Do you pay enough attention to team building? Why is it so important?

Team Building Definition: the action or process of causing a group of people to work together effectively as a team, especially by means of activities and events designed to increase motivation and promote cooperation.

Teams and teamwork have always been important, but under the current circumstances, with many of us WFH, maintaining teamwork and collaboration has become essential. 

Some interesting facts about teamwork:

There are many reasons to focus on teamwork and teambuilding. Some studies show that:

• Relationships are hugely beneficial to mental health. 
• 75% of employers rate teamwork and collaboration as “very important”. 
• Teams and groups tend to innovate faster and find better solutions to problems.
• Working in teams has a positive effect on job satisfaction. 

For us, teamwork also creates a sense of community and belonging. Everyone likes to be part of a group. 

“ As a group, we are stronger”. 

But what makes an effective team?

Working as teams is important and beneficial for our companies, but not all teams work. 

Google research found that there are 5 factors that influence effectiveness on teams. These are:

Psychological Safety: Meaning that people are not scared or afraid of giving their opinions or being judged negatively by them. This is by far the most important one.

Dependability: People are committed to completing their tasks on time and to the best of their abilities. They are reliable and everyone in their team can count on each other. 

Structure and Clarity: There are clear roles, goals, and plans. 

Meaning: They have a sense of purpose. 

Impact: They believe their work matter and they feel valued. 

What can a leader do to make sure their teams include all these factors?

Focus on communication: We reiterate the importance of good communication. It will help to:

• Give feedback and make people feel valued.
• Make them know they and their work matter and appreciate their contributions.
• Understand their motivations and purposes.
• Make sure everyone is clear about the team’s goals and plans.

Establish a Company Culture: Again, we need to mention the company culture, because it is what will help us be transparent and create a trusting atmosphere. 

Also, is in the company culture where we state the mission of the business. 

Focus on personal interactions and relations: We talked before about the sense of community. Create personal bonds and relationships within teams help their productivity and performance. 

Spending time talking about each other´s personal lives, getting to know each other outside of work, all create a better sense of community. When we feel a real connection to someone we are more likely to help them. 

Promote agile work, teams, and projects: We are starting to hear more about this, but it is not new. 

Agile working is about bringing people, processes, connectivity, and technology, time, and place together to find the most appropriate and effective way of working to carry out a particular task. It is working within guidelines (of the task) but without boundaries (of how you achieve it).

These types of projects and teams have had great results so far, considering they are done right. They show trust. 

It can also be really useful with our present WFH situation. 

Organise Team building activities: WFH has sure changed the meaning of activities. But it is not an excuse to set it aside and overlook it. Instead, it is now more important than ever for leaders to make sure that teams are staying together. 

We can still organise multiple activities online, which will improve the union of the team. 

At Optimist Performance, team building is one of our main areas of expertise. We offer half-day and full-time workshops focused on building high-performance teams. 

Get in touch with us for a free consultation about our workshops, motivational talks, and coaching sessions. 

We would love to hear from you, leave a comment below and let us know how do you think team building can be improved.