How to Turn a Group of Individual Employees into a Highly Effective Team

Rafael Magaña

Senior Director Of Development - Corporate Partnerships, Major Gifts, & Planned Giving

Published Jul 15, 2020

If you want your business to succeed then you don't just need employees, you need a team. An effective, motivated team can give you a significant edge. However, team building doesn't happen by itself. You need to take an active role in it.

Your team will start off as a disjointed group of individuals working toward different goals. Your efforts at team building need to be directed at learning about the different personalities you have to work with, and how to bring them together in a way that helps them complement each other.

Team Building Rules

When you meet with your team, be open and honest with them. To build a good team you need to build trust. If you want your team to be loyal to you then you must demonstrate that they can expect the same from you.

Make sure that every team member has a clear and thorough understanding and acceptance of the team's goals. If somebody does not understand or accept those goals then they are not really able to contribute effectively to the team.

You need to learn something about the strengths and personal inclinations of each member of your team. This knowledge will allow you to match each member with the tasks they are best suited for, and keep them away from areas they won't handle well.

You also need to make sure that every team member has a clear and thorough understanding of who is responsible for which tasks. They not only need to know what they are responsible for, but they also need to have a good idea of what everybody's responsibilities are, so they can get the help they need when they need it.

Your team members need to have trust for each other if your team is to function like a well oiled machine. The best way to encourage this is by giving them time to socialize with each other.

Have your entire team take part in making decisions. You need to help each member of your team feel that they have contributed toward the final decision. This will make them feel valued and empowered, which in turn will increase their commitment to the team and its projects.

Personal problems between team members will kill team unity faster than anything else can. Deal with them the moment you become aware of them, before they have a chance to blow up.

Never give negative feedback all by itself. Always pair it with some sort of positive feedback or a statement that you value the team member you are criticizing and trust they will fix the problem. By avoiding solely negative interactions, you empower your failing team members to do better and give them the confidence they need to do it.

If you follow these rules for team building, you can turn any group of individual employees into an effective team. Take the time to build up your team and they will help you build your business into something unstoppable.

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Rafael Magaña helps organizations grow. Helps leaders accelerate strategy implementation in their organizations. Specializes in donor-centered Philanthropy. Major Gift Officer -Veritus Scholar. Director of Development & Communications at BREATHE California of Los Angeles County. Director of Development at the Emphysema Foundation of America. Enjoys writing about leadership, management and careers. Founder of Latino Professionals, Latina Professionals, & Latinx Professionals. He resides in California. Follow Rafael on LinkedIn (16,200+ followers) and on Twitter: @RafaelMagana

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