Teamwork in the workplace takes on many forms, resulting in better workforce efficiency and productivity, increased innovation, higher employee morale, and improved retention. And all those things can lead to real, bottom-line benefits for your company and its customers, further indicating the value of teamwork. Of course, teamwork in the workplace isn’t easy, especially when some or even all of your staff may be working remotely. 

The main idea of teamwork is every employee is working toward the same goal: using their skills to better the company’s goals and visions. Each person should excel in their roles since they bring different talents and abilities to complete their tasks. The trick is that they should do it together in harmony. By combining their strengths, your team can address and create a solution for skill gaps. 

Everyone is familiar with the saying, “There is no ‘I’ in team.” It is important not only to have effective team players but managers as well who know the importance of keeping the team in harmony and putting people in positions where they can succeed. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each employee, managers can assign responsibilities more strategically. Tasks performed by people who excel in certain roles proves the value of collaboration, mutual support, and team cohesion. Successful teamwork balances employees’ skills with the needs of the company, resulting in a more positive organizational culture.

Teamwork takes work and becoming more team-focused can be an adjustment for managers and employees. Consider using a framework or criteria, like SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound), to help start your team-focused efforts and structure your goal setting. For example, you could set a goal to complete three, one hour long team-building exercises over the next couple of months. This is a specific goal that is time-bound, as well as attainable, measurable, and relevant. This approach can help you establish a process for teamwork that you can apply to future initiatives that require team focus.

Of course, teamwork doesn’t just benefit the organization; it can also boost morale, increase job satisfaction, and help employees stretch their abilities and raise their profile. Working in teams provides people more opportunities to show their creative ideas and increases their sense of community within the department or company. 

Good teamwork comes from practice, so consider using team-building activities to create a collaborative work environment. These exercises will help your staff members get to know each other better as people and grow their trust in each other. Trust is especially critical to effective teamwork. Team-building activities should be opportunities to develop skills and knowledge while also having some fun. There are many ways to further your goal of building teams, even if your staff is working remotely right now. Some examples are hosting a game show, virtual team coffee breaks and chats, trivia questions, and more. 

Over time, you’ll learn what types of team-building activities resonate best with your group to help them build trust and rapport. And in addition to being a meaningful way to promote teamwork in the workplace, team-building activities can help strengthen your organizational culture.

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