10 ways on How to Build a Strong Team Culture

If you planned to start a company, what are the things that you give more value to? 

Is it an Investment? Is it putting capital as a top priority on the list? Is it the market or your target audience? Or is it your USP or brand name? Or What else?

When you start a company and hire a group of independently talented people, your first priority should be to create a team in which people can merge their ideas. 

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.”

Merging each other’s ideas helps to result in wonderful outcomes. This also helps in bringing growth and improvement in individuals as well as in your company. However, we also need to be alert about the challenges that come with blending individual talents and personalities. There may be conflict due to differences in ideology but be smart enough to negotiate and settle the issue. 

Also, as a leader managing a team is an important soft skill you need. You don’t need to know all of the things and a lot of them. Jack Ma in one of his interviews said that you need to find people who are smarter than you. And when you find a group of smart people for your company, your job is to make sure if this group of smarts can work together. If they are able to work together, it becomes easier for you. Because stupid people can work together easily, not the smarter ones. 

Here, I am sharing with you my 10 ways on how to build a strong team culture:

Create a team-oriented company

Create a team with an emphasis on self-managing and empowering team members to make their own decisions. Don’t just talk about teamwork but show it with your action. Give authority to your team members to get their tasks done on their own terms, ensuring that they accept responsibility for the results. Ownership is also another important component you will see in a strong team. A dedicated team with proper planning and goal-setting works on the collective vision of a company.

Simply, create a team to work for you: 

Step 1: Give responsibility. 

Step 2: Give decision-making power. 

Step 3 (or a backstep): Take the role of advisor.

Create Leaders, not managers

Leadership skill is what we need to cultivate in a team and a great team culture should be emphasized in mentorship, not in management. It is very essential to develop schedules that offer flexibility to every team member so that everyone can work in a comfortable way, but also be careful about not becoming too flexible so that team members become unmanageable.

Get to know your team

Knowing your team is very essential. You need to take out time to know each of your team members. This will help to strengthen and build the team. The example in it includes celebrating birthdays, holidays with your team, and many other recreational activities. If outdoor activities are not possible, organizing in-door activities can also be helpful like eating lunch together, small talks about the weather, sports, or anything that is not related to work. These activities will really help you in developing personal connections with your team. It will help you to understand team member’s strengths, weaknesses, and skills they have or need to develop to grow your company.

Meet Regularly

Meeting regularly is essential. But hold on, regularly does not mean every day. It can be weekly or bi-monthly. Regular meetings help to build rapport and improve the team. These meetings should focus more on the agenda on how to achieve the goal or vision of the company. It should be focused on discussing problems and finding solutions. Meetings also give the opportunity to build strong bonding and good relationships among the team workers. But always be careful not to drag meetings out of topics that are out of the company’s goal. However, Sometimes informal meetups too become helpful. 

Give frequent feedback and set clear expectations 

It is essential to participate in improvement efforts through proactive and constructive feedback. You should teach members of your team to give constructive feedback. Constructive feedback motivates instead of creating shame or embarrassment. Feedback becomes more impactful if it is informal and natural rather than formal and strict. That’s why it is vital to develop an understanding relationship with your team members. When people on your team trust you, they will take your suggestions to heart. Instead of waiting to give feedback until a problem occurs, it is better if you make a habit of letting your team know about their work improvement regularly.

Also, transparency is key in a team to perform and deliver the best work. A leader should specify the expectations from each team member clearly. Well-defined roles, transparent and honest feedback helps to build trust and performance by each member. We should always keep in mind that the road to success is not easy. You experience lots of hurdles in the path. We need to be optimistic and take those hurdles as learning experiences.

Promote a culture of learning

 Create an environment where every individual is encouraged to continue expanding their skill. It includes providing access to ongoing training, personal development sessions, and many more. These activities will also help team members not be bored in their mundane job. With access to the tools that help team members to further build their careers, it makes them more proactive and be dedicated, and engaged and will create a stronger work environment.  

Good Communication and Collaboration

Team members who communicate well with one another are more likely to help each other. Also, they are more able to complete tasks on time and successfully. You should communicate properly with your team. Team members in the company should not be treated as resources for the company. You should create an environment for members to foster their self-esteem, ambition, independence, and desire for growth. By this, you are not only helping your team member’s personality development but also helping in growing your company through member’s contributions to your company.

 Also, collaboration is essential. When teammates collaborate and work together, they start to form a stronger and cohesive bond. It is like working together on a similar problem in the same boat. This bond directs them towards working collectively for collective goals. So, communication and collaboration in a team are like the glue that holds a company together.

Also, Read about Human Centered Design (HCD) for Startups

Emphasize the importance of employee contribution to the success of the business

The lack of interaction among the team members can easily cause them to lose self-esteem and make them think less important of their role. Also, if they don’t receive any kind of recognition from team leaders for their good work, they might become confused if they are doing well in their job or not. So, it is essential to establish a team culture where leaders connect with every team member and make them realize that their output has given an important impact on business growth. By this, members develop a deeper sense of responsibility in a company and among the team. Never miss a chance to give recognition to employees for their good efforts and works. Recognition to employees is the secret way for a team to continue to perform well further.

Note: Feedback should be given individually while recognition should be given in front of everybody. 

Show them the positive impact of their work

As a leader, if you are able to make clear to your team that their input matters and has a positive impact then this helps your members to be positively motivated and further perform well. Employees who receive regular praise are more productive, engaged, and more likely to stay with their organization, than those who do not. Also, research has shown that if employees realize their work matters to another individual, they lift their game. This kind of approach has worked well in the case of hospital staff, travel guides, pharmacy workers, sales teams, fundraisers, and in other social services.

Create Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is defined as an atmosphere where there is trust and respect among team members that encourages them to communicate, create and innovate. A-Team without trust doesn’t work. Psychological safety is another important component in the best-performing team; a culture that allows for mistakes and views them as learning experiences. A leader should create an environment for its members where they are ready to take moderate kinds of risks and aren’t haunted by the fear of its consequences. A kind of place should be created where people will dare to be creative and think outside of the box. 

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