As workplaces become increasingly collaborative, with employees working together to complete tasks, a smart manager will work to help employees feel like they are a part of a team. As a business owner, the way you manage your staff and operate your business affects how your employees interact with each other to build a team atmosphere. There are a variety of tactics you can use to encourage a collaborative work environment and positive teamwork.
1.
Inform potential employees about the importance of teamwork and your dedication to creating a culture of collaboration at your company. By planting the idea during your recruiting and hiring processes, you can familiarize potential employees with your company’s culture and your expectations.
2.
Review your new hire orientation program and processes. You may include activities such as having a senior employee take a new hire to lunch during his first day so the new hire can learn about the organization from a seasoned employee. Your orientation program may also include taking the employee to meet each coworker and explaining how each coworker’s job fits into the overall nature of your business.
3.
Assign new hires mentors, who can provide guidance and support during the employee’s first year at the company. Mentoring programs help new hires get familiar with an organization’s culture, processes and procedures and employees, which helps them feel like they’re a part of the team.
4.
Share your business goals and objectives with employees so they know your priorities and the direction you hope to take the business. When employees know what they are working toward, they feel more invested in helping a company get there.
5.
Give each employee a set of goals and expectations to accomplish within a given time-frame. These specific, measurable goals should combine the employee’s job responsibilities and your overall business goals and objectives. Providing employees with goals and expectations helps them see how their efforts play into the company’s overall operations.
6.
Ask your employees to provide feedback, from the types of products you offer and pricing strategies to customer service initiatives. By taking their opinions and ideas into consideration as you grow the business, you show them that you care about what they think and that you truly see them as assets to your business.
7.
Share successes and failures with your employees so that they have an understanding of where the business needs to make improvements and what you’ve achieved. You can share testimonials, sales results and even positive and negative press your company receives.
8.
Plan team-building activities, which can range from ice-breakers during meetings to company outings. You can plan a happy hour event to celebrate high sales, invite employees and their families to a company picnic, go on a scavenger hunt, run a marathon together or attend a team building seminar or retreat.
