Simple Ways to Improve Teamwork in the Workplace

Kate Le Page


Working effectively as a team requires trust, accountability, commitment, organisation, communication, time management and conflict resolution skills.


As the popular saying goes, 'There is no 'I' in Team,' and therefore working as a team requires individuals to be able to effectively work together and in doing so learning to put personal feelings to one side. This is certainly no easy task as everyone comes together having experienced a whole range of issues and often carrying much baggage.

Dysfunctional Teamwork within the Workplace

In order to better understand the skills required for effective teamwork within the workplace it may be helpful to first identify which aspects are likely to result in a team being inefficient, unproductive and dysfunctional. In Patrick Lencioni's book entitled The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,' he highlights five key themes which he believes are factors within dysfunctional teams.

These five factors associated with ineffective teamwork include the following: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to results.

Effective Teamwork Requires Trust

Regardless of whether in the workplace, home or leisure environment, trust is absolutely essential as without it there is likely to be much conflict and simply an inability to build relationships and be able to work effectively as a team. Particularly within the workplace environment trust is key to maintaining good working relationships between colleagues, employees and employers. Trust requires honesty and honesty is crucial to being able to work efficiently without worrying that one is going to be stabbed in the back or manipulated out of a job.

Effective Teamwork Requires Accountability

Without accountability it is completely impossible to work efficiently within the workplace environment or indeed any other environment as a team. Feedback is a key part of accountability as this is necessary to help individuals to understand how they are progressing. Regardless of a person's expertise or position it is important to have another person who will hold him or hr accountable.

Accountability reduces the likelihood of a person getting sidetracked at work and is a valuable means of keeping track of employees. This issue also helps reduce conflict as it creates opportunity for individuals to recognise their role within the wider team and how they may improve on key skills.

Communication Skills and Teamwork

A really crucial aspect of effective teamwork is being able to communicate well with one another. Thus requires the following skills: active listening, negotiation skills, non-verbal communication awareness and patience. It is also important to be aware of tone, gestures and facial expressions as these will have an impact on how one is perceived by other members of the team.

As highlighted above, effective teamwork requires communication skills, the ability to negotiate well, accountability trust and commitment. All of these skills will help to make the workplace a more positive environment and hopefully result in less office politics, petty conflicts and lead to increased staff morale.

Source:

Shaw, P. (2009) Raise your Game Chichester: Capstone Publishing

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