Making sure your team is happy is one of the key things a business owner and manager needs to focus on. If there is resentment in the workplace because staff members feel underappreciated or there are tensions between employees, this leads to a toxic environment. As a result, your team will not give you their best work, and you might even find that you have a high turnover of staff because they don’t want to stay long term. If you want to avoid this and make sure your employees are happy, here are a few tips on how you can help them work together and increase their productivity.
Create a Positive Working Environment
If you want your employees to be happy at work, you need to create the right environment for them. Make sure that they are made comfortable by providing quality office chairs and desks, so their bodies get the right support. The staff break room should also be comfortable, with some sofas, a table to eat on, and enough storage space for food, cutlery, mugs, etc., and keep it clean. Even introducing a splash of color, plant life, and letting in as much natural light as possible will help to boost everyone’s mood.
Encourage Healthy Competition
Another way to try and inspire some great teamwork is by encouraging some fun, healthy competition between departments in the office. Have daily or monthly targets they need to hit, and give out fun prizes to the winning team, like a box of chocolates/sweets, or buy them a round of drinks after work on a Friday. It’s a great way for your staff to have some fun and work together to get the job done.
Get the Right Software
If your teams work on various collaborative projects with each other or other departments, they will need to be in regular communication and be able to share files with ease. While email threads and drop boxes are good for this, there are other software programs you can use to help increase productivity and help staff work together more efficiently. It could be through the use of IM functions on your business network, programs that make remote working easier or even managing spreadsheets and expenses for project budgets. Check out this Slack collaboration alternative for a range of useful products to help boost your teams’ productivity.
Social Opportunities
Another thing to keep in mind is encouraging your staff to socialize with each other. Studies have shown that colleagues that form friendships can work better together and are more likely to support one another in the workplace. On Friday afternoons, see if you can find the time to arrange some fun games with your team in the office and organize after-work drinks so they can get to know each other better.
Meetings
Finally, holding regular meetings with your teams and individual employees will help you to identify if there are any problems early on. Sometimes there will be clashes in the office, but it’s better to address these issues sooner rather than later before they escalate. Touching base with your teams and letting them know they can always come to you with a problem will help maintain a positive atmosphere.
If you want your staff to work together better, use these tips and see if they can make a difference in your office.
