Whatever the size of your business, at some point—provided the business is growing—you will need to begin the process of employing staff members. Obviously, it is important that you hire the right people for the position. However, it is equally important to ensure that from the very beginning you lay down the foundations for good teamwork.
Getting things done requires team effort. A single staff member cannot achieve anything alone, regardless of how talented that person is. By harnessing each member’s skills and talents and gearing toward a specific goal, the company will be much more productive.
Team Building Activities
An excellent way to start your team bonding is to consider a team building day. Whenever you are planning these, you need to consider your staff and what would appeal to them. Not everyone, for instance, is going to appreciate a military assault course. Depending on the size of the team, you could take them on a sightseeing limousine tour, or maybe a wine-tasting day. The list of options is endless. But the point is that it will be a fun experience. The team will be away from the office. People can get to know each other better away from the stress and strains of everyday work.
The Benefits of Teamwork
There are many ways to build a teamwork mentality. Here are a few to get you thinking:
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Make Use of the Different Experiences Within the Team
There are certain salespeople who can sell almost anything. However, a brainstorming session with young single salespeople to discuss a product for toddlers is likely to go nowhere. On the other hand, you might have people in the back office or in marketing who already have a young family. If so, it would make sense to invite them into the discussion.
In short, once you build the team correctly, this kind of shared experience and advice will happen naturally. As an added bonus, all parties will feel valued. Plus, this can increase your bottom line.
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Help People to Focus on Their Individual Strengths
People will naturally gravitate toward the things they prefer to do. Obviously, it’s not always practical within a small team. However, whenever possible, make use of people’s strengths.
For example, let’s say you have an employee who is highly creative but rather disorganized. And you also have another team member who thrives on structure and deadlines. Then it could make perfect sense to ask them to work with each other.
Obviously, you would need to monitor the situation to ensure that they don’t end up constantly arguing. But ideally, they will learn to work together as a team. Therefore, they could both make use of their individual skill sets to further the company’s goals.
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Resolve Conflicts
Within every team, there is always the potential for conflict. However, this provides more opportunity to grow and develop the team. Team members have to adapt and learn to work with each other. Provided that you and your management team keep a firm grip on the situation, these problems can be resolved. Moreover, on many occasions, the entire team will form an even stronger bond as a result.
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Encourage Risk-Taking
When people are left to make decisions on behalf of the company, many are less likely to take risks. Understandably, they don’t want to shoulder the entire risk. However, as a consequence, opportunities could be passing your business by.
Therefore, empower your staff to work as a team. In this way, the team can analyze those risks. A wider range of people will be involved. As a result, your team can learn to make emboldened decisions together.
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Identify Leaders Naturally
By watching how your team interacts, you will naturally begin to identify team members with leadership potential. It’s up to you, then to nurture, mentor, and encourage those individuals. Leadership cannot simply be from the top down. Therefore, it is important to develop leaders throughout the team.
Conclusion
The best way to grow and develop any business is to get everyone pulling in the same direction. Follow the ideas above and encourage a close-knit team. You will thereby embolden people, foster a positive attitude within the company, and potentially retain staff for a longer time. That’s because they will enjoy being a part of your team.
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