Modern office workers thrive when they are provided with plenty of opportunities for collaboration and creative thinking. Not all employees enter the workforce with the training and social skills they need to engage in meaningful collaboration with their colleagues, though. Small business owners can read on to find some helpful tips for encouraging employees to put their unique skills and perspectives together to create a more collaborative work environment.

Foster Group Cohesion

To work together effectively, all team members need to be on the same page. Each worker should be appointed specific tasks based on his or her personal and professional strengths, but only in the context of the larger project he or she is helping to complete. This will help to avoid unnecessary competition between team members and create a sense that everyone must work together to reach collective goals.

Fostering group cohesion doesn't stop with creating a unified vision of what the team members want to achieve. It should also involve teaching relevant interpersonal skills, encouraging socialization, and rewarding collaborative behavior. Business owners who are short on ideas when it comes to team-building activities can learn about one consulting company that can help at jmreidgroup.com.

Establish Shared Goals

Setting explicit, measurable goals for the team can create positive momentum and encourage everyone to work together to achieve them. Set reasonable goals and offer tangible rewards and reevaluate the strategy at least once each quarter. It's a good idea to establish shared rewards for teams that meet managers' expectations but make sure every member of the team shares in those rewards equally.

If teams are having trouble meeting their quarterly goals, managers should look for ways to make improvements both individually and collectively. Transparency is key when it comes to gaining workers' trust and helping them harness their collective creative energies, so discuss any revisions to quarterly goals or any areas that need improvement explicitly, as well. This transparency and accountability will help to prevent finger-pointing.



Leverage Individual Strengths

It may sound paradoxical, but creating an environment that fosters collaboration requires identifying and leveraging each worker's individual strengths. Some small business owners even have their workers take a personality test like the Myers-Briggs then host roundtable discussions with all the team members to discuss the results. Highlighting each team member's personal and professional strengths in this way empowers employees and allows them to understand each other better.

Once each employee has a good idea of what his or her strengths are, it's also easier to assign tasks. When employees succeed at individual tasks that contribute to a larger, shared goal, it further empowers them and creates a work environment in which each individual member of the team has the skills required to succeed collectively. Make sure to recognize each team member's contributions when it comes time to evaluate the team's progress toward meeting its quarterly goal.

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The Bottom Line
Workers that can harness their individual strengths to help their teams achieve collective goals are more productive, more satisfied with their jobs, and more likely to succeed in the business world. That's good news for employees and employers alike. Business owners should foster a positive work environment that rewards both individual strengths and collective efforts toward improved performance to make sure their employees feel valued and encouraged to cooperate with others to achieve shared goals.