Building a Cohesive Team In Your Company

Being part of a team that everyone enjoys being part of is a great way to spend your day at work.  When your workplace is calm and people all do their part to make things work, your day seems to fly by and you enjoy your job.  Business is hard enough without having to live with unnecessary stress all the time.

Not every one has the pleasure of working in a stress free environment but those who do understand the feeling of enjoying going to work everyday.  

I don't buy into the supervisor who says that they can't be friendly with their subordinates because they can't discipline them if they do.  You don't have to be harsh to your subordinates to keep things running smoothly.

I have learned that:  

• If you want respect from your employees/subordinates, give respect.  
• If you want honesty, be honest.  
• If you want people to put their all into the company, be the example and put your all into the company.
• If you want integrity from your employees/subordinates, have integrity.
• If you want people who reflect your company values to your customers and vendors, treat them as valuable members of your team.

If you want to see problems:

• just start gossiping, 
• telling lies, 
• treating people like they are less important than you are, 
• act like they don't matter in the company at all or 
• you could find someone else who wants their job, 
• make them do all the work and then take all  or most of the credit for it, 
• treat them like they have no opinion and that any idea they have is not important.

You will find that human nature is that people will gravitate to the lowest possible position to get by, especially if they are unhappy or stressed at work.  

If you want good employees: 

• treat them right, 
• educate them, 
• let them know they are important to your company or team, 
• reward them when a job is done well, 
• share the praise with them when it is received, 
• plan to have a fun event with them on a regular basis where everyone can just have fun and just be comfortable,
• be open and honest with them on their productivity and performance,
• deal with issues right away and fairly,
• hand out discipline that fits the crime and praise that fits the level of performance.

One common thing that I have seen in happy and cohesive teams is companies that believe in the 'work hard, play hard' mentality.

The team mentality must be fostered.  You need to keep people happy and educated in your company for YOUR own best interest. I have gone into companies where people hated each other and worked with them to bring cohesion to an otherwise unhappy bunch of employees.

My experience has been that you have to bring all players to a common ground where peoples' opinions and feelings are taken into consideration.  People can discuss all issues without retribution and listen to what others have to say in a workshop where things can be worked out and solutions can be offered by others for the common good of the company.

You would be surprised at how things will change when all employees know they are being heard and that they can make a difference too.  If you need company coaching, please hire someone to take on this task for the betterment of your company.

Get back to working together and making the most of your company and the bottom line.

Happy contracting !!

Charlene S Reed, Owner/Author

www.MyConstructionOffice.com

"Construction Administration Handbook"