Creating strong, high performing teams at all levels of your organization is critical to success. Organizations can’t make progress without a strong culture of teamwork. Fostering a great team culture throughout your organization must be a part of your overall Organizations Culture strategy.
A Team culture is the shared values, practices and beliefs that guide the team members interactions with one another, other teams, their managers and customers both internal and external. Team culture refers to the behaviors and patterns of a team from which members develop shared meaning. It is about both shared aspirations as well as the processes to get there, both practical and personal. Within an existing Organizational Culture teams are made up of different combinations of people and have different dynamics, manifesting their own culture.
Here are six ways you can create an extraordinary team culture:
1. Create a Team Charter
Teams must have a starting point, a compass by which the team gets its sense of meaning and community. The charter must answer : Why are we together, Mission and Objectives, Strategy and plans, Roles and Responsibilities, Accountability structure, Behavioral expectations and agreements.
2. Set Aside Informal Time For Your Team To Relate
Positive Relationships have a big impact on great team culture. It is ideal for team members to truly like and care about each other. This is difficult to achieve in a formal setting, but critical to collective goal accountability and true no fear open communication. The ability to be vulnerable with each other allows for more authentic conflict resolution which is critical to ongoing and long term team health.
3. Be a Trustworthy Leader
Positive relationship with the teams manager is always ranked tops by high performing teams. Emotional intelligence and the ability to be self-aware of how your behavior as a leader affects the dynamics of the team and your ability to manage those behaviors; both the utilization of positive behaviors as well as the reduction of team killing behaviors. Team members must not be afraid of approaching you and asking questions.
4. Promote A Culture of Learning and Development
Opportunities for learning and development contribute to team members job satisfaction. They feel valued as well as it strengthens the overall competence available to the team. Learning and development is also one of the most effective tools to help teams develop their effectiveness. This works best when teams develop and learn together using simulation, experience and review. Knowledge sharing between team members builds relationships as well as a sense of belonging and value.
5. Make Your Workplace Conducive To Teamwork
An important part of catalyzing a great team culture is having a physical environment where productive teamwork is possible. Teams need to have time together to plan, create, polish, and synergize. Research shows that while virtual teams can be successful, they do best when they have had face to face time and use technology to collaborate. Sitting together and creating collaborative work spaces facilitates relationships between team members .
6. Celebrate Accomplishments
Part of a great team culture is a culture where team members take the time to celebrate their work, each other, and the blessings of working with others towards purposeful contributions. This should be a regular agenda item at team meetings.
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