According to Gallup, teamwork cannot exist apart from the “something” that your team is working to accomplish.
Two main ideas must be understood to appreciate the importance of teams in the workplace.
Individuals who know their strengths work together to form better partnerships, and more thoughtful partnerships create strong teams. Strong teams start with the individual.
The strengths and dynamics of your team directly affect business outcomes.
Team alignment is not easily achieved. Here are four ways to help encourage better team alignment in your business:
- Your firm’s purpose is the “why” behind your company. It is the reason for your existence and specifies the benefit your company will bring to the world. Communicating with purpose means communicating a clear sense of direction; this ensures that everyone is working towards the same goal.
- Team goals are performance objectives that require the contributions of everyone on the team. The best team goals are co-created with the team members and aligned with larger organizational goals.
- Aligning a workforce starts with a defined organizational vision and mission and a strategy for how the enterprise will reach those goals. The entire workforce should have insight into the goals of other departments and how each employee supports the other in pursuit of a common organizational goal. Such alignment enables valuable cross-functional collaboration and plain old mutual understanding.
- Often, employees are assigned to roles without an understanding of what they are accountable for. Clearly defined roles, responsibilities and tasks can offer alignment and clear expectations for those doing the work. They promote effective communication between team members and help integrate employees, departments and the organisation. When teams have clearly outlined roles and responsibilities, they function efficiently and can become more productive.