwork in Your Workplace?
The true essence of teamwork is bringing different people together and making them mutually and amicably work towards attaining common goals.
A work culture should build a relationship of professional integrity among its employees through teamwork.
Establishing that positive spirit and climate of cooperation is teamwork, which shall help capitalise on talents. Here are eight ways to promote teamwork and achieve more significant results.
1. Emphasises Healthy and Informal Communication
Having open and healthy communication is the key to building harmony and dynamics. There should always be a space for everyone to communicate their thoughts while having a healthy balance is equally important.
Having informal discussions is the key to building a relationship that will allow people to become familiar and set a smooth transitional workflow.
Promoting workers to expand their networks in the organization also leads to shared interests and unravelling synergies. Communication can positively and negatively influence teamwork, so quantity and quality matter here. Thus, having healthy conversations that help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of work is essential.
Here’s how you can create a better working environment with open communication:
- Ask employees for their opinion.
- Have one to one conversations with employees.
- Organise staff meetings.
- Employee outings.
- Encourage peer to peer communication.
- Create a culture of feedback.
- Have regular team bonding sessions.
2. Practice Team Building Activities
The team-building activities are developed to build a relationship or strengthen the bond between employees. Through team-building activities like games and outings, you can help employees get to know each other.
The more they enjoy being in each other’s company and have a pleasant working environment, the higher are chances of better performance.
These are some mindful team building activities that have worked for many organisations:
- Play sports games.
- Organise personality quizzes.
- Go out for a picnic.
- Organise mind training workshops.
3. Recognise and Reward Employees
We all appreciate appreciation in life, and so do employees. It is always a good practice to recognise the employees who are doing good and reward them for achieving their results. Recognition in life goes a long way and makes the employees feel valued.
When the achievements are recognised, there is an innate feeling of satisfaction, leading to greater loyalty for the organisation. For example, you can map a lucrative incentive structure for your inside sales reps whenever they achieve the pre-defined milestones.
Thus, to promote a sense of team spirit and cooperation, acknowledge and reward your employees.
Here are some ways through which you can reward your employees:
- Paid holidays.
- Bonuses.
- Increments.
- Incentives.
- Awards.
4. Practice Gratitude
Gratitude in the workplace can prompt further associations with one another and your daily work. Cultivating a culture of appreciation can decrease pressure, develop satisfaction, support mental health, and assist your team with recalling the positives.
Practising gratitude can help people appreciate each other, build relationships and improve the work environment.
Here are a few ways through which you can practice gratitude:
- Create a gratitude folder. It’s a shared folder where employees can thank each other with beautiful notes.
- Organise Thanksgiving dinners.
- Write thank-you notes for employees.
5. Share Tasks and Shoulder Responsibilities
When multiple people work together, it is crucial to assign tasks and share responsibilities. Assigning tasks to people would make people aware of their roles and if their bandwidth allows, they can also help others.
Sharing tasks can help in shouldering responsibilities and managing the workload of everyone on the team. Teamwork is enhanced when people help each other in their duties and shoulder responsibilities.
Here are a few ways through which you can share tasks and shoulder responsibilities:
- Have one on one conversations with people and understand their strengths.
- Make people work in groups.
- Have regular stand up meetings.
- Have team management software and promote people to help each other.
6. Allow Flexible Work
Workplace flexibility is significant for smooth and easy management of affairs. Everybody wants to have the power of decision-making, and when you allow flexibility, you allow that to happen.
Promoting flexibility will help attract more talent to the business. Furthermore, it would also build a diverse workforce which will boost morale and build team performance.
Here are a few ways through which you can promote flexibility at the workplace:
- Have flexible working hours.
- Allow for breaks.
- Offer remote work.
- Empower teams with remote tools that increase productivity.
7. Promote Inclusivity
All businesses should promote inclusivity in the team, which means that all the identities are welcomed. It is essential to value and involve everybody in the group to share ideas quickly.
