Tips for Building Effective Teams in the Workplace

Building an Effective Team Starts and Ends with Collaboration

Each manager and team leader in your organization has their own specialized role. While everyone has a full calendar each day, it is crucial that everyone pulls together when it comes to building effective teams in the workplace. It may help your management team to understand that, in order to stay true to your company’s mission and overall goals, everyone must collaborate to find the best team building strategies.

Explore Our Seven Tips to Building Effective Teams

At ABR Employment Services, we continually work to find ways to help our clients build successful teams. We have come up with seven tips we believe will help you.

1. Define Your Team’s Goal or Goals. The best way to reach any goal is to set a clear and well-defined objective. Cleverism cites a 2008 study that states that “a well set goal will facilitate individuals to focus their efforts in a specified direction to achieve the expected outcomes.” Draw your goals from a combination of your organization’s mission statement, desired profit and productivity outcomes, and the abilities and skills of your team.
2. Be Aware of Your Own Leadership Style. Self-awareness as a leader is essential. As the leadership front-person, you need to know how your team members see you. Forbes indicates that, for your team to accept your recommendations, they must respect and accept you. While they are likely to follow your lead, as a matter of responsibility, you may not be building a team you truly want if everyone is not on board with your style. Stay flexible and adjust where you feel you can make a difference in your team members’ attitudes.
3. Give Every Team Member a Voice. If every team member does not feel as valued as the next team member, your team may not work the way you envision it. Let everyone participate by airing their ideas, concerns, and even disagreements. Encourage constructive conversations from everyone.
4. Encourage Strong Professional Relationships Among Your Team Members. Not everyone on your team will agree with one another. Provide avenues for win-win situations by serving as a mediator when team members openly disagree on a point, and allow for solutions where everyone is satisfied.
5. Monitor Your Team for Members with Unspoken Issues. Although no one expects you to be a mind reader, you can do your best to get to know your team members and address situations where you think someone is silently dissatisfied. You may notice that a previously eager team member has suddenly withdrawn from discussions.
6. Review Progress Together. As a team, it is important to periodically review your progress to see how well you are collectively achieving your goals. Prepare to celebrate positive outcomes and search for solutions to any places where you come up short.
7. Adopt the 12 Cs for Team Building. This alliterative approach to team building is truly all-encompassing for team leaders to consult. The Balance offers a comprehensive list of these 12 go-to ideas on building an effective team, which includes clear expectations, context, commitment, competence, charter, control, collaboration, communication, creative innovation, consequences, coordination and cultural change.

Keep an Open Mind and Stay Open to New Ideas for the Best in Team Building

We hope these tips give you some solid ideas for building effective teams. If you need additional ideas or have any questions about those we’ve listed, we would love to hear from you!