How to improve teamwork in 7 easy steps

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably already well aware of the power teamwork can have to transform your business.

However, fostering a teamwork mentality and motivating collaboration, especially as we shift towards a more hybrid workspace, can be a challenge. Many employers fail to follow through on essential elements in the team environment. Employees mainly cite a lack of effective communication and alignment with organizational goals as the reasons why teams fall short:

In a study conducted by Queens University of Charlotte, 75% of employers find collaboration “very important”, yet only 18% of them evaluate their employee’s performance in the context of communication and teamwork skills.

According to a McKinsey study, 97% of employees and executives believe lack of alignment within a team impacts the outcome of a task or project.

86% of employees surveyed by Salesforce felt that a lack of collaboration and ineffective communication were responsible for workplace failures.

Transforming your teamwork requires top-level commitment and a dedicated effort. However, with the right strategy and with a little help from tools like our social intranet software, you can connect and build teams to become the driving force of your organization.

What is teamwork?

Teamwork, noun: A group of people coming together to combine their strengths and knowledge to achieve a common goal. 

Here, individuals in your company cooperate to provide and act on peer-to-peer feedback. They learn from each other’s skills and experiences, and share a commitment to performance to achieve alike goals.

What does teamwork do?

It levels up your staff. Motivated. Engaged. Productive. These by-products of employee morale and behavior are by-products of teamwork capabilities. Why care? Teamwork promotes its chain of by-products in a positive loop: the better the teamwork, the stronger the corporate culture, the more efficient your organization gets at reaching its goals.

The evidence? According to ClearCompany, organizations with high levels of employee engagement are 20% more productive as engaged employees understand the importance of their role and become aligned with organizational values. Members will feel a higher sense of accomplishment in their work.

This assembles a team-centric environment. Therefore, you will attract and retain top talent as “37% of employees highlight working with a great team” as their primary reason for staying at their job. In the long term, your organization can focus on building a sustainable corporate culture and investing in Internal Communication software.

What’s the return on investment? A study run by PGI suggests that workplace collaboration can increase successful innovation by 15%. In this environment teams come up with new solutions that support open and honest communication – employees share their ideas and solve problems together.

How to improve teamwork

A team that is unwilling to communicate and collaborate can be difficult for any head of Internal Communications to improve. But your responsibility is to resolve it, so how do you?

Keep in mind that coherent teams take time to build. A mix of skills, opinions, and histories may raise tension, especially when building in remote teams or teams that use a hybrid model. The correct approach can make it less strenuous, so here are 7 easy steps to follow:

7 easy steps for successful teamwork

1. Set clear team and organizational goals

A shared objective is what unites and motivates teams to find new ways to work together, however, many organizations fail to communicate their mission clearly on the team level. A study conducted by ClearCompany found that only 14% of companies have employees that understand the organization’s strategy, goals, and objectives. Hence, for individuals and teams to be effective, clear goals must be set from the beginning and communicated regularly to ensure teams are moving in the right direction.

2. Play to individual strengths

Each understanding their strengths and the role they play within the team will help a team to excel. According to a study conducted by Gallup, companies that incorporated strengths-based management (e.g. performing a strengths test and placing employees in roles that they can excel in) increased profits by 14% - 29%. People like doing what they’re good at and will be more motivated if they feel that they are contributing their best work to achieve the overall goal.

3. Diversity is an advantage

Teams with a mix of skills-sets, opinions, and backgrounds create diversity which tends to be advantageous in problem-solving situations. A study conducted by Cloverpop found that diverse teams make better decisions 87% of the time. The size of the team is also important. Think 4 to 9 people. It needs to be big enough to get the job done but small enough that it doesn’t become unwieldy and succumb to groupthink.

4. Lead by example

Promote teamwork by practicing what you preach. Lead by example to establish better team practices by making it the cultural norm. According to Gallup, managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units. This means that the behavior and attitudes radiated from the top will trickle through hierarchy and influence mannerisms throughout the organization.

5. Learn to listen

Communication is a two-way street. To promote a flow of knowledge and ideas, members of teams must be heard. Listening to your members will help them feel that their ideas are valued and worth sharing, building their connection to the organization and their role. A study conducted by Atlassian found that when honest feedback, mutual respect, and personal openness were encouraged, team members were 80% more likely to report higher emotional well-being.

6. Get to know each other

Unlock collaborative potential by connecting with employees on a personal level. 50% of the positive changes in communication patterns within the workplace can be accredited to social interaction outside of the workplace. Team building exercises and activities can help build trust between members and allow them to collaborate more successfully. Encourage individuals to take coffee breaks and host happy hours. Plan periodic icebreakers and activities that give your teams a chance to get to know each other on a deeper level.

7. Use collaboration tools

Digital collaboration tools improve teamwork both in and out of the office. Selecting an intranet solution as a tool will promote Internal Communication within your organization, offering employees a flexible way of working whilst still keeping them connected. 

Collaboration tools offer organizations the ability to take their Internal Communications and collaborative network global. How do you get started? Happeo's intranet solution offers a dynamic solution and user-friendly design that can boost productivity and make collaboration at work easy company-wide.

Implementing successful teamwork in your business

When taking steps to improve your teamwork, you must approach these changes in a way that works for you and your organization. Teams can be diverse in their communication and collaboration styles, so it’s important to recognize what works best for your culture. Follow the aforementioned and over time teamwork with your organization will begin to improve creating a more driven and effective team.

Selecting the right digital collaboration tool is key to encouraging teamwork. A collaboration tool that delivers organizational information to your employees for collaborative and social means will help your employees connect with each other and the company to achieve goals and objectives.

To reach your organization goals. Check out our intranet comparison guide to find the tools that suit you best.