The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.

– Babe Ruth

Effective teamwork is something that every organisation strives for. We have all heard success stories of teams who revolutionised the world. Unless you are running a one-man show, effective teamwork in the workplace accomplishes much more than any one individual can. As workload increases, you must rely more on inter-team communication.

According to research published in the Harvard Business Review, effective teamwork in the workplace happens if people consider themselves to be similar. The greater the diversity of background and experience, the less likely team members will share knowledge or work together.

Here’s the disturbing controversy: it is proven that similar people work well together, but as work tasks continue to get more complex, people with diverse expertise and backgrounds are forced to collaborate and work together. Teams contain a wide variety of individual, emotional, and social needs and ignoring one of these areas means failing to achieve the potential of team performance.

So how do you achieve effective teamwork in the workplace?

It’s clear that putting people together with similar backgrounds and expertise is not the solution. Instead promoting effective teamwork in the workplace is a much more productive approach.

Five Techniques to Improve Teamwork

Give the Power to Make Decisions – collaboration is becoming an essential ingredient for success.

Share Clearly Defined Team Objectives – To move in one direction, people need to clearly understand their destination and the team’s goals.

Promote Efficient Team Meetings – According to a survey conducted by Microsoft Office, professionals waste up to 3.8 hours a week on unproductive meetings.

Make Individual Progress Visible to the Whole Team – To promote effective teamwork in the workplace, the team needs to be aware of the progress made.

Make it Fun by Melting the Ice – A little fun never killed anybody. Furthermore, working in a team should be fun and inspiring, not an annoying obligation.

Know Each Individual Team Member’s Strengths and Developmental Areas – Knowing your team members strengths will allow you to utilize these strengths effectively within the team. Similarly knowing their developmental areas will allow you to partner them with team members who could assist in developing them.

Psychometric Assessments could assist in better understanding your team’s strengths and developmental areas and how to utilise your team to the best of their abilities. Inquire with PTES Consulting about the types of Psychometric Assessments that could be used to help develop your team members.

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