“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” (Henry Ford)

Henry had the right idea, and this simple yet profound statement is a good illustration of the mindset that helped him realize his vision and build his epic business empire. He saw the incredible power and importance of teamwork.

As a business leader in today’s world, you can follow the same path to successful teamwork. Here are four tips to help you get everyone on your teams moving forward together, strengthening your company and allowing people to soar as the magic happens:

How You Can Improve Teamwork Efforts at Work

1. Set SMART team goals

Working together to set and track goals is the start of a solid foundation of teamwork. For every task and project assigned, a team should have SMART goals. If employees are all working toward the same thing, they’re much more likely to help each other out and strive toward desired results. Adding a shared incentive or reward is an added plus.

2. Clearly define each team member’s role

While team goals are shared, its critical to clearly define the individual role of each team member and ensure they understand exactly what they’re expected to accomplish. With clearly defined roles, everyone can get their work done efficiently and effectively, and overall productivity and performance will increase.

3. Foster trust and open communication

It’s up to team leaders to create a safe atmosphere where team members feel comfortable brainstorming and openly sharing their ideas. A good way to do this is through active listening and ongoing two-way communication. Within a team, there should be a system of regular, structured feedback where everyone has the opportunity to contribute, and their contributions – positive or negative – are heard and appreciated. This will steadily build trust.

• In one recent study, 64 percent of respondents said trust directly impacted their sense of belonging at work, 58 percent said it affected their career choices, and 55 percent said it influenced their mental health.

4. Build diverse teams

It’s easy to group employees together based on similar backgrounds, personalities, or skill sets. And while it’s important that team members see eye to eye, leaders must keep a focus on assembling diverse, counterintuitive teams that will ultimately lead to more productive collaboration. With each new opportunity, they should ask themselves how they can mix team members to challenge the status quo. In doing so, considerations should include gender, ethnicity, age, and personality types.

• To further enhance diversity, celebrate multi-cultural events. Also, pair up employees from different backgrounds and train employees company-wide on cultural sensitivity and inclusion.

Learn How Your Business Can Grow!

Having the staff, expertise, and other resources to continuously keep your team trained for collaboration, leadership, and success can be challenging, especially for small or mid-sized companies. Training and development is one of many areas in which a partnership with a professional employer organization (PEO) can be the ideal solution. Reach out to KeyHR today to learn how such a partnership might benefit your growing business.