Teamwork is Achieved Through Communication and Relationship Building

Success Labs’ Leadership Coaching Series participants recently did a unique team building and collaboration exercise, which got me thinking about the importance of relationships and communication in building effective teams. Strong teamwork is essential to achieving the best results at your organization and cannot be achieved without communication and nurturing of relationships.Here are a few great articles and blog posts I’ve read on this topic this week. I think you’ll find them helpful.4 Things that Have Negative Effect on Teamwork. Yanado: “To have ‘good communication’ at your firm requires that you implement far more than just a two-way conversation system. You need to truly listen to what others are saying or requesting and teach them how to communicate updates as soon as they are available. Same goes for problems….Teammates who can’t collectively decide on approach, or who argue about division of labor, are often unable to get anything done. Personality clashes, when left undressed, also have the potential to lower morale and make all members of a certain team completely miserable. We have a specific system when it comes to hiring people. We are not just interested in signing workers. Before everything else, we want to surround ourselves with good people.”5 Keys to Create Group Harmony. Business Management Daily: “Learning from each other. In the best teams, individuals apply their strengths and join forces with peers who possess complementary skills. [Andrew Field, president and CEO of PrintingForLess.com] says he wants employees to ‘openly discuss likes and dislikes with regard to communication, tasks and personal focus.’”Tips for Effective Team Building. HR Daily Advisor: “Ensure that the team goals are clear to everyone involved and that each person on the team knows his or her role in the team’s success. They should understand why they’re participating on this team and what the team needs to accomplish. There should be buy-in from the group; agreeing that the goal is important will help to ensure that they have a sense of ownership in the outcome.”16 Leadership Team Building Activities. Omega Z Advisors: “Leadership is the sun around which all these relationships revolve. Leaders are the face of the task at hand. That task helps to build team. Talented leaders can build relationships without much thought and planning. All leaders can build them faster and better with them though. This begins with using these 16 leadership team building activities.”Why The Principle Of Teamwork Could Be The Most Important Lesson You Take From The Military. Task & Purpose: “...when there are more than two founders, it is inevitable that someone is not comfortable in his or her role. This happens when multiple founders want or think they can be CEO, or when they simply can’t agree on titles and responsibility. This can become even worse when the company is raising money and there’s a prospect of hiring new people. In all cases, teamwork often suffers.”Need some help developing teamwork in your organization? Contact us; we’re happy to assist.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.