4 Teamwork Tips You Need To Know

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“The greatest danger a team faces isn’t that it won’t become successful, but that it will, and then cease to improve.” – Sanborn

What does it take to make teamwork work?

Teamwork happens quickly and naturally when:

1. Everyone on the team knows what needs to be done.
2. They have the skills and ability to do it.
3. There are no barriers to prevent them from doing it.
4. They are willing to work together to get it done.

Once you’ve created the foundation of teamwork, here are four more tips that will help you and your team perform better:

1. Your team needs to learn together

Rarely do teams learn together. Too often, increases in skill are confined to individuals. Sometimes that can become a barrier to teamwork: because there are dramatically different knowledge and skill levels, some team members aren’t able to keep up.

When an individual attends a course or discovers a useful practice, he or she should be encouraged to share it with the team. And periodically putting the entire team into a learning environment is critical.

2. Peer recognition is powerful

If you’re a team leader, understand that despite your best efforts, you will be incapable of adequately recognising every team member’s efforts and contributions. Good work will slip by and go unrecognised. If this happens often, the team member may well become disillusioned.

 
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Relieve yourself of the burden to be the sole dispenser of recognition: ask team members to recognise each other. Make it a team expectation to thank other team members for their assistance and to look for opportunities to catch each other doing something praiseworthy.

 
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3. To win more together, think together more

Have you ever held a team retreat? When was the last time your team came together for the express purpose of thinking about the work you do?

 
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Do you periodically pause as a group to reflect on what you’ve learnt and internalise the lessons? Do you meet to consider opportunities, and not just to solve problems? The team that thinks more wins more.

4. You’ve got to expect it and not tolerate it if you don’t get it

Some managers, knowing how difficult it can be to create great teamwork, undermine their efforts by making teamwork “optional”. That is, they appreciate the people who are good team players but they tolerate those who aren’t. As the old adage goes, what you allow, you condone.

Those on the same team should know that figuring out how to get along and work with other teammates is their responsibility. Those who refuse to be team players should at the very least not enjoy the same benefits and, at worse, should be removed. It might sound harsh, but it is necessary if you want teamwork to work.

Mark Sanborn is an international bestselling author and noted expert on leadership, team building, customer service and change. He helps motivate leaders at every level to turn the ordinary into extraordinary. To get in touch with Mark, email us at editor@leaderonomics.com.

 
Article first appeared on LinkedIn.