Everyone in the team should be more welcoming, courteous, and ensure that the colleagues also feel the same. Having an inclusive environment builds a better workplace and also enhances business performance.
Here are tried and tested ways through which you can promote inclusivity at the workplace:
- Listen to employees.
- Treat everybody equally.
- Organise training programs on related subjects.
8. Mentor and Learn Together
In modern-day workplaces, employees can’t work alone and must collaborate to get the desired results. The workplaces should reflect upon this reality and allow us to learn together.
When you learn and mentor together, it enhances teammates’ social connection, building trust and a greater sense of teamwork.
Here are a few ways through which you can learn together:
- Organise workshops and competitions.
- Learn together through videos, discussions, and peer to peer conversations.
- Mentor your juniors.
4 Good Examples of How to Promote Teamwork in the Workplace
When you work in teams, you draw your strength from each other and effectively attain a common goal. Having a good example before you would motivate you to promote teamwork at your place, so let’s look at some good examples.
1. Collective Decision Making
The team which makes decisions together stays together. When a team collectively makes decisions together, you allow everyone to be a part of the decision-making process. Working together as a single cohesive unit will promote the spirit of teamwork.
2. Rise and Fall Together
When everyone on the team works together with predefined goals and objectives, they become accountable. If there is a problem, everyone should be held responsible, and when there is an appreciation, all the team members should be praised. It’s like a family where you are there for each other in good times and the bad times.
3. Everyone Pitches Ideas
A team can only lead a project successfully when every member is actively involved. Once you have all the members involved, multiple ideas would help solve the obstacles. It is an excellent practice to have everyone pitch their ideas.
4. Employees Support Each Other
All team members should support one another. When one individual has an idea or is going through a rough day, the team members should come forward and help. It is more like trading — you give some things up so others can have what they need.
Promoting teamwork is crucial at the workplace, and you should try various activities to encourage collaboration at the workplace.
4 Activities to Promote Teamwork
Teamwork results from team building and can only be attained through continuous efforts—the purpose behind creating and developing a team.
The primary reason for any team-building activity is correspondence, coordinated effort, arrangement, team values, inspiration, and whatever else that can empower a group to cooperate successfully.
Team building activities must be intended to bring your team nearer or track down approaches to characterize and move towards your typical objectives. Here are some activities which you can undertake to promote team building.
1. Enjoy Over Food
There is no way better than to bond over food, so go out there and have delicious food with your teammates with a glass of wine. When you go out for team dinners, you get to know more about a person and their preferences.
A proven and live example is the team from Rapidops who recently went over for a team dinner and bonded over food.
2. Organise Cultural and Sports Events
Events are the time for you to gel up with people and get to know them outside their office personality; through events, you can understand people, their hobbies, and nature. When you know people, you can connect with them through their interests.
By organizing such events, you’ll see greater employee engagement which will ultimately strengthen your company.
An excellent live example is from team Sourceit, strengthening their bond through games and events.
3. Organise Fun Games and Learning Workshops
Fun, games, and learning bring people together. There can be no better icebreakers than playing games because they help you know how other people think, solve problems, work, and have fun.
The team at Colgate enjoyed their time together and bonded over games.
4. Plan Team Outings
Life in a corporate environment can be stressful and hectic. There is always a call to have a relaxing day or two, so why not organize an outing for the team to chill and spend some time together. With excursions, you can enhance relationships between the employees and reduce work stress and conflicts.
Let us look at a live example from the team at Prototyze, who went out for an outing and developed a great team bond.
Team building activities give you, the employees, and workers a chance to connect with one another. When the people at work involve themselves in fun and out-of-the-box activities, they build relationships and bonds.
Final Word on How to Promote Teamwork in the Workplace
Promoting teamwork at your workplace will take your organization to new places and build a pathway for some great success and performance. So, why not encourage teamwork and lead the way.
Action: For even more useful content on team building, check out our ultimate guide on Team Building Skills.
