There are many wonderful and simple team spirit building strategies. Team’s Wednesdays out, small gifts and birthday cakes for each member on their special day, corporate events… We all know the customs of the business world. Are they enough, though, to make your team just as good as three musketeers?
Entrepreneurs often take their employees and their hard work for granted — nothing more wrong. You can feel that something in your company hasn’t been right lately? Instead of blaming your team members right away, think carefully about what you can do to improve the situation! Here are a few hints we came up with:
Assembling the team
Start with hiring the right people. Don’t look for the ideal CV with years of experiences. Look for good, honest and reliable people that will become a significant part of your company smoothly. Keep in mind that you can teach someone needed skills, but you can’t change their character. If the rest of your employees evidently don’t get along with the new team member — even after multiple tries of integration and analysing the situation — make a decision that will serve your team best. A solid, compatible team is the basis of a friendly and candid atmosphere.
Assigning the team leader
Choosing the leader of your team must be a cold, fully objective decision. There’s no place for personal likes and dislikes. The right candidate is empathetic, patient, perfectly organised, and should able to be painfully honest and determined. If the choice isn’t clear, engage your staff to make the decision together with you, e.g., via an anonymous survey. This way you’ll let them know how much their opinion matters to you, and that the good of the company depends on them, as well.
Organising wellness events
Corporate wellness events don’t necessarily have to be about all-inclusive-vacation-like getaways. Think of every possible activity that will require teamwork. Kayaking and survival trip, camping and playing hare and hounds — nothing bounds more than outdoor adventures!
Feedback and appreciation
Taking care of proper mutual feedback keeps you in constant touch with the coworkers. Even in small companies, it’s easy to lose track of who is doing what. That lack of communication creates chaos, misunderstandings, and conflicts. Speaking systematically about the work progress or complications from both sides is tension relieving and removes the possible sense of hostility.
Giving constructive feedback should always include words of honest appreciation and care. One of your team members is missing deadlines? Tell them straight away that it’s a serious problem and you don’t like the situation, but that you’d like to know what’s the reason for the delays, and that you’re eager to help them get back on track if you can. Missing deadlines didn’t cause any conflicts with clients so far? Appreciate your employee’s talent for negotiation and smart problem solving as their soft skills!
We’re all human beings with our limits and boundaries. As long as we respect each other and speak openly, we can have everything under control together!
Brainstorming
Group discussions where nobody is left behind and everyone gets heard out is another fantastic opportunity for social connection building. Half an hour of intense thinking and exchanging ideas also stimulates your brain work. After such a meeting, your team will be more eager and motivated to work and look for creative solutions!
Constant education and development
Stop seeing others’ struggles as obstacles on the way to your success. Make the problems and deficiencies an opportunity to educate your team members deeper. Make an anonymous, detailed online survey and let the results be your project’s basis. Workshops and specific discussion panels planned with your employees’ needs in mind are signs of reaching out to them and showing that you really care about them. The sense of understanding and support at a workplace is crucial to have a healthy atmosphere and get wished results.
Setting common goals
Common goals create a natural sense of unity among all coworkers. This way all of you can see where the company is going with its actions and understand their part in the big picture. Shared goals will keep the whole team on course and create the meaning in each member’s work. Every member can see a clear path towards the goal; there’s neither flapping around in chaos nor escalating stress level. Common goals give a sense of mission.
In conclusion, team integration and various bonuses and benefits are just two pieces of the puzzles — puzzles that create the whole picture of a solid, well-built team, where all its members are highly motivated naturally. Team spirit isn’t something that magically appears out of nowhere. It’s an extremely significant factor of every company that should be stimulated foremost by the company’s leaders. You’re the glue that holds this great collage together! Keep that in mind, roll up your sleeves and take the best care of your team!
