As the new year approaches, it’s prime time to bolster your team’s performance and set the stage for success. Let’s take a look at some techniques you can use for team assessments, as well as strategies to elevate their overall performance.
Team Assessments
Objective assessments are the only real means you have to determine how effective a team is. Conducting regular assessments is vital to ensuring that you meet your organization’s goals. But it’s equally important for your employees, as it gives you the opportunity to hear and respond to their concerns.
Characteristics of a strong team include, but are not limited to:
- Trust in each other
- Open debate and decision-making
- Focusing on team rather than individual goals
Effective team assessments should include the following elements:
- Analyzing past projects and how effectively the team met its goals
- One-on-one discussions with team members
- Group meetings with the entire team to gather feedback and set new priorities
- Identifying areas for improvement and achieving buy-in from the entire team
Ways to Improve
Helping a weaker team improve isn’t always easy, but it is worth the effort. Steps to take include:
- Team-building exercises
- Opening the lines of communication
- Focusing on goal alignment processes to help everyone get on the same page
- Minimizing or eliminating areas of competition in favor of a more collaborative process
Integrating New Talent
A new employee could be the best thing that ever happened to a team or the team’s worst nightmare. A lot of this depends on your recruiting, onboarding, and integration processes.
Start by identifying candidates who fit well into your existing team. This doesn’t just mean bringing new skills and fresh ideas to the table. It also means that anyone you hire should share the same basic worldview and approach to work as your current team members.
During the onboarding process, explain your team-based philosophy. Talk about the importance of collaboration rather than competition, and be transparent about how tasks and projects are assigned.
Finally, partner your new hire with an existing team member who is good at collaboration, problem-solving, and bringing people together. Having that person as a buddy can help reinforce the concepts you introduced during onboarding.
The new year is an excellent time to assess your team and set things in motion for a successful year. Exactly what you do will depend on organizational and team needs, but if you put the focus on collaboration, communication, and trust, you will be well on your way.
Looking For New Employees?
Workbox Staffing partners with light industrial companies to provide temporary, temp-to-hire, or permanent employees in more than 30 locations across the Midwest, Midatlantic, and Southeast. If you’re ready to grow your workforce, get in touch with us today!
