A boss is only as strong as their team. If your team has been struggling to hit its stride, not all is lost! You can bring your employees together and strengthen your team with some easy adjustments to your work life and routine. We’ve put together a simple guide to help you encourage team building at work, so you can have the best team possible.
Build Relationships
As your team gets to know each other better, real relationships will develop and strengthen. Forming bonds with one another is one of the easiest and most effective ways to encourage team building at work. A great way to build relationships is to spend time listening to each team member’s ideas and acknowledging their contribution. When a person feels heard and appreciated, they will feel more connected to their work and coworkers. To really cement relationships, engage in nonwork conversations and communication. Get to know everyone on a more personal level. Ask questions about their life outside of the office and work towards a more substantial connection than that of simply coworkers.
Define Roles
When a person understands their responsibilities and what’s expected of them, they are able to perform better. It’s difficult for people to excel at their job when their role is amorphous and not clearly defined. Identify each team member’s strengths and contributions and assign them appropriate responsibilities that will set them up for success. Ideally, each team member’s role should be somewhat interconnected so that they are dependent on one another. It may take some finagling, but encouraging team building sometimes requires a bit of a forced hand. If your team members are reliant on each other, they will have to work cohesively as a unit to succeed.
Give Clear Feedback
A great way to encourage team building at work is to always give clear feedback. When people know where they stand, they can work more efficiently. If something needs to be improved and they are aware of it, they can make the proper adjustments and move towards success. When team members are given positive feedback as well, they will feel more appreciated and integral to the team. This acknowledgment will keep them engaged and encourage them to continue to work hard. Be proactive with it too, especially if your team is prone to hiccups or problems. Don’t wait until an issue to arrive to reflect and give feedback. If you regularly address your team’s performance, you can prevent a lot of future complications.
Get Out Of The Office
Take your team out of the office to promote team building in a fun and highly effective way. A change in environment can refresh and rejuvenate the entire team, as well as allow relationships and bonds to strengthen in new and unique ways. Engage in activities outside of the office that everyone can participate in. A retreat is a perfect way to encourage team building. It not only takes your team out of their typical work environment, it allows them to come together in a novel way. At a work retreat, team building is paramount. They can play games, sport or otherwise, that force them to work together in different ways. They’ll share meals, a truly communal experience. And they’ll learn how to solve more creative problems together while doing specially designed retreat activities.
Celebrate Team Successes
It’s important to not only acknowledge your team’s successes, but to really celebrate them together. When you’ve been slogging away on a project, it’s easy to burn out and feel exhausted and uninspired. Combat waning energy and motivation by reveling in your team wins. Take a real step back to reflect at how you all have worked together to accomplish something great. Consider what your team learned and all of your positive impacts on one another. Celebrating team successes is key when encouraging team building work. Carve out time to relish in your victory as a team and to appreciate each team member’s contribution.