5 Key Steps to Building an Effective Team

If you were asked “What do the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Detroit Redwings all have in common?” What would be your response? At first, your answer would probably be that they are all professional sports teams, but let’s look a little deeper.

Each one of those teams have been the best of the best at their specific sport multiple times in their lifelong careers. Becoming the best however takes more than skill, it takes the work of a unified team. But what makes a team produce well? These five tips will help your team become the best they can be, and help you bring home your own championship trophy.

1. Team building
   Teambuilding is important because it helps your team connect on a personal level outside of the office. Some think that team building may be uncomfortable and pointless, but it can actually have a positive impact on your team’s performance. There are many different types of team building activities, some more enjoyable than others. Some teams bond by volunteering together, participating in outings together, group lunches, and even attending professional sporting events together. Every year, HireLevel attends a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. The game allows us to connect with our team outside the office walls, and it even allows us to get to know teammates from our other office locations. Plus, what better way to learn about teamwork than from a professional baseball team who’s had so much success over the years. This allows us to communicate on a better level when we are back in the office, and allows us to learn things we never knew about each other.

2. Communication
   Communication is extremely important in building and maintaining an effective team. If there are communication problems it can become uncomfortable, and unproductive for the entire team. Some tips to help your team communicate include items such as asking questions and repeating the other person, eliminating surrounding distractions, being specific about your needs, and the biggest one of them all; learning to listen to what your team members are saying. Don’t forget also that providing feedback is an important piece of great communication, and will help your company grow leaps and bounds if done properly.

3. Dependability 
   Can you fully rely on every member of your team? If you’re sick and can’t make it to work, will your team be able to produce if you aren’t available? It’s important to be able to depend on the individuals around you, but how do you find dependability? The answer: Holding your team members accountable! Teammates that are held accountable provide consistent work and can follow through no matter what happens in the office. They typically require less supervision, gain more responsibility, lead others and add more value to your company. Are you holding your team members accountable?

4. Social awareness
   To work well as a team, one of the most important things to remember is that everyone is human. We all have bad days, and some days are just better than others. However, being able to read teammates when they may be confused, stressed, uncomfortable, upset or nervous is helpful when being a part of a unified team. If you can recognize these small things, it can strengthen your team at the core and allow for a much better performance overall. For example, if a coworker is acting unusual or just different than normal, take a moment to ask if something is bothering them. You could find out that they are just having a bad day, but you could also find out it’s something much larger. Taking a little extra time to listen can help not only your teammate, but also get your business back to producing at 100%.

5. Train for continuous improvement
   As team members, we are all working towards the same goal of achieving success, right? A well-rounded employee is always striving for constant improvement. This is where proper training and expansion of education come into play. For example, here at HireLevel we believe that each of our employees deserve the right to further their knowledge in their field through staffing, payroll, recruiting and HR certifications and professional development. We also do in house training for all of our departments. This approach involves consistent training of our teams so that they can recommend process improvements, and to improve our overall knowledge in our industry.

Great leaders are only as successful as their teams. If you work towards the right team dynamics, communication, and how to make decisions with others, everyone will win in the end.

Learn more about our truly dynamic leadership team!

Share This Post