6 Steps For Establishing A Collaboration Culture And Building Effective Teams In The Workplace

It is an undeniable scientific fact that humans are built to live and work in groups. Throughout the history of humanity, our species has always been striving to create strong social structures that would benefit the majority and protect its weaker members.  From tribes to today’s multicultural megacities, we evolved and achieved greatness by collaborating with each other. The same rule applies when building effective teams in the workplace. This is not, by any means, something that happened by chance. It is a result of teamwork and endless effort.

Many circumstances stalled this process and moved us backward – wars, economic catastrophes, etc. Yet, somehow we have always managed to pull through. The “team” has most of the time, prevailed over absolute, totalitarian regimes in the course of our history. Besides, politics is not as far a concept as creating effective teams that can manage the different aspects of a business.

Creating a team culture in business

That said, just like each society has its unique culture, the same applies to organizations. We hear a lot about the notion of how team culture is important for success, but what does it entail in essence? How does creating a team culture for your business benefit your company?

Organizational teams are an amalgamation of multiple individual personalities, skill sets, and microcultures that operate together towards common goals. When people of different backgrounds and subcultures come together flowing as one, they can form a new culture! The culture’s dynamics are influenced and developed by the company’s leaders and how they believe it’s best to move forward.

In our previous articles, we discussed the importance of leadership and team-building initiatives. In this article, we are going to elaborate on how to build an effective team and what makes forming a new business team culture thrive.

Effective team collaboration at work is the result of your combined efforts as a team manager. Let’s break them down one by one with some examples of how to build trust in the workplace!

6 Strategies for building effective teams in the workplace

Building effective teams in the workplace and inspiring teamwork is not an easy task; however, being a great leader requires serious people skills, a sense of trust, and employing team-building methods and ideas for your office staff.

#1 Get to know your team

The first and most important thing you need to do as a leader is to take the time and learn more about your employees’ personalities. Especially what drives them to perform better.

To do that, you have to put in the effort to create meaningful professional relationships with them while paying attention to their competencies and quirks.

This way, they will trust you more and feel at ease in the workplace. Building trust in teams is quite important when you want the members to collaborate without falling into conflicts. Involving them in the decision-making process will boost their confidence because it proves their opinion matters. This will, in turn, reflect on the team’s effectiveness.

#2 Establish leadership

Building effective teams in the workplace is not a task anyone can manage. Before starting to build your team, you have to ask yourself whether you have the leadership skills necessary for this role. Your position in the business is to provide employees with a clear vision, and the organizational means to get there.

Effective team management is essentially guiding your team towards the company’s goals while allowing them to utilize their personal strengths to that end.

Oftentimes, you are also responsible for facilitating effective team collaboration, especially during stressful periods. Your job is to encourage transparency and keep the communication channels open at all times for constructive conversations.

#3 Organize team bonding activities

If you want your team to remain strong and united, organize team bonding activities. Take your team out for dinner at a nice restaurant every once in a while to promote good communication. Furthermore, it is a great way to get to know each other in a less stressful scenery.

Taking it one step further, one-day trips to nearby destinations will work wonders in building a strong team and a pleasant environment in the workplace.

Showing you appreciate your team on a personal level as well as extremely important to their sense of self-worth. Celebrating work anniversaries and birthdays is a nice way to express your appreciation for the dedication and effort they put in day in – day out.

Finally, supposing your budget allows it, dedicating an office space to build a playroom or a quiet room for employees to let them steam off, will create a positive atmosphere.

#4 Plan along with the team

If you want to find out how to manage a team successfully, one of the rules that apply universally is setting realistic goals. Being a good leader means discussing timelines and workflows with your team. You need to come up with schedules that will please the client but will not overwork your staff.

Instead of just delegating tasks and handing out deadlines, let your team determine the best way to go with a project. This will promote effective team collaboration and help them find the most effective project management strategy.

Listen to them, encourage brainstorming sessions, and let them take responsibility for their part in a project. Respecting their pace and workflow (to the extent they respect their duties) will give them the freedom to perform better without the burden of unrealistic expectations.

Other than that, to assist your employees, even more,  let them discover the benefits of tracking projects, monitoring tasks, and team productivity; all thanks to the use of the right software.

#5 Celebrate victories

Being professional doesn’t mean that you have to be strict and serious all the time. It’s refreshing coming together as a team to celebrate your success after a tough project. Propose a toast with wine or champagne, if the occasion calls for it, to your team!

Thank them for their effort and dedication. Remind them how being a solid team is what made it all possible in the first place!

That may include some rewards as well, symbolic or substantial – you choose! You can hand out small but meaningful gifts, announce bonuses, or well-deserved promotions.

#6 Learn together from failures

One of the most important aspects of building effective teams in the workplace is letting failures teach you valuable lessons.

Your role as the team leader is to recognize those lessons and facilitate creative discussions around those subjects that require your team’s attention in the future.

By pointing out mistakes and inconsistencies, you will be able to come up with contingency plans for similar cases that might arise. Discussing them with your team and allowing them to offer their input will cultivate a collaborative environment.

Effective team collaboration is key when it comes to employee productivity, both in terms of speed and efficiency. Therefore, building effective teams in the workplace should be a priority. And it shouldn’t be difficult – a humane approach and a little understanding are basically all it takes!