How Can Team Cohesion Be Improved at Workplace?

What is Team Cohesiveness?

Team cohesiveness is a term used to describe a team’s ability to work together as a whole and achieve a common goal effectively. This term also means the willingness of team members to contribute towards achieving the same goal and putting in their best. It is something that doesn’t come naturally for many individuals but can be fostered out of trust and the development of good relationships with the team. Effective team building training classes can also be helpful.

Cohesiveness is very important for all the teams that work towards achieving a common goal. It is so that they can function effectively and reach their goal. For this purpose, many practices can promote team cohesiveness, and today in this article we are going to talk about the different ways to improve team cohesion at workplace. You might also be interested in learning about what is team building?

Did you know?

• 75% of the employers have rated teamwork and collaboration to be important whereas only 18% of employees get communication evaluation at the time of their performance review.
• 86% of the employees have claimed that lack of collaboration leads to workplace failures.
• Similarly, 97% of the employees believe that if there is a lack of alignment in a team then it can impact the outcome of a specific task or project.
• Next, 395 of the individuals have this viewpoint that people don’t collaborate at their workplace.
• 99.1% of people prefer to work in a place where team-members identify and discuss issues with one another truthfully.
• Companies that efficiently communicate with one another are 4.5 times more likely to retain the best employees.
• 33% of millennial demand a collaborative workspace where they feel comfortable working.

Ways to improve team cohesiveness:

By encouraging communication:

The secret of a successful team is open communication. If you want to increase team cohesiveness then the first step is to implement good communication practices. So what you should do is provide your team with all the necessary resources to help them communicate with one another. You must encourage active and open communication; give them a chance to voice their ideas and concerns. This will also foster trust among team members and the overall cohesiveness can be improved.

By creating a goal pyramid:

One of the many reasons why goals are not achieved is due to a lack of vision and unclear objectives. If you want to develop an effective system where goals are achieved smoothly and timely then you must create an unshakable structure that would have at least three levels.

You must create a goal pyramid where the ultimate vision that is the “Company Goal” is at the very top and then it will be followed by “Team Goal” and ending with “Individual Goals”. When you follow such a hierarchy not only will it provide transparency but prevent employees from getting sidetracked by other things. When they have a clear goal, they will be able to work together more appropriately and their overall contribution to the team as a whole will be improved as well.

Offer regular training and development:

We believe if team members start to get more confident in their abilities then it is highly likely that they will interact with other team members more productively. And thus would be able to complete their tasks more efficiently. So you should offer them training and development opportunities regularly thereby making sure that all your team members have good control of their skills and abilities.

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Introduce team-building activities:

To be able to achieve team cohesion in the workplace, another way is to introduce team-building activities. You can have them sit together under the same roof and ask them to brainstorm some new solutions. Give every team member a chance to show what they have prepared and choose the one more suitable idea. Similarly, organize such games that demand team effort. Here you can divide the employees into two teams and have a competition between the two. All such activities will help team members to work together and trust and rely on each other.

Focus on the success of a team instead of an individual:

Another way of improving team cohesion is to celebrate success as a team instead of an individual. In simpler words, rather than only focusing on one person’s success within a team, you must use that to celebrate the success of the entire. You must thank all your team members for their hard work and recognize every member of the team and make them feel important.

Try to build trust:

When your team members don’t trust you, they will never be able to stay transparent with you or each other. And this can sometimes lead to a big loss. So to avoid this situation, you should focus on building trust with your team members. Show them your full support and don’t hide anything from them. When you for any reason give them an idea that you are not honest with them or keeping secrets then they wouldn’t be able to communicate safely and productively.

Conclusion:

Team cohesion is very important if companies wish to achieve their goals and improve productivity. Therefore, it is best to fully understand what team cohesion is and how it can be improved at the workplace and never stop learning.