GROW TEAM SPIRIT

​

​

 

 

 

 

Team spirit is often seen as an elusive concept that companies have no real control over. Senior managers rarely give it much attention.  Except for an occasional 'team bonding' away-day that is well-meaning but brings no enduring change.  

 

However, studies show that specific actions and behaviours directly stimulate team spirit in a group of people, and the consequences are highly beneficial.  

​

Information

 

Employees who are well-informed about their company, its mission and way of operating, are happier and more engaged.  They feel valued and become invested in the objectives and success of the business.  The information must be tailored to their needs.  It must be carefully packaged to ensure it is positively instructive and is not lost in a myriad of communications on unimportant subjects.  Key information, e.g. core company objectives, must be communicated with ruthless consistency to ensure it is embedded into a common way of thinking and operating across the company.  

 

Bonding

 

People are social creatures.  Typically, all contact, particularly face-to-face, is a positive experience for those involved.  Employees naturally create social bonds with their colleagues through sharing personal circumstances and shared life experiences.  Discussion and informal conversation creates the foundations for trust that strengthens the bonds between people, who can then combine their talents and knowledge towards the common goal.  Companies benefit from a network of meetings to keep people engaged with each other, and from encouraging organic interactions where people themselves connect and get to know each other. 

 

Common Purpose

 

Working together to a common goal focusses people’s attention and pulls people together, drawing on each other’s perspectives, knowledge and skills.  It builds a common understanding of the challenge and the nature of the work to be delivered, and hurdles to be overcome.  People naturally draw strength from each other.  For businesses where job descriptions require employees to work more individually, senior managers need to draw different people together to understand each other’s roles and how they contribute to the wider company purpose and objectives, to help create the understanding of a common purpose. 

 

Challenge

 

People have a natural tendency to adjust their level of effort to the difficulty of the goal. They try harder for difficult goals when compared to easier goals.  The more challenging the work, the more people draw together, focus their attention, and gain a greater sense of achievement with their colleagues.  Equally, the organisation must respond positively, rewarding success, investing in employees, enabling them to grow.

 

Culture

 

Team spirit is dependent on people supporting each other.  Businesses where collaboration and teamwork are encouraged will have high levels of team spirit as employees will be familiar with working and supporting each other.  It is essential that people communicate with no fear or reticence, with open discussion.  The culture needs to be modelled at the executive level.  Leaders within the business need to show they are committed to working well with others, regardless of their place within the organisation.  This kind of behaviour shows employees that the company values camaraderie, collaboration and cooperation.

 

Backbone

​

In many companies, there are some individuals or teams that are the backbone of the organisation, but not directly impacting on sales or the service delivered.  They do important work, but are not often in the limelight.  An essential part of team spirit is to acknowledge those members of the team that often do not get enough praise.  This not only shows those colleagues that their work is valued, it shows other team members how critical every employee is to the success of the company.  

 

Recruitment

 

The recruitment process should be crafted to confirm that the candidate you are considering is a team player.  Ask questions to judge their habits and methods of working.  To know about their mindset you should focus on projects where they have worked as a team member.  How they added value.  Seeking examples where they identified weaknesses or problems in a team setting, and how they responded.  Managers who are good at communicating and gelling people into effective teams should be readily able to talk about the team dynamics and how issues and difficulties were managed.