Running a business can be a difficult task, especially if you’re the owner or manager. In order for your company to work efficiently, you must have employees that are excellent at their jobs. But that just scratches the surface.
To ensure your business works like a well-oiled machine, a positive team culture is vital. Sadly, not many employers or managers recognize that team building is important, which causes their company to work at a subpar level.
If you’re just realizing how essential team culture is, you might be wondering how to build a better one in your workplace. In that case, keep reading. We’re here to teach you about building a team culture that benefits everyone!
Emphasize Teamwork
It’s important that you acknowledge, recognize, and even highlight the good work individual employees do. But don’t focus too much on that, as it puts a focus on siloing your workplace.
Instead, you should refocus on teamwork. Let your employees know that the company highly values workers who can cooperate and get things done. Encourage them to get to know one another, especially across departments.
An important thing is to also let them manage themselves. This shows that you trust them to get exemplary work done without a manager hovering over them to ensure it happens.
When your employees see that you’re able to leave things in their hands, this can encourage a positive team culture.
Have an Open-Door Policy
The best way to encourage positive team culture is to have an open-door policy. If your employees know that they can come to you with thoughts and ideas, this will make them feel much more comfortable in presenting their ideas to fellow employees.
When it comes to team culture examples, one of the most important things is creating a safe space. After all, if workers don’t feel like they can voice their opinions in a safe fashion, how can you expect any progress to be made?
Make sure you foster an environment where ideas are encouraged and no blame is put on anyone.
Instill a Flat Hierarchy
Employees can feel disheartened when all decisions are made by people at the top. They might feel like their opinions don’t matter and that they’re not important.
A great way to make sure your workers feel valued and heard is to have a flat hierarchy. Democracy can be a good thing in your workplace!
Make sure that everyone has the chance to provide input for important decisions at the company. When your employees feel like they’ve played a role in these changes, it’ll automatically translate to better team culture.
Provide Cross-Training
When you’re only doing your own job, it’s hard to see the bigger scope of things. This can cause some friction between workers of different departments since they can’t fully appreciate what the other does.
This is where cross-training can be beneficial. Allow your employees to take some time to shadow people from other departments. You can even let them switch roles for a day if it’s possible!
This lets your employees see what everyone else does and gives them a new appreciation for what others contribute to the company.
And don’t just limit this to employees either. Managers and even executives can learn a thing or two by working a day in their employees’ shoes. This can help them understand the dedication and hard work that workers have and can encourage them to reward them more often.
Hire Flexible Leaders
Whether you’re the owner or a manager, you probably need more than 1 person to manage your company. Naturally, you’ll need to hire other people for leadership positions to ensure your business runs smoothly.
When hiring, make sure you hire flexible people who have the same mindset as you. The only way you’ll facilitate positive team culture is if all leaders are on the same page.
And in this case, they need to have open minds and be leaders that your employees can trust. The only way forward is through positive and constructive feedback, so flexibility and adaptability are must-haves.
Provide Your Workers With Adequate Resources
Your workers might be able to break out into teams. But what use is that if they don’t have adequate resources to carry out their work?
Make sure that your workplace has proper meeting areas that can accommodate team meetings. And we’re not just talking about the lunchroom either.
You should have spacious meeting rooms that are isolated from the rest of the workplace. These rooms should also have things like a good wifi connection, phone, projector, whiteboard (and markers), and of course, a roomy table and comfortable chairs.
In addition, you should listen to their needs and give teams appropriate budgets to work with. Try not to police their spending too much. Give your teams the liberty to spend that money in a way they see fit.
Again, it all comes down to showing your employees that you trust they can work together cohesively without intervention on your part.
Build Good Team Culture at Your Workplace
After reading this article, you now have several ways to build team culture at your company.
At first, it might seem like it’s not the most optimal use of your time. But keep in mind that it’s a worthwhile investment in bettering your business.
Not only does this help your employees build better relationships with one another, but it also helps boost morale and motivation. In the end, everyone benefits from a better team culture!
Want to learn more about running a company? Then read our article on the top 10 types of leadership styles now!
