Most workforces are made up of employees from different backgrounds. These backgrounds define the perspectives that the employees hold. When the employees bring their perspectives to the workplace, conflicts may arise. This is why it is important for employees to pull in the same direction through teamwork. As they collaborate, employees are able to abandon their personal issues and pursue shared goals. There are many organizations that struggle in their efforts to convince their employees to work together. As a result of the lack of teamwork, these organizations suffer a toxic culture that hinders productivity and profitability. Ellard Williams is one such organization. For this organization to enhance teamwork among its employees, it needs to implement a number of strategies that help to build strong ties among employees.
Strategies for creating team-oriented and collaborative culture
A number of effective strategies have been developed to help companies create a collaborative culture that encourages teamwork. Defining clear goals and outlining the roles of each member is one of these strategies (Heathfield, 2017). If organizations are to create a team-oriented and collaborative culture, they need to ensure that all employees understand the part that they need to play for goals to be accomplished. Promoting trust among employees is another strategy that enhances teamwork (Heathfield, 2017). Firms should ensure that their employees pursue the common good of one another. This helps to create a culture of trust and collaboration. Open and honest communication is the third strategy that firms which wish to enhance collaboration and teamwork may implement (Heathfield, 2017). This strategy allows firms to avoid conflicts and to allow employees to speak freely. Open communication channels also enhance trust and allow for contentious issues to be addressed before they cause conflicts.
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One of the causes of low levels of collaboration and teamwork is employees not feeling valued and lacking a sense of belonging. To address this issue, firms should take action to ensure that employees develop some attachment and a sense of belonging to the company (Heathfield, 2017). For employees to develop this sense of belonging, companies need to encourage healthy relationships that are built on trust and mutual respect. Lack of respect for the unique perspectives and personalities of employees is one of the factors responsible for low levels of teamwork and collaboration in organizations. Fixing this problem promises to enable organizations to improve teamwork and collaboration. It is crucial for firms to challenge their employees to respect the backgrounds and unique perspectives of one another (Heathfield, 2017). This goes a long way in creating a culture of respect, community and teamwork.
Conflicts are inevitable in situations involving groups. Firms need to anticipate and develop approaches for addressing conflicts as and when they arise (Heathfield, 2017). As they solve conflicts, firms also promote teamwork. For example, a firm may develop formal structures for resolving conflicts. This ensures that conflicts do not hinder collaboration and teamwork. Another strategy that firms can use to enhance collaboration and teamwork is encouraging participation. All employees should be provided with opportunities to take part in organization activities (Heathfield, 2017). Companies should ensure that no single individual dominates group activities and that all members are provided with the opportunity to offer input. It is also important for employees to be involved in the decision making process. Teams should also fully support employees so as to encourage participation and to build a culture of mutual respect and collaboration.
Tools for assessing organizational health
For organizations to avert conflicts and other issues that may hinder employee performance and profitability, it is important for constant assessment to be carried out. There are various tools that organizations may use for the purposes of assessment. A balanced scorecard is among these tools. Essentially, a balanced scorecard is a tool that organizations can use to evaluate how well a strategy is being implemented (Matthews, 2011). This tool can also be used to assess employee performance. Individual employees may also use balanced scorecards to determine their performance levels. Dashboards are yet another tool for assessing the health of an organization (Fox, Walsh & Schainker, 2016). This tool is basically used to monitor the performance of employees and the overall performance of an organization. When an organization uses this tool, it is able to gain key insights that can be used to avert tragedy. The tools discussed above are rather general. There are other tools that are more specific and have been developed for particular purposes. The Organizational Readiness for Implementing Change is one such tool. As the name indicates, this tool is used to determine how prepared an organization is for the implementation of change (Shea et al., 2014). This tool is especially relevant in the modern era where organizations are forced to embrace change so as to remain relevant and competitive. Ellard Williams can adopt any of these tools in its effort to determine its health. These tools can also enable the organizations to assess the level of teamwork in the company and identify areas that require improvement.
In conclusion, teamwork remains one of the vital elements of employee productivity. To successfully handle the complex tasks that they are assigned, employees need to join forces with their colleagues. Teamwork enables employees to create a culture of trust and mutual respect. For teamwork to thrive in an organization, focus must be given to effective and open communication. It is also important for organizations to invest in promoting diversity and respect for different perspectives. Ellard Williams needs to adopt the recommendations offered if it is to address the teamwork and collaboration challenges that it grapples with.
References
Fox, L. A., Walsh, K. E. & Schainker, E. G. (2016). The Creation of a Pediatric Hospital Medicine Dashboard: Performance Assessment for Improvement. Hospital Pediatrics, 6 (7). Retrieved 29th December 2017 from http://hosppeds.aappublications.org/content/6/7/412
Heathfield, S. M. (2017). 10 Tips for Better Teamwork. Retrieved 29th December 2017 from https://www.thebalance.com/tips-for-better-teamwork-1919225
Matthews, J. R. (2011). Assessing Organizational Effectiveness: The Role of Performance Measures. The Library Quarterly, 81 (1), 83-110.
Shea, C. M., Jacobs, S. R., Esserman, D. E., Bruce, K. & Weiner, B. J. (2014). Organizational Readers for Implementing Change: A Psychometric Assessment of a New Measure. Implementation Science, 9 (7). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-9-7
