There really is no ‘I’ in team. The oldest cliché in the book, we know…but if it ain’t broke (sorry!) then why try to fix it? Teamwork has stood the test of time because of the collaborative nature of considering an idea with someone else. No matter the sector your business operates in, creativity breeds innovation. Working in teams is nothing new but, in the age of remote working and video calling, we’ve grown guilty of disregarding person-to-person communication. Let #TeamRev remind you of the many benefits of teamwork…
If we were all the same, life would be boring
We each approach tasks with a different mindset. In fact, it’s thought that there are seven different styles of thinking; Concrete, Analytical, Abstract, Logical, Imaginative and Creative. Why not take this test to see what kind of thinker you are? Your strengths when working as part of a team depend, almost entirely, on your thinking style. Working in unison with one or more ‘thinkers’ increases your chance of success, regardless of what it is you are working on.
Lead from the front
Whilst there is no ‘I’ in team, results come from a managed structure. A team – whether 3,4,5 or 20 people – needs a leader, to manage goals, expectations, schedule and results. This individual doesn’t necessarily need to be the company CEO, director or office manager – it doesn’t even need to be the project manager. An ‘outsider’ with a neutral perspective is more likely to keep a meeting running to time and can bring a fresh, new perspective to a conversation.
Time to re-group
If a particular project or idea has been a sole-focus for a significant amount of time, it’s high time you look to your colleagues for some new ideas!
It’s estimated that, for optimum results, no longer than 20-50 minutes should spent on any one task – hands up if a task usually takes three times as long? If you’ve spent longer than an hour on a proposal, piece of writing or project, take five minutes to ask the advice of a colleague. It isn’t even always about bringing fresh ideas to the table – sometimes, all you need is confirmation that you’re headed in the right direction.
No big deal
A group conversation doesn’t necessarily call for a scheduled meeting. Sometimes, it’s as simple as taking a question to the floor or sounding out an idea with a colleague or two sitting nearby. A great tool for encouraging a productive workplace is regular catch-up meetings. These can be two or three times a day (#TeamRev finds this works best!) or just once, first thing in the morning. This is a group conversation, whereby each member of the team discusses their workload and goals for that day. This allows for colleagues to offer their support with tasks or perhaps suggest a new way of approaching a project. Regular, informal catch-ups take the pressure off the expectations of a more structured meeting and, more often than not, will make sure no one around the office is ‘sweating the small stuff’.
It’s simple – breaking things down into manageable and conversational chunks gets results and, as cheesy as it sounds, teamwork really does make the dream work.
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