Teamwork in the Workplace: How Leaders Make It Work

Most organizations say they value teamwork. Fewer define what effective teamwork in the workplace should look like in practice.

Putting employees on the same project does not automatically create a team. Neither does scheduling more meetings, adding collaboration tools or asking people to work together more often.

Teamwork in the workplace develops when people understand the shared goal, know what each person contributes and communicate well enough to coordinate their efforts. Team members also need clarity about responsibilities, decisions and accountability.

Without that foundation, collaboration becomes frustrating. Work is duplicated, decisions stall and employees leave meetings with different interpretations of what happens next.

Leaders play a critical role in creating the conditions for teamwork. They establish direction, model communication habits and make it possible for different perspectives and areas of expertise to contribute to a shared outcome.

Try an experiment with me. The next time you eat in the company cafeteria or attend a company happy hour or picnic, find the largest single group of people. They’ll be the ones laughing and making a lot of noise at the long tables, or the ones who instantly dropped all their things and started a pick-up volleyball game with dubious rules. There will be a lot of them and chances are, if you came back the next day, you’ll find almost the same exact group together. And if you\’re like most other companies, this group is almost entirely made up of millennials.

More than any other generation, millennials have an embedded fondness for team structures. Whether its lunch groups, cocktail circles, or pick-up sports games, millennials gravitate more toward one another socially than past generations, and this translate directly into how we approach projects. And this is nothing new. Try something else with me. Picture a millennial. What does your immediate picture look like? You’re probably thinking of a talkative group of young professionals, wearing jeans, working on laptops, and lounging around a common-space of brightly colored beanbag chairs, right?

That’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but when I asked you that question you likely thought of a group instead of a single individual. That’s how ingrained teamwork in the workplace is to millennial culture! Even when we think of a millennial we very often think of a group instead of an individual. And this group dynamic translates directly into a strong support of teamwork among millennials. The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) recently conducted a survey and found that 92% of millennials in the workplace believed that teamwork made at least some positive difference in solving problems and improving creativity.

So if millennials are strongly conditioned towards teamwork in the workplace and believe it is an effective method of problem solving, then why do so many millennials “job hop” frequently? Surely if millennials really bought into the whole teamwork attitude they’d be even more inclined to stay on with a single company, right? Well, therein lies another generation divide. Back in our post “Stop. Drop. Next Payroll,” we found that of the millennials we surveyed across the country, not a single one thought that staying at the same company was the best way to advance their career. So why is this the case?

The Harvard Business Review conducted a study on Senior Leadership teams and found that nearly all of the 120 top executive groups they studied around the world believed they had set, and clear team structures. However of those same 120 teams, fewer than 10% of participants could actually identify who exactly was on their team. And remember, these are senior executives! So if companies are unsure of their teamwork structure at the top, it\’s a pretty safe bet to say that that doubt trickles down throughout the organization. And if you think millennials don’t pick up on that…we do!

Whether you are personally a fan of group projects and collaboration or not, it’s important to at least acknowledge that it is a large, expected part of the expanding workforce. Many companies start off on the right track with millennials and foster their built-in team-structure with collaborative on-boarding. Large consulting firms, investment banking companies, and tech giants view each year’s crop of new millennials as the “[Company Name] Class of 2017,” and organize a great entry week.

But here’s the disconnect. After the on-boarding process ends, many companies then scatter their new employees throughout their divisions with minimal direction and no attempt to maintain the group culture they spent a week installing. Even in companies with young career development programs this can still pose a problem. If those programs do not make it easy to play into millennials’ inherent team-structure then they actually create a grind for millennials who want to actively seek collaboration.

It seems intuitive that companies would want to tap into this existing behavior and some have with great success. If I asked you to tell me the names of some of the companies you think millennials would want to work for (Google, Facebook, etc), chances are you’ll start to see a picture of how those companies play into their young employees social strengths.

Truly effective teamwork in the workplace requires a supportive foundation and the truth is that the culture of cubicles just doesn’t cut it any more. If only 10% of those senior executives felt that they could actually pick out the members of their own teams, imagine how hard it must be at those companies for managers and directors to identify their own teams. Now think of how hard it must be for entry-level personnel at those companies to figure out whose team they belong to!

