It doesn’t matter what you are facing, if you have your strong team facing the same direction, walls will come down.
The secret to good leadership is having a team that knows you have their back. Treating your team like family will build better workplace camaraderie.
Undoubtedly, cultivating a strong, effective team is a tough gig.
Finding ways to build teams that accomplish what needs to be done in the most efficient and accurate manner is often challenging, especially when bringing together individuals with diverse sets of hard and soft skills.
There are some basic techniques you can use when building a team to help create a cohesive unit that leverages everyone’s talents and ensures each person contributes.
Identify Capabilities
When building a team, it is key to identify the different talents, skills, and capabilities each team member brings. Identifying what each team member does well and can contribute helps ensure work is allocated in a way that takes full advantage of the talent resources on the team.
Assigning a team member work that is completely outside their skill set is a recipe for failure! On the other hand, leveraging all the diverse capabilities, skills, and talents on your team helps you achieve the maximum results.
Get Into Your Role
Make sure each team member is given a role and knows what is expected of them and what they can expect of others. Even if the role is a new one or a stretch, it is key to step into it. Use your communication skills to create open, honest dialogue among team members so everyone is on the same page. Be clear about the role, for example, when it begins and ends. Teamwork can be challenging in the best of circumstances, but it is even more so when roles are unclear.
Learn the Whole Process
It’s important for a team member not to get isolated in their own piece of the project. When team members take the time to learn the whole process, it puts their work and relationships with team members into a larger context. Knowing the whole process also means that you can help a colleague troubleshoot if problems arise and vice versa.
Take the time to ask questions and actively listen to the answers. This not only demonstrates that you care about the outcome of the project, but that you are interested and invested in their work and success.
The benefit of a ‘family-like’ culture is trust. And when trust is given, trust is extended back.
