Does your small business workforce operate as a team? If not, your business could be suffering. Teamwork in the workplace is essential to run efficiently. You need to know how to build teamwork among your employees.
Building teamwork in the workplace
Are you a small business leader looking to bring your team together? Try these seven team building tips.
1. Lead by example
A high-functioning team starts with the actions of its leaders. As a small business owner, your actions reflect expectations for employees. You need to exemplify the behavior you want to see from team members through the things you do and say.
A bad attitude and lazy behavior while working with a team has a domino effect on your business. You don’t want employees gossiping about each other on the sales floor? Keep gossip out of your own conversations. Worried the quality of your products suffers from careless employees? Don’t cut corners when creating and handling your products.
Leading by example is as simple as working by the standards you’ve laid out for your business. Teamwork in the workplace will follow the level of effort you show employees.
2. Communicate expectations
Setting an example is important, but you also need to establish clear guidelines. Teamwork requires everyone at your business to be on the same page.
Create a vision for teamwork in the workplace and make it visible to employees. You can put it in an employee handbook, the break room, or an internal newsletter. However you communicate employee teamwork ideas, make sure team members understand what you expect.
3. Be a hands-on leader
You might be in charge, but you’re still a member of the team. Take the time to build connections and trust with team members. If you’re not sure how, investigate teamwork articles in the workplace that can improve your relationship building. Be an active part of your employees’ workday and help out when necessary.
You’ve built your business to where you can hire employees to complete tasks. But, sometimes, it’s good to roll up your sleeves and go back to where you started. Take the phone call. Make the order. Remember the roots of your business.
Your team will appreciate a leader who is not afraid to work alongside employees. A dedicated leader that shares their tips for team building and communicates concern for employees translates into a dedicated workforce that cares about the business.
4. Hold regular meetings
Meetings let you get the team together to discuss your business’s successes and issues. Employees can focus on problems, bounce ideas off team members, and develop effective solutions. This could even involve teamwork exercises for employees if it’s appropriate for your work culture.
The meetings can be as frequent and formal as you want. As a leader, you should be prepared to talk about certain topics, but also leave time for employees to speak. By the end of the meeting, everyone should be up to speed on your business.
5. Assign roles
Each employee has their own skills, experience, and passions. By letting employees foster their skills, they gain confidence. When team members are comfortable in their roles, the whole business operates smoothly. And, employees trust their teammates, creating a less stressful work environment.
As team members get better at their roles, encourage them to teach other employees. Cultivate a workforce that promotes learning and support to build teamwork.
6. Involve employees in training processes
It’s never easy being the “new guy,” but it’s even tougher when the existing team doesn’t work together. Don’t figure out how to hire great employees only to lose them because your work culture is subpar. Get your team involved in the onboarding process steps to integrate new employees into your business.
Let each team member take a turn training a new employee so they get a grasp of every part of your business. The new team member also gets to know all of your employees with this training method.
7. Change the scene
When you take away the familiar setting of your business, employees must adapt. Get team members out of the workplace to help them be more social and build stronger bonds. Team building activities encourage employees to get to know each other. Building relationships with coworkers could even result in less absenteeism in the workplace.
Where should you take your team? It doesn’t matter. Just do something. Choose an activity that all your employees can participate in. Solve a problem together. Play a game. Share a meal. Find something that will get your team talking, and you will see better teamwork in the workplace.