Monthly Archives: December 2021

It is easy to celebrate the achievement of specific goals or milestones as a single and discreet event. However, to achieve that goal or milestone, the team had to work together, communicate, share ideas, manage conflict, help and support each other, and even deal with uncertainty at times in the project.

Celebrating and acknowledging teamwork as a process is just as important as celebrating the end result. It is not uncommon for a company to provide a bonus or some other type of tangible recognition at the end of a team project. However, there are very good reasons to celebrate the team working together, particularly through a challenging part of the project. By celebrating both small and large wins for the team, leaders can build a culture of teamwork and collaboration at all levels and on all types of projects.

Regular Communication

When leaders in an organization stay in touch with their teams and the individual team members, they are more aware of the small victories the team achieves along the way. This allows the leadership to send an email, a quick message, or even drop in on a team meeting, even virtually, to recognize the team for working through the challenge or obstacle.

This is important as these obstacles and challenges are often the things that create conflict and stress for the team. When the team sees that leadership values even small movement forward, they are more motivated to continue to work together.

Let the Team Recognize Individuals

Providing some type of platform for the team to recognize individuals is always a positive. Some companies provide message boards or areas within their project management or collaborative software platforms to give “shout outs” or “high fives” to a team member that did something extra or that went out of her or his way to help a colleague.

Work with Teams to Develop Celebrations  

Just as teams tend to thrive when they set their own goals, they often have their own ideas of what would be a meaningful celebration. Talking to the team and getting their input on what they would like to do or how they want to be recognized is another way to build in team culture and provide small and large celebrations throughout the project.

Recognize All Team Members

While this may seem obvious, it is easy just to highlight the team or project leader in recognition or celebrations. Look for ways to involve the complete team, including any support staff involved in the project.

Team celebrations should be a focus for upper management. Taking the time to attend these events and to personally recognize all team members is a simple but effective way to celebrate success throughout the organization.

One of the benefits of working in teams is the synergy and mastermind effect of communicating with others on projects and daily tasks. As the team members interact, they ask questions, challenge the status quo, and come up with new and innovative approaches and solutions.

However, this can only happen if the team can communicate. Unfortunately, many people struggle with communication. There are several reasons why communication can be challenging, including team members who may have come from highly competitive workplaces. In these workplaces, knowledge is power, and sharing is not an effective way to get promotions and move up the corporate ladder.

Tips for Better Team Communication

The good news is that communication skills can be improved at any time. Team leaders can implement specific practices and strategies to help build a culture within the team that values open communication and the sharing of knowledge and ideas.

To get started, here are a few communication practices that will encourage people in the team and across the organization to share their ideas, knowledge, their thoughts.

• Structure meetings – by creating a structure for team meetings, everyone knows the process. Providing an agenda in advance keeps team members focused and engaged. Having time in the meeting for short breakout discussions, which can be done virtually or in-person, encourages targeted and focused communication.
  

• Include different modes of communication – various applications and systems allow team members to interact in a variety of ways. Options can include file and data sharing, text messages, chats, and even phone or video calls to other team members. This is a great option when the team is in multiple locations or across different departments. Project management software can also be a great option to keep teams connected.
  

• Encourage creative and fun problem solving – assigning teams a particular problem to solve can be a fun way to get people talking. This is not a work-related problem but a creative solution to a real or hypothetical problem or challenge. A small prize or recognition for the most creative solution between teams is a great way to wind up a meeting.
  

• Consider a communication skills training program – there are lots of team communication training programs on the market. One of the best options is to bring in a facilitator who offers a highly interactive workshop. This encourages teams to spend time learning how to work and talk with each other more effectively.

As with all aspects of leadership, modeling effective and open communication is essential as the leader. Take the time to talk to team members, get their feedback, and be willing to listen to new ideas and options in a way that continues to encourage communication.

Leaving the development of a positive team culture up to chance is a very risky decision. Team leaders, project managers, and department managers can play an active role in enhancing the sense of team culture, collaboration, and performance within their teams.

In the same way, organizational leaders can work on building entire workplace cultures. The strategies are not different; they are just implemented on a larger and more universal scale across the organization.

To get started in creating a positive and focused team culture either virtually or in-person, leaders can implement the following tips. The more consistently and organization-wide the focus on building culture will be, the greater the results.

Set Team Goals

While there are often organizational or department goals, it is also an effective exercise to work through team-specific goal setting. By setting goals that are important to the team, all members see their value in helping to make these meaningful achievements. Teams that set goals together are more likely to strive to meet and exceed those goals as part of their ongoing improvement efforts.

Create Team Roles

Within the team, individuals should develop their role or roles that maximize their potential by capitalizing on their talents, gifts, and areas of expertise. This is also a way for everyone on the team to be an active contributor and to also have a place in the project or process.

Focus on Creativity and Collaboration

Building in time to brainstorm, share creative ideas, and collaborate on possible solutions is a valuable way to build an effective team culture. As a leader, model this behavior by discussing new ideas and options and accepting different opinions and perspectives.

Provide Resources

In-person and virtually, teams need resources to be successful. To build a team culture, the team has to have the materials and resources needed to do their job. While resources will always be limited to some degree, focus on advocating for what the team needs and supporting the team in creating ways to find the resources.

Build Individual Strengths

When individuals are confident and see themselves as valuable to the team and the organization, they are more collaborative and less self-protective with their knowledge, skills, and talents. Building culture also means recognizing individual contributions as well as team wins.

By adding diverse training, job shadowing, mentoring, coaching, and team building exercises, everyone grows together, forming a stronger and more effective culture.

Most people are taught at a very young age to avoid conflict. They are told to “not rock the boat” or to “be a team player” and to get along with everyone, even if they may disagree with a decision or a direction.

In reality, this aversion to conflict tends to increase problems within teams. Team members do not feel comfortable in voicing any opposing ideas or considerations. Instead, they sit and become passive-aggressive in how they are managing the situation.

A better and more effective way to see conflict is as a natural and helpful part of any interaction. Without conflict, nothing ever changes. This means no innovation, no increased in efficiency, and no new ideas or processes that could propel the business or the team to a whole new level.

Getting Comfortable with Conflict

Proactively talking to the team about conflict and how to effectively manage difficult conversations is a positive step. Hiring a trainer to facilitate a communication course is an excellent way for the team to learn better communication techniques and methods to share ideas and information in a non-confrontational way.

Modeling Conflict Resolution Strategies

As a team leader, how you handle conflict is a template for how the team handles conflict. If the team leader is conflict avoidant or highly aggressive in interactions, the team will tend to model the same approach. If the team leader is collaborative and focuses on sharing ideas, visions, and options, the team is more likely to be more collaborative and open to discussing ideas without becoming defensive or confrontational.

Leader as Mediator

Leaders who are comfortable stepping into conflict and mediating between team members in a private, confidential discussion can address conflict as it occurs. The leader as mediator is also a great model to use, particularly as team members become more aware of how they can use the same communication techniques to address conflict they are experiencing.

Team Building Exercises and Assessments

Individual and team assessments help create profiles for team members to understand how they approach conflict situations. Developing a perspective that other people on the team may approach conflict differently helps build on working together more effectively. It also normalizes different approaches to conflict or disagreements, which increases awareness of personal style differences.

Team building exercises and workshops are a great way to explore some of these issues in a comfortable and safe environment. It is also a wonderful way for team members to build rapport, which is another critical factor for reducing conflict within any group, organization, or team.