Inspire a Culture of Teamwork
We’ve all heard the tired axiom “there’s no ‘i’ in TEAM”, but have you noticed there’s no “i” in SUCCESS, either? We all know teamwork makes good business sense. When individuals come together to achieve common company goals, everyone wins. While most modern businesses are structured around “teams”, building an extraordinary company-wide team culture takes effort.
How to Create a Culture of Teamwork
Start from the top
Make teamwork one of your core company values and lead by example. Start by hiring people who fit into the company’s team culture. To determine whether a new hire will be a good team player, look for signs that they’re cooperative and have a willingness to listen.
Encourage open communication
Daily, weekly or monthly team huddles where each member shares their goals, achievements and questions not only helps keep everyone on the same page but encourages people to share both their struggles and successes and contribute to the solutions.
Celebrate successes together
Part of creating a culture of teamwork is simply allowing people to be part of the growth of the company and participate in its successes. If the sales team just landed a major client, encourage staff in all departments to give their congrats by calling everyone together and having a team high-five.
Encourage cross-pollination
When employees understand how different areas of the company work, they’re better equipped to make decisions that benefit the company as a whole rather than just their own department.
Some companies give employees opportunities to learn about each other’s jobs through formal job shadowing programs, while others provide comfortable common areas or organize company activities to encourage people to interact with people from other departments.
Look like a team
Custom apparel can help foster a culture of teamwork. Sporting the same team colours inspires a feeling of unity and belonging that’s often difficult to achieve. When everyone is wearing the same custom printed t-shirts, titles disappear, departments are merged and everyone simply becomes part of the same team working towards a common goal.
Here’s how one Entripy client is inspiring teamwork at a GREAT scale!
Oakville car dealership Budds’ Cadillac recently embarked on an extreme team building mission. The team accepted the “ Dare Greatly Challenge”; a physical challenge that will have 20 members of the Budds’ Cadillac team racing two 60 ft sail boats across Lake Ontario from Toronto to Kingston in late summer. “This 30-hour challenge requires flawless teamwork, unquestionable trust and extreme physical stamina,” says General Manager Wayne Carter.
By pushing each other in training exercises, employees discovered that working together allowed them to achieve more than they ever could individually. The discovery had spillover benefits in the workplace. “Teamwork fosters a fun workplace, which in turn minimizes turnover and maximizes productivity,” says Carter.
Morale heightened, engagement was enhanced and even the customer experience saw improvements. Carter notes customers commented on “the feeling of a team environment” in their reviews of the dealership. Employees would go out of their way to find solutions to customers’ issues by connecting with individuals in other departments; something they previously might not have felt comfortable doing.
In order to create a unified look for their team, Budds’ Cadillac turned to Entripy to produce Dare Greatly custom t-shirts. “We wanted to show camaraderie in our quest and Entripy did a great job in designing and producing the look,” says Carter.
