Your employees work best when they are working together – not acting in self-interest but in a spirit of teamwork, communicating, collaborating and making progress toward shared goals.

Yet teamwork is not something you can count on, nor does it happen by accident. You have to facilitate it. You have to grow it. You have to create a company culture in which isolation is frowned upon and collaboration is the norm, a company culture in which the only way for the individual to succeed is through unity with the rest of the team.

This is not an overnight process, and will take continual work and refinement. With that said, there are certain things you can do to help your employees build a better team dynamic.

1. Communicate the goals of your team. If you want everyone to work together, it is important to show them what they are working together toward. Make sure you regularly articulate your company’s goals through meetings or daily huddles. Also implement a broader team Mission Statement or Vision Statement to provide focus.
2. Define job responsibilities in terms of collaboration. Instead of telling an employee that his job is to do X, tell him that his job is to work with Susie and Duncan on doing X. Define all responsibilities in terms of the team dynamic, and make it clear that you do not want work to be done in a solitary way.
3. Lead by example. If you want your employees to collaborate, it is important that you manifest a spirit of collaboration yourself. Get your hands dirty working alongside team members, enlisting their critiques and accepting their feedback.
4. Make team members feel valued. Ensure that you are providing team members with tasks or responsibilities that play to their unique strengths. Celebrate the achievements of your team, and offer public affirmation for those who do exceptional work.
5. Provide training opportunities. Ensure that your employees all have opportunities to develop their skills. Note that team training can be an especially powerful bonding process.
6. Encourage socialization. You may not have a taste for “team-building exercises,” like trust falls and ropes courses, but you should give your team members avenues to socialize – informal, fun events every quarter or so. Even a team “happy hour” can be a good event.
7. Encourage feedback. Make sure your team members all know that you welcome their feedback – and that there is no such thing as a “dumb” comment or a bad observation. Allow your employees to feel involved in the decision-making process.

Teamwork won’t happen without a little nurturing and encouragement, but you will find that it is more than worth the effort.

About the Author
Amanda E. Clark is the president and editor-in-chief of Grammar Chic Inc., a full-service professional writing company. She is a published ghostwriter and editor, and currently under contract with literary agencies in Malibu, California, and Dublin, Ireland.

Since founding Grammar Chic in 2008, Clark, along with her team of skilled professional writers, has offered expertise to clients in the creative, business and academic fields. The company accepts a wide range of projects and often engages in content and social media marketing, drafts resumes, press releases, Web content, marketing materials and ghostwritten creative pieces. Contact Clark at www.grammarchic.net.