What are team-building skills?
Team-building skills are abilities and traits that help teams, team leaders, and team members work cohesively towards a specific purpose. They are necessary for project completion, business growth, and employee work. Effective skills for teams determine the success of a business or institution. Once learned, they can help you become a better team player or a better leader.
9 team-building skills
The following are some of the most important skills for teams to develop for success in the workplace:
1. Delegation
Delegation involves assigning authority to another individual for them to carry out certain activities. It involves distributing work to different people within the team. Delegation also empowers employees to work more independently, increasing their performance and efficiency. When a team leader delegates work, it frees up much time to focus on high-value roles and tasks to use their time more productively. It also enables all team players to understand priorities and prioritize tasks.
Delegation also helps employees develop new skills and improve their knowledge of performing specific tasks. To become a better and efficient delegator:
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Create clear and attainable goals
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Always provide concise and candid feedback to your team
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Ensure you efficiently communicate roles and tasks to team members
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Set deadlines and timelines for doing specific tasks
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Delegate the right task to the right person by aligning an individual with an area of their interest and their expertise
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Provide the resources needed for the task
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Ensure you note milestones and achievements accordingly
Related: Time Management Skills: Examples and Definitions
2. Goal setting
Goals help teams visualize the end of their actions and input. Teams need to set clear goals before the start of the teams’ activities or projects. The most effective method to set goals is using the SMART method. This acronym stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based, and provides a guideline when setting an effective goal. To set the best team goals:
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Involve all stakeholders and members in the goal-setting process
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Create the primary goal for the entire team and specific goals for each team member
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Set detailed timelines
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Set progress trackers to help monitor the teams’ performance
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Stay flexible and open-minded even if you need to make unforeseen changes to the plan
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Choose measurable and achievable goals
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Employ an efficient strategy and plan to help you achieve your goals
Read more: SMART Goals: Objectives for Your Career
3. Motivation
Motivation helps team members remain excited and fully engaged in reaching their shared goal. Motivation makes team members work hard without supervision to improve the quality and quantity of their output. There are many activities that you could employ to enhance motivation among your team members, such as:
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Encouraging a consistently positive attitude among team members
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Supplying team members with constructive criticism
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Putting incentives in place as a reward for the best employees
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Encouraging healthy competition
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Monitoring employee motivation through surveys
Related: How to Motivate Employees
4. Leadership
If you hold a leadership role in a team, such as a project manager or team supervisor, you benefit from strong leadership skills to help you navigate the role gracefully. Leaders make decisions on behalf of the team, represent the team during administrative meetings, recommend and disapprove of team members’ work, and solve conflicts among the team. Leadership roles often require good soft skills, which include:
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Time management
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Communication
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Creative thinking
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Critical thinking
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Decision-making
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Conflict resolution