Is your team a true team, or is it a group of individuals? Is the team guided by what’s best for the company, or do individual objectives come first? Do team members appreciate each other, or are there (hidden) infights going on? If you want to create a stronger team spirit, you might like the following practical tips.

If you want to create a stronger team spirit, you might like the following practical tips.

 

5 tips to give firm feedback

 

  1. Always go back to the ‘common goal’: it’s normal for people to think about their own area of responsibility first. However, in the end everybody’s there to do what’s best for the organization. Make sure your team members don’t forget the ‘common goals’. The more you repeat these, the higher the chance team members will feel united.
     
  2. Create a ‘common enemy’: too often team members are fighting each other. What a shame! They’d better be fighting a ‘common enemy’ (an unacceptable evolution, a competitor, a potential defeat, …). Once people feel united against this common enemy, their collaboration becomes so much easier… 
     
  3. Give ‘common objectives’: as long as people are evaluated on individual objectives, it’s no wonder they view ‘team objectives’ as second priority. However, once you start to evaluate team members mostly on ‘common objectives’, that’s where their focus will go. A great way to give your teaming efforts a real boost.  
     
  4. Promote ‘common efforts’: your actions as a leader speak a thousand words. To which extent do you play the ‘team card’ yourself? Would your team members say you encourage collaboration? How often do you congratulate your team members when they collaborated well? The more you put collaboration and team spirit in the spotlight, the more your team will embrace it.  
     
  5. Foster ‘common consideration’: one of the main obstacles to true teamwork is the lack of mutual consideration. It happens in so many teams: people talking negatively about each other; people looking down on some of their colleagues, … Some leaders will look away (or participate in the badmouthing…) A true team leader fosters respect between team members, and doesn’t accept anything less from the team members.   
     

Practice these 5 tips on a consistent basis, and team spirit will improve. It’s a matter of perspective.

Contact us if you want help in creating more alignment and teamness in your organization.