The success of a business is mainly based on the capacity of its team. But creating a united, fulfilling and productive team is not easy. In this guide, we are going to present 10 strategic tips for building a team allowing you to get around all the problems relating to the creation of a solid team.
1. Learn About Each Member of Your Team
Team building is generally perceived in various ways for each company. For many, the first thing that comes to mind will be these superficial activities that force employees to find themselves in a forced group where each participant must submit to pre-established processes.
However, for a successful team-building strategy, you must not impose. You have to adapt and evolve according to each member. Building a good team involves keeping things normal while avoiding situations that can be intrusive, forced, or bothersome.
You must base yourself on the personality of each member who will join the group. It is imperative to know your colleagues well in order to put in place an effective bonding strategy.
Note that the strategy adopted is only a reference. This is subject to change as there are new members, new points of view because teams evolve and grow.
2. Opt for Extra-professional Activities
According to a Citrix study, 31% of office workers say they are not fans of business activities, especially within their team. This shows divergences at the group level, which can lead to communication problems and a lack of cohesion.
Carrying out business activities is demotivating for many employees. Demotivation generally leads to a certain distance between the members of a team.
In your team-building strategy, you must find activities that appeal to everyone, that helps break the ice in the business and that consolidate the links between employees.
The APA or American Psychological Association states in its study that extra-professional activities are one of the best methods for bonding links between team members. The activities in question are particularly simple to set up:
Volunteering:
The best activities are those in which each member of the team is proud to participate. Several types of research suggest that helping others stimulates the spirit of sharing. In addition, it encourages communication outside of work.
Practice Physical Activities:
Playing sports outside the working hours is both an opportunity to keep fit, but also to get closer. However, it is imperative that the discipline practiced please everyone.
To do this, the best thing is to have the opinion of the team members so that they think their opinion counts. Likewise, it is preferable to avoid disciplines liable to cause injury.
Organize Excursions:
Simple and occasional outings can do good for your team. There are several possibilities: go to a natural park, visit a museum, or simply watch a football match.
Practice Professional Development Aactivities:
Organizing workshops or group training sessions deepen the knowledge of each member while developing a professional relationship. The main thing is to avoid the feeling of exclusion.
Meet Around a Table For Shared Meals:
Lunch breaks are also the best times to start a conversation with your team outside of work. The same goes for snacks shared on a particular occasion. This allows team members to get to know each other better and to exchange views. But also, it is an effective trick to integrate new employees well and to create a feeling of belonging to the most withdrawn.
3. Regularly Engage in Unprofessional Communication
Communication is one of the essential bases of a good team-building strategy. In addition, you should know that the success of a team is based on the success of communication.
But the challenge is often to get each member of the team to communicate. If there is a blockage in the relationship between each employee, communication becomes difficult.
The solution is to start informal conversations from time to time. The goal is to encourage everyone to bridge the gap that separates them from others. To do this, there are many solutions such as standardizing break times so that everyone can meet and chat.
You can also start a conversation yourself to encourage discussion: share facts, submit a point of view that everyone can discuss, etc.
4. Make It Clear That Talent is Nothing Without the Assistance
In a team, if a member succeeds, it is not only for his talent but for the support offered by the other members. Talent can only develop if it receives the right support.
A study from Harvard University published in 2006 showed that surgeons had more difficulty working properly when they were acting in another hospital, surrounded by another team.
So, in your team-building strategy, you must make each member understand that even if he is talented, he can only develop if he is surrounded by a good team.
5. Invite Remote Employees to Form a Local Team
At the time of digitization, distance is no longer an obstacle to collaboration. Indeed, we can now work from home with a person located at the other end of the world.
But one of the difficulties lies in the fact that communication is mainly done using digital tools. It is, therefore, more difficult to ensure the cohesion of each member.
But since in your team-building strategy, you must both favor the spirit of collaboration and group cohesion, you must adopt certain measures in order to overcome the distance:
- Use communication tools to create discussion groups. Invite each collaborator.
- Let each member know about each other. Encourage each to introduce themselves and to open up to the others.
- Assign interdependent tasks between different team members. The goal is to encourage collaborators to communicate directly instead of constantly going through you.
- Hold regular meetings. The goal is to encourage each member to submit their opinion, to impose them as a valued employee….
- Stay open to any proposal and any ideas.
6. Don’t Always Focus on Brainstorming
Brainstorming is one of the most effective team-building techniques. But it is not always suitable for all companies. In principle, brainstorming consists of coming together and solving a problem in a group. While this promotes collaboration, it can also have the opposite effect.
Indeed, some members may find it difficult to express themselves, even if they are good ideas. Others also prefer to stand out and want to stand out from themselves. Some members may even close for fear of being criticized or judged.
The solution is to adjust the brainstorming according to the personality of each member. The most common method is known as “Electronic Brainstorming“. This method consists of setting up a discussion program allowing to circumvent the problems relating to classical brainstorming:
- Everyone is free to express their ideas.
- All ideas are taken into account.
- There is no prejudice or criticism expressed.
- All ideas are grouped and optimized.
- Don’t Always Focus on Brainstorming
7. Bet on Team Building Focused on an Analytical Thinker
A coherent team must have an analytical thinker. She is a person who pays great attention to the “little details”. She knows how to identify and analyze the essential sub-tasks that can promote the success of a task or risk leading to failure.
This individual is essential for setting up a business trial. He identifies the flaws in the method implemented, the possible difficulties that each member of the team could encounter, the elements to which more importance must be attached, etc.
8. Unify Everyone Under the Same Corporate Culture
In a company, it is very common to see close ties being formed between employees. They can share certain social, cultural similarities, etc. Likewise, each team in the same company can have its own culture.
Several studies show that a company made up of multidisciplinary teams is much more productive than a company with uniform teams. But multidisciplinarity also has its downside. In particular, it is very difficult to make a decision or to agree during meetings, teams can compete, etc.
In your team-building strategy, you need to take these facts into account. So the best option is to focus on the culture of the company. It is important to understand the responsibilities of each employee and each team in achieving the objectives and in the work process.
So when faced with a delicate situation, everyone knows what to do, what the limits of their intervention are, who they should consult, etc.
Unify Everyone Under the Same Corporate Culture
9. Do Not Neglect Social Sensitivity
Social sensitivity is often overlooked in business on the pretext that work is work. As a human being, the behavior of employees is constantly changing. Frustration, fear, embarrassment, stress … These are all reactions that can occur during work.
During your team building, you must imperatively take into consideration the human aspect of your team, because that makes it possible to improve well-being at work.
Try to understand the personality of each member of your team so that they flourish at work. Maximize the dialogue to obtain opinions allowing everyone to feel at ease.
10. Make the Right Mix Between Extroverts and Introverts
To encourage communication in business, you must always open up to others. Extroverted employees are considered pillars to guarantee the cohesion of a group.
But sometimes, they can also be perceived as atmosphere breakers in society. In addition, team members can also be made up of introverted people. The latter are often shy and reserved. But they can be great assets for a team.
In any case, a team made up exclusively of extroverted or introverted people will always have difficulties when faced with certain situations.
A team of extroverts may, in particular, be subject to competition between members in the event of problems. A team of introverts will find it difficult to group their ideas and agree on a delicate situation.
In your team building, create a good balance between introverted and extroverted employees. This will assure you a complementary team, capable of overcoming everything.
Author Bio
Digvijay Rajdaan is Marketing Manager at Design By Lavassa and has served as the Head of Conversion Marketing at Planet Web Solution. He’s an expert in inbound marketing and lead generation.
