Improving team effectiveness is simple but not necessarily easy. Especially now that teams are more diverse, dynamic, and dispersed, it’s even more challenging to keep the members in the same boat to function collaboratively. Even more so, working remotely placed a new burden on leaders in managing their teams.
Google, a company known for its innovative projects spent years learning what makes other teams better than others. The result is more about how well they work together and less about who makes up the team.
If you are a leader in an organization, you are on a mission to come up with or implement ways to boost team effectiveness and team performance, where organizational success relies heavily upon.
In this article, we will talk about the eight strategies to boost your team’s effectiveness in this time of chaos and complexity. Let’s keep this short and sweet.
1. Give ownership to your team members.
The best types of leaders are those who understand the power of ownership. By giving ownership to the team members, you are letting them make their decisions, and you are giving them accountability for their work.
As a result, the employees will induce a sense of responsibility in them regarding their tasks. They will make better decisions because they are aware that their decisions can impact the performance of the entire organization.
The first step to giving ownership is letting them lead a project. This will make them feel that you entrust them well enough to let them handle a specific job. You will also realize that there is nothing more powerful than building an employee’s confidence in the organization.
2. Team effectiveness thrives on team development.
I know what you’re thinking — no one has the time or budget for this right now. But if you come to think of it, those organizations that prioritize development have higher levels of engagement and team effectiveness. Apart from that, they have a higher chance to deliver great services and products, satisfy customers, and produce healthier profit margins than those who do not. So the real question is: can you afford not to?
3. Set effective meetings.
This might be an obvious one, but many organizations still struggle to run effective meetings. If you want to increase team effectiveness, you must ensure that your meetings have a clear objective. Additionally, meetings must involve the right people and have clear action items and deliverable items. Make sure that you also start and end on time.
4. For team effectiveness, you need to know their strengths and weaknesses.
One of the roles of a leader is to discover their employees’ hidden talents and put them to good use. To put them to good use, you must give them tasks that are relevant to their talents and skills.
For instance, if an employee enjoys thinking outside the box, challenge him to pitch innovative ideas in front of a client. They are more likely to contribute at the workplace when they feel that their talents and skills are being put to good use.
5. Creative a positive work environment.
One of the most effective ways to improve team performance is to create a positive work environment and a good company culture. Did you know that the workplace environment greatly affects the employees’ mood and performance?
As a result, a lot of organizations keep their employees in mind when designing their office interiors. They make use of comfortable furniture, bright lighting, and plants and flowers. Aside from that, good leaders also keep track of how they treat their employees. As much as possible, they don’t want to come off as dominating and condescending as this can bring down the overall team effectiveness and performance.
6. Make your goals, roles, and responsibilities clear.
Dominating the battlefield means you need to have a shift in focus and priorities. That’s why a lot of small businesses right now are changing their operational processes at least once a week based on changes in policies.
One of the best ways to improve team effectiveness is to ensure that each team member is aware of their responsibilities, roles, and how these roles align with their company’s vision. Most of all, make sure that everyone knows the “why.”
7. Give your members incentives.
Everyone is motivated to world harder when they are given a reason to do so. Sure, their reason should be “because it’s my job,” but will it kill you to show a little bit of appreciation? A pat on the back is not enough to do this, you must also give incentives, especially when they deserve it.
There are many ways to offer an incentive. It can be in the form of cash, paid vacation, an extra day off, and even lunch-outs. Managers, I hope you’re taking notes.
8. Giving each other feedback is important for team effectiveness.
There is no hope of boosting team effectiveness if you are not aware that you are being inefficient in the first place. This goes the same for your team members. They should be aware if they’re doing a good job or not, so they can reassess their efforts and skills.
Once you are done giving them the feedback, you must also ask for their feedback. Maybe they would like a little more guidance on a certain task or would prefer a little more space for creative freedom. Doing this can build a culture of open dialogue, which will help to collaborate with the team easier than before.
At the end of the day, there is no single way to improve team effectiveness and performance. But there are still small and constant ways you can do it. By providing constant support to your team and following the tips above, you will notice a huge rise in the effectivity meter in no time.