Top Ten Team Working Tips

We are all a member of several teams, sometimes sports, often work, and usually home.  You will have teams of friends and teams of business colleagues.

What do they all have in common?

To be productive, and even ‘fun’ to be part of, they need to work.

There are many ingredients in the recipe for a great team, how you manage them is one of the important ones (a bit like needing sugar to make a great cake 🍰).

Some of your teams may work better than others - as you go through the list below you might recognise the areas where one of your teams is stronger than the others.  Sometimes it will be your ‘home’ team, sometimes your ‘hobby’ team. 

By drawing your attention to these elements, you can try to transfer the success from one of your teams into another, thus improving the way it works.

Anything you don’t recognise you can plan to introduce.

You don’t have to be in charge of a team to make things happen.  

Start with changing your own behaviour to encourage the development of the team in the areas where you recognise a weakness.  By changing how you behave within the team dynamic you will hopefully start a ripple effect, and in time others will follow, building the team into a stronger unit.

1 - Communication 

Team members should be able to communicate easily in an informal and safe setting, virtual or face to face.

2 - Shared goals

The team should agree its goals, which - if the team is work based - should align with the wider organisation.

3 - Trust

Team members must be able to trust and rely on others within the group. Meetings should be a safe space in which thoughts and discussions can take place free of criticism or embarrassment.

4 - Appreciating strengths

A good team will know each other’s strengths, and allocate tasks accordingly, whilst supporting individuals to develop skills where they are not so strong.

5 - Growth

Working together to develop the individuals within the group.

6 - Diversity

Different perspectives and experiences generate stronger results. Teams need to encourage these different views and understanding to be discussed.  A group of like minded individuals will not be very creative in their thinking/actions.

7 - Shared values

Agreed principles and ways of working reduce the likelihood of conflict. Everyone in the team should be respected.

8 - Support

All team members support and look out for each other.

9 - Feedback

Constructive feedback between team members, given and received to facilitate development. This includes the team ‘leader’.

10 - Consistency

Always acting in line with shared goals, expectations and values - no surprises.

As a manager much of this is within your gift to establish, role model and promote. Don't wait for your organisation to get its act together, just because other teams are dysfunctional, doesn't mean yours has to follow suit!

With all these elements in place the team will work well and have healthy productive relationships.  They will be able to rely on each other, and trust that everyone is working together to achieve common and individual goals.

The rewards of having a motivated, collaborative and productive team are reaped daily, by individual members and the wider organisation.