Ways for Management to Encourage Teamwork

Focus on the bigger picture. Explain the longer range plans that the company has and frequently touch back on them. Many employees become focused on the smaller daily problems and issues and then lose sight of the larger picture.

When discussing projects and processes with employees be sure to define everyone's roles. Outline everyone's responsibilities so that everyone knows what every one else is responsible for and any and all deadlines. This will help your employees work more cohesively. You might want to ask your staff to help define the roles and responsibilities with you.

Remember to set goals. Employees need to develop individual goals and each department should have a department goal or goals. They should set goals that are within reach as well as long term goals. Encourage everyone to have a personal development plan in place that should be reviewed at least quarterly.

Share information as quickly as possible with your staff. No one likes rumors and gossip. Your staff will respect you for always providing open and honest communication. Reveal as much as you are allowed to reveal and keep your promise to update them as more information becomes available. This is essential in times of change or uncertainty.

Listen to your employees. Be open and listen to everyone's ideas. Ask for suggestions and set up an anonymous suggestion box too. Go to the source and ask your employees what they think would make them more productive or what could save money. They are the experts and have first hand knowledge.

Be realistic and patient. It is unrealistic to think that everyone you hire will love each other. At the least they should tolerate and respect each other. Give new teams time to get to know each other before passing judgments'. Try to set up team building activities to help break the ice.

Honesty is key to any organization. Establish your employees trust and then honor what you say. If you say something or promise something then be sure you follow through. If you don't know, just say so, but promise to find someone who does know. Remember to never, ever play favorites and to treat everyone of your employees equally and fairly.

Challenge and encourage your employees so that they are always meeting and exceed their goals. Let them try new things and push the limits on their knowledge. Sometimes you have to break out of the box to find that you have a talent for something you had never tried before. Remember to reinforce and reward excellence but also to reward the people that are out there trying too.

When someone succeeds or exceeds a goal then be sure to praise the whole department. Every department has its share of superstars but remember that not everyone can be a star. You can recognize and reward individual successes but do not forget to recognize the team as well.

If you want to motivate and excite your employees then you, yourself, need to be empowered and enthusiastic. Keep an upbeat and fresh attitude wherever you go. If you expect great things, great things will happen. If you are speaking about failure be sure to pull out the things that went well throughout the process and not just the fact that it did not meet with success.

Above all else, have fun! Motivate and empower your employees to have fun at work. Laugh together, have lunch or coffee with your employees, organize a company picnic or company bowling league. Doing things together outside of work seals the bond and creates an employee that is willing to work harder to get the job done!

Andrew Carnegie said it best. He said "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."