How To Create a Culture of Teamwork in The Workplace?

We all might have worked in teams and come across these situations - internal conflicts, poor leadership or any of the other experiences that you can think of.

We can relate these challenges to lack of teamwork. Believe it or not, the first step towards overcoming these challenges is by creating a culture of teamwork. It may not happen overnight but if done right, effective teamwork can improve the overall company value and ensure that each team member plays their role well.

That said, let’s find out how to create a culture of teamwork that helps in building an effective team that runs smoothly.

Most common barriers to teamwork in today’s modern workplace:

• Ineffective or poor leadership
• Unclear communication
• No proper planning of milestones
• Ego clashes or internal conflicts
• Lack of trust and accountability
• Lack of employee engagement
• Lack of clarity on team roles/responsibilities
• Lack of adequate feedback
• Lack of support or guidance
• Employees not being duly recognized

These are some of the most common barriers to teamwork in today’s modern workplace.

How to create a culture of teamwork?

1. Define roles and set your expectations clear:

Break down tasks into multiple units, organize and assign it to your team members based on their skillset and availability. Ensure that each team member thoroughly understands what they are working on and specific deadline/target they will have to meet.

Define roles and set your expectations clear in terms of reporting or co-ordination and make sure your employees are aware of the hierarchical structure. This will eradicate internal conflicts, ego-clashes or resentments among team members.

2. Manage blame game:

Blame cannot be avoided when working as a team. Sometimes blame can have a positive effect, if it’s done the right way. E.g., for newbies and under-performers, blame can be an effective teaching tool that helps them realize mistakes and avoid errors in the future. Whether it’s an employee complaint or lack of performance – it is the managers responsibility not to point fingers too quickly rather to manage “blame” judiciously.

The ultimate goal is to help employees not to repeat the same mistake over and over again – as it could hamper the entire team’s productivity. So, put it forth in a positive way that none of your team members get personally affected.

3. Stress on open communication:

Deep divide between management and employees can be seen in almost all companies which shows that higher ups are not easily accessible. Lack of open communication in the workplace creates boundaries between employees and management teams. On the other hand, open communication in the workplace boosts confidence as employees feel that higher ups are easily accessible – in case of questions or even personal concerns.

4. Take micromanaging out of the equation:

Micromanaging shows lack of trust and in one way or the other, it could impact employee morale. But being a manager, you might feel tempted to micromanage your employees – partially because you are responsible for your team’s productivity. This may not work all the time, that too with the current work setting. Instead, you can set goals/deadlines and educate your employees on the importance of productivity, time keeping and deliverables.

Additionally, you can make use of technology to track and monitor your employee productivity. Handdy employee monitoring and productivity software can help you track your employee time and monitor employee activity – irrespective of whether they work from home or office or from a different location.

Also Read: Why Handdy is the best employee monitoring and productivity software?

5. Measure employee productivity:

Measuring productivity lets you analyze your employees’ efforts along with task completion and overall team performance. Based on the data, you can assign tasks and allow them to work on it. Your employees will come up with creative ideas, collaborate with each other and start showing accountability. By this way, you will open up lines of communication between employees and management teams while creating a culture of teamwork.

6. Provide timely feedback:

The importance of feedback is to help employees understand where they stand in terms of performance, skillset, and so on. Feedback can be negative or positive, but when done correctly – it helps employees grow and improve. Conversely, providing vague feedback creates the opposite desired effect leaving employees unmotivated or frustrated.

Be it negative or positive, always focus on providing timely feedback and give examples as to where things went wrong. By this way, you can ensure that your employee’s emotions are in check, reinforce positive behavior and create a higher sense of teamwork.

7. Be supportive and encourage your team members:

As a leader, nurture your employees and show that you are there to support them. Assign responsibilities, encourage them to resolve them and be supportive even if they fail to meet your expectations. This simple gesture could motivate your employees to be proactive and solve challenges together while embracing transparent team communication.

Bottomline:

There are few qualities essential to create a culture of teamwork: commitment, dedication and cooperation. Each member of the team should show commitment, stay engaged and be responsible to what they have been assigned – irrespective of the nature of the task or where they work from. It may not be as easy as it sounds because it takes continuous efforts from both management and employees to create one. Let us know the steps you take to create a culture of teamwork at your organization.

If you have difficulty in tracking your employee productivity or time – we recommend you to try Handdy employee monitoring and productivity software. Handdy collects your employee work pattern at a granular level and gives complete insight into your employee work pattern. Get in touch with us for more information.