How to Build Effective Teams & Teamwork

Getting employees to work adequately in a group is a venture in itself. In most cases, the individuals in organizations desire to be—just that—an individual.

Reason being, some team environments will inevitably have team members who are not pulling their weight—they know the other team members will pick up their slack, resulting in slackers receiving the same rewards as everyone else. This, at last, can be impeding to your group building endeavors.

Steps to Build Effective Teams & Teamwork

Rid your apple orchard of bad apples. Having a bad apple on your team can be toxic. You do not need negativity or pessimism in your work environment. If you have team members who are not contributing to the team, eventually they will begin to take energy and morale from productive team members. If you have ineffective “apples” on your team, get rid of them.

Ensure all team members are peering out the same window. To create an environment where everyone is working together, every team member should have the same view. It’s important that every team member be able to define the purpose of the organization, the current goals and the contingencies. It is your job as a leader to work with your team members to ensure that everyone has the same outlook for the company. If every team member has the same goal, his allegiance will also be the same.

Place team members in their proper place. In most cases, team members will have skills that make them exceptional in certain areas. If you do not put team members in a position to hone and develop their talent, you will inevitably spend unnecessary time fixing the problem at a later date. Begin your mission with your “aces” in their proper place, so your team will be able to work in harmony together.

Give team member a say in decisions. If decisions have to be made that will affect the organization, or the team members, it’s important that you give the team members a say in the decision (if possible). By allowing your team members to contribute to the success of the organization, you will be able to reach that desired success that much sooner.

Build relationship with your team members. While it is important to draw a line between what is professional and what is personal—it is equally important—that your team members know you are available to listen to problems, (within reason), and that you value them as a team member, while also valuing them as a person.

Tips & Warnings

• Reward good results. Challenge your team, but also be supportive.
• Never make a team member feel as if his opinion doesn’t matter.