What makes a strong company team?

Thu, 21/01/2016 - 00:00

Good teams make great companies. Teams are the building blocks of companies. But what are the building blocks of a good team? Which are the core ingredients every team needs to become stronger?

Rogerwilco is made up of a number of different teams. Not only does each team need to be strong, they need to work well together. According to the content team members, they make a great team because of their shared love of coffee and kittens. And lightheartedness.

Writing for the Harvard Business Review, business writer Judith A Ross says: “High-functioning teams are what make high-performing companies click. Whether the task is to create an innovative service or implement a new system, groups rather than individuals are shouldering more of the burden than ever before. The ideal team merges individual talents and skills into one super-performing whole with capabilities that surpass those of even its most talented member.

“Yet, in reality, many teams fail to get close to that utopian ideal. Members do not work together as seamlessly as they could. People disengage, information goes unshared, wires get crossed, and time and money are wasted.”

To prevent this, these are some of the essentials of building strong company teams:

Start at the beginning.

It is important for each team member to know what their role is and to understood why they are doing the tasks they need to complete on a daily basis. If there is no understanding of the bigger picture and the way their work fits into the company’s outcomes, there’s no way they can perform that task to the optimum level.

Honest and effective communication.

Without this everything falls apart. If just one person doesn't communicate about their projects, that thread begins to unravel. Picture your company as that stack of building blocks. Without communication, those blocks at the bottom begin to disappear and the foundation of the stack grows increasingly shakier.

Being heard.

It is important that every team member feels valued and appreciated. Without the validation of a job well done, they may begin to feel they don’t need to do the next job quite as well. Conversely, if something is going wrong within the team, every member needs to feel they can communicate and bring their issues to the fore.

Knowing when others are drowning.

We all try to complete every task within the time given. But sometimes there is just too much on our plates. It is important to spot the warning signs of a drowning team member and bring that information to the team’s leader who can effectively assist.

Perhaps most important is to keep team morale high. Team members function best when they are happy. Part of that happiness comes when their contributions are recognised and appreciated. This in turn leads to feeling like part of a team, one they want to work hard for.

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