The ability to fruitfully interact with other people to get things done – if one wants to codify a teamwork skills definition, here is how it appears. Developing this savvy isn’t easy yet essential. Good teams usually consist of complex personalities – each having their paradigm, ethics, credos, folk-wisdom, and soft skills. The necessity of combining efforts may at some point cause inner tensions, not to say conflicts, and put down productivity and fellowship. So if you do care about bumping up your team performance – take notes from the article.
Why are good teamwork skills important?
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According to the 2018 Deloitte study, if employees team up, 73% of them experience a boosted performance quality, 60% – increased innovative thinking, 56% – a higher satisfaction with the job, and 15% get things done faster. In 2021, teamwork is under negotiation globally, as far as more and more companies switch to partially or fully remote models. Hence, establishing and maintaining alliance between joint workers is principal for companies to keep obtaining the following benefits:
- innovative business ideas generation
- faster problem-solving
- higher retention of talents thanks to a supportive environment
- more loyal and engaged employees due to the corporate ethics and morale.
7 essential skills for teamwork
- Time-management
Indeed, fertile joint work starts with virtuous planning know-hows that all participants should obtain. A collective task is a sequence of one chain links – if one breaks up, the entire project will suffer. Thus, organizing one’s day properly means not only to counter stress due to overload, but to hasten other people’s work as well.
- Emotional quotient
This obscure term means an ability to stay aware of and manage self emotions. The scarceness of this attribute among teammates may cause passive aggression or accumulated fatigue, and even frustration. “Emotionally stable teams win because their members can remove emotions and stay focused on the ultimate project goal while addressing issues” – says Steven McConnell from Arielle Executive, a branding agency that assists job seekers in landing their dream jobs.
- A talent to listen
Genuine listening stands for paying attention to what one hears. The figures in the matter aren’t very encouraging – people tend to retain, on average, only 25% of the incoming information. Because a “can-listen” talent precedes the ability to delegate and build trust, it is a vital skill for ones who hanker team leadership.
- Skill to explain logically
To understand the problem is halfway only. Another 50% moiety of shared success is to frame and coherently present ideas. Because teamwork presumes distribution of functions, if primary experts can’t explain themselves to one another, the entire project delivery will be torturous.
- A “suggest if you criticize” approach
A constructive dispute is what should be encouraged within the team. On-time feedback, remark, or suggestion makes collective work more faultless. Moreover – it helps employees to learn from mistakes, hence, to grow professionally. The only point here is to never dispute without alternative or facts to oppose through. And – to use positive language while speaking.
- A sane perception of criticism
People don’t like being criticized – roughly ⅓ claim that they become less motivated in case of “thumbs down”. However, one needs to remember that a human factor can cost the company millions in losses. We all take things amiss from time to time. So, not taking comments personally and giving an abstract from tricky situations – are the two important skills to do well in a team.
- Сonformism – to a certain extent
Conformity is one of the primordial traits that allow humans to form groups. The ability to change opinion or course of action under the peers’ influence is not a fawning – but an acumen to learn and evolve. And here’s the peril – in an attempt to consort, it is essential not to lose objective thinking. After all, unique professional knowledge and expert opinion – were exactly what brought you to the team, weren’t they?
How to improve teamwork skills
Remember – masteries are to be trained. To build on the aforementioned teamwork skills examples, stick to the following suggestions:
Invest in knowledge
Don’t skimp on personal development training for employees. In essence, people are the company’s most valuable asset. Nearly ⅔ of workers are eager to obtain new skills, so why not provide them with an interesting psychological or motivational session?
Use elaborative software
Teamwork automation software can speed up communication, minimize routine tasks, and free up time for generating ideas and building relationships. Messengers, chatting and calling software, calendars, and schedules, online whiteboards, even virtual team building tools – try different things and see which are worthwhile.
Be agile
Scrum and Kanbans are being admired by software development companies and startups for a good reason. Nothing discourages the team more than occasional deadlines, inoperative plans, and nowhere to be found assignees.
Avoid information asymmetry
Developing a course of joint actions is a “thin ice”. On the one hand, you need to consider the interests of all colleagues, but on the other hand – a few dissatisfied ones always remain. To avoid conflicts, involve teammates in decision-making – utilize sharable mind map makers, run brainstorms and discussions.
Find time to entertain the team
Informal communication is of great consequence for teamwork. It is much easier to discuss a matter with someone you know personally than with an impersonal on-screen avatar, agree. A once in a while joint hiking or Friday pizza won’t require much effort but will pricelessly contribute to the socializing.
Altogether, good teamwork largely depends on participants’ sincere desire to achieve a mutual goal. A few recommendations we’ve covered show just a pivotal formula of a crew’s success.
