Did you know that 86 percent of employees and company leaders say that poor collaboration and teamwork among team members is a direct cause of workplace failures?

You can have the best products or services, but without good teamwork, most organisations will fail. Your team has to be as good as your product. Great teams are what makes companies stand out from competition and produce the best results.

Here, we will talk about the most powerful benefits of effective teams and provide some team-building strategies that you can begin implementing today.

Provide Clear Role Clarification

One of the most frustrating things for any team member is not having a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities. A lack of direction is seriously detrimental and it can lead to employee dissatisfaction, turnover and negative reviews.

Furthermore, if employees in the same department don't know who is responsible for what, they can't work together effectively. Open communication is a must between co-workers and senior leaders.

Many organisations find it helpful to use performance and task management systems to communicate and maximise collaboration, particularly in remote workplaces.

For example, Samewave is social performance management software that helps teams facilitate robust communication with instant messaging, chat streams and file sharing and storage. Our software also allows team members to foster accountability towards goals with Promise-Based Management and Social Discipline.

Incorporate teamwork software into your team environment without dealing with employee pushback for the best results.

Create Opportunities for Employee Engagement

People like working with others they enjoy spending time with outside of the office. They trust one another more and have meaningful relationships outside of work.

Cultivate a company culture that encourages socialising outside of work and provide avenues for those relationships to develop to build trust in the team environment. Schedule off-site team building events that meet the interests and needs of varying team members.

Need ideas? Appoint an employee to be in charge of your monthly social calendar. Bowling, team sports, happy hours, you name it. Be sure to plan a variety of events that will engage the entire team.

Reward High Performance

Let's imagine you hire a star employee that boosts sales, improves customer satisfaction and always goes the extra mile without being asked.

What happens in many organisations is that while managers appreciate these high performers, they end up spending their time in too many pointless meetings, managing poor performers, answering to C-level executives and hiring new talent. They forget to remember to take the actions that retain high performers in the long run.

Reward high performers in a variety of ways. Here are a just a few suggestions:

• Performance-based bonuses
• Extra benefits, such as increased time off or four-day work weeks
• Promotion to a higher level of responsibility and higher pay grade
• Spearheading a new project with the authority to drive a team of their own
• An invitation to participate in a high-level committee where their participation helps impact business decisions

Implement an Excellent Communication Policy

Don't assume team members and departments know how to communicate with one another effectively on day one. Create a company policy regarding communication expectations so everyone is on the same page.

Communication expectations should be a critical part of employee onboarding and clearly described in the employee handbook, organisational core values and workplace culture. Good communication examples include:

• Being respectful of one another's time
• Not making negative assumptions and instead assuming positive intent
• Starting meetings on time and ending on time
• Being open to constructive criticism and helping team members produce the best results by providing the skills and resources needed
• Creating an avenue for constructive conflict resolution

Encourage Feedback from Employees of all Levels

Many new or entry-level employees of any organisation feel they can't voice their ideas because they won't be heard. They might have excellent ideas that would produce great results, but they are too afraid to voice their opinions.

Why? Many companies get stuck in the pattern of 'this is the way it's always been done.' Or, there are too few people in with the organisational power who have the authority to make decisions, so whatever two or three senior-level executives say, goes.

What's the harm in this scenario? Without an overall organisational common goal that everyone feels they can individually contribute to, the workplace gets stagnant.

In general, people desire meaning in their lives. Workers want meaningful work and desire the opportunity to have a considerable impact. Without meaningful work, employees start going through the motions. They might come in late and leave early if they can't envision how their work really matters.

Do you want your team members to do the bare minimum, leave the office as soon as possible and become disengaged? If the answer is no, make sure you provide opportunities for employees across the organisation to thoughtfully and intentionally provide feedback, incorporate their new ideas and engage in teamwork across departments.

Start Fostering More Effective Teamwork in Your Organisation Today

Just as effective teamwork can fall apart as a company grows, it can take time to rebuild an organisational culture that actively promotes the best teamwork and collaboration strategies.

You might be building a team from the ground up and intentionally creating the best teamwork policies and procedures or mending a collaborative culture that has deteriorated over time. Either way, team leaders must take action.

Hire the best talent and put best practices in place that encourage their development and keep them working hard toward the company mission. Maximise job satisfaction by listening to employees in every layer of the organisation, involving them in company decisions and learning from mistakes.

Finally, be sure to incorporate team building activities that keep your team members engaged inside and outside of the office. With these strategies, you'll be sure to improve performance, employee engagement and team collaboration while continually driving the best business results.