Team Cohesiveness – Why it Matters

Teams that hope to work well together need cohesiveness; often referred to as the foundation for team collaboration and good decision making. However, team cohesiveness can be difficult to achieve, specifically when there are multiple strong personalities and talents. Entrepreneurs who take the time to invest time and training into their teams benefit from increased productivity and innovation, as well as improved morale among team members.

Why Team Cohesion Matters

It makes sense then that you would want to take steps to build team cohesion in a strategic way. This alone can help strengthen your business and create an irreplaceable team of pros dedicated to your success.

The 3 Steps to Team Cohesiveness

There are three specific steps you can take to increase team cohesiveness for your organization. The key is consistency.

1. Open Culture and Communication - A team cannot ever hope to experience full cohesiveness without the ability to connect and communicate openly with each other. Create multiple pathways for team members to communicate, in verbal and written formats. Convey the open culture so that information flows smoothly from one team member to another. Reduce obstacles to communication and find new ways to open up these channels. By sharing ideas and information, your team will be on the same page at all times.
2. Trust and Respect for Peers – No organization can be successful at building team cohesiveness without full respect and trust for peers. When a team member doesn’t feel respected or valued, this can bring down the entire team. Improve team morale and encourage all to participate in discussions, projects, and planning. Don’t let anyone become intimidated by another team member. Instead, make respect and trust a part of your corporate culture.3. Clear Company Goal Setting – In order for a team to have cohesion, it must have a purpose and direction. Set a standard mission for the team and create both short term and long term goals. Then give your team members the chance to creatively plan out the details and take action on these goals. Communicate the goals frequently and recognize team members who achieve their goals.

Once you have initiated these steps to team cohesiveness, you’ll find that team building is made easier. Bringing new team members on board is only a matter of teaching them these steps and integrating them into their daily work behavior .