The importance of team building for small businesses

TeamBy Jelena Djurdjevic

What is the power of team building? A successful team of people is the very backbone of every well-run company. Why are big companies successful? Because they support effective teamwork and nurture positive corporate culture. For small businesses, effective teamwork is the pillar of success. By encouraging teamwork whereby all members work closely together and depend on each other, small business can intensify the workflow. Therefore, how can you make a prosperous team? Team spirit can be achieved through team-building activities. Here’s how

1. Improve communication skills

Employees need to learn how to communicate properly with one another in order to become team players. Team members need to understand what is expected of them and to react if something goes wrong. Team building activities, such as regular weekly or even monthly meetings, enable workers to communicate more effectively and to deal with any potential problems by verbalizing issues as they arise in a calm and professional manner.

2. Increase motivation

Contrary to popular belief, money is not the only motivation for the employees. Employees can be motivated by setting a managment system through which the ideas of each worker can be considered, since all of them are valuable team members. By participating in team activities, workers get a sense of active engagement, which makes people enthusiastic about the job they do.

3. Make workplace more enjoyable

Small things make can make a big difference. Organize a one-day field trip for the whole company or just order pizza after a late night meeting. Your team will be grateful and will enjoy looking at the silly photos from the trip or chatting late into the night. The best ideas come unexpectedly. Furthermore, if possible, it would be convenient to have a space, such as a dining room or a playroom to improve your business workplace.

4. Get everyone on the same page

Once the team has become a unit, they need to be directed toward a goal. So far, it has been up to the leader to set objectives that need to be achieved but since each member within the team is equally important, goals are of shared interest. All members of a team should participate in setting the goals as well as achieving them. A team leader has to make sure everyone understands common objectives and is working toward achieving them. This is easy to accomplish within a small team. A whiteboard on a central office wall with clear tasks and processes explained can be easy to use and share ideas between employees.

5. Provide training in the soft skills

Soft-skills training, which refers to communication and presentation skills, the ability to persuade people, and the ability to coach and mentor others, are the most effective team training technique used for increasing productivity. If employees know how to work with each other more effectively, they are able to do their work more efficiently. It will not only improve individual successes of team members, but it can additionally affect the overall success of the team as a whole.

6. Recognize good work

If the team is doing well in performing tasks, good results should be recognized and rewarded. Good results are worth investing in and the team can be rewarded with a bonus, further training and promotion or, for example, flexible working hours. If teamwork is appreciated, the individuals will also feel valuable to the company and motivated to work harder. In addition, after a job well done, it pays to review processes and procedures that enabled the specific work to be finished in the best possible way and establish them for future projects.

7. Help participants learn about themselves

As the company is growing and developing, the employees should not stand aside. By being involved in various processes within the team, all members gain new skills and also learn new things about themselves. Some people are born leaders, some find it much easier to work within a team, and there are those who just cannot fit. Being a member of a team is a different and valuable experience for every individual worker.

Teamwork is what keeps small businesses running. “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” – Henry Ford

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Jelena Djurdjevic is a businesswoman, mom and wife. She is currently staying at home due to a great reason, her family. In her free time she loves blogging about team building and marketing.

 

1 comment

  1. Nishana says:

    Hi,

    Great Article! We have linked back to you in our blog: 5 Common Mistakes Start-Up Childcare Businesses Make. Please feel free to share, if you are happy to.

    Thanks
    Regards

    Nishana

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