Now I’m not saying that millennials have to work together all the time. That would be foolish. In order to grow as professionals everyone needs their own subject expertise, development plans etc. But when team structures within a company are fuzzy or weak, and millennials feel like they have to overcome obstacles just to collaboration, it can create a sort of motivational pitfall. Simply put, if companies do not make an investment in trying to encourage teamwork, then they run the risk of losing out on top talent millennials who gravitate towards more collaborative teamwork in the workplace environments.

What Makes Teamwork in the Workplace Effective?

Effective teamwork begins with a shared understanding of what the team is trying to accomplish.

Members may bring different functions, experiences and areas of expertise, but they need to see how those contributions connect. Without a common goal, individuals may complete their own responsibilities successfully while the larger team struggles.

Teamwork in the Workplace – Clarify the Purpose of the Team

Every team should be able to answer a few basic questions:

Why does this team exist?
What outcome are we responsible for?
How will success be measured?
Which decisions belong to this team?
What does each member contribute?
How will we resolve competing priorities?

These questions may sound simple, but teams frequently move into execution before establishing the answers.

A clear purpose helps people make better decisions when priorities shift. It also gives team members a way to evaluate whether a discussion, meeting or request supports the team’s actual work.

Teamwork in the Workplace – Define Roles Without Creating Silos

Role clarity allows people to understand what they own and where they need input from others.

It should not mean that everyone stays rigidly within a functional boundary. Strong teams know when expertise should lead, when collaboration is needed and who has authority to make the final decision.

When roles remain vague, either no one takes responsibility or several people believe they own the same decision. Both situations create unnecessary conflict.

Leaders should clarify who recommends, who contributes, who decides and who carries the work forward.

Teamwork in the Workplace – Build Communication into How the Team Operates

Teamwork in the workplace and communication should not depend on individual preference.

Some employees share information quickly. Others wait until a formal meeting. Some use email, while others rely on chat or informal conversations. Without shared communication practices, important information reaches people at different times and in different forms.

Teams should agree on:

Where updates are shared
Which issues require a meeting
How decisions are documented
When feedback should be provided
How quickly questions require a response
What information belongs with the broader team
How disagreements will be addressed

Communication becomes more effective when the team knows what to expect from one another.

Teamwork in the Workplace – Create Space for Different Perspectives

Agreement is not always evidence of good teamwork.

A team that never disagrees may be avoiding difficult conversations or overlooking important risks. Effective teamwork in the workplace creates room for members to question an assumption, introduce a different perspective or challenge a recommendation.

Leaders shape that environment through how they respond. If a leader becomes defensive or dismissive when someone disagrees, team members learn to remain silent. If the leader asks questions and explores the concern, employees see that thoughtful disagreement is part of the work.

The goal is not conflict for its own sake. It is a stronger decision informed by the expertise in the room.

Teamwork in the Workplace – Hold the Team Accountable for the Outcome

Teamwork in the workplace does not eliminate individual accountability.

Each person should understand what they have agreed to do, when it is due and how their work affects others. The team should also share responsibility for the larger result rather than treating every problem as belonging to one function.

After important discussions, confirm:

What was decided
Who owns each action
Which dependencies remain
When the team will review progress
What requires escalation

This discipline turns conversation into coordinated action.

Teamwork in the Workplace – How Leaders Can Improve Teamwork

Leaders influence teamwork in the workplace through what they clarify, encourage and reinforce.

They can improve teamwork by setting a clear direction, inviting relevant perspectives and keeping discussions focused on the outcome. They should also recognize when unclear communication, unresolved conflict or competing priorities are preventing the group from moving forward.

Strong leaders do not need to provide every answer. They need to help the team use its collective expertise effectively.

SW&A helps leadership teams strengthen the communication skills that support alignment, decision-making and collaboration. Through tailored leadership communication training and consulting, teams learn to clarify messages, navigate different perspectives and move important conversations toward action.

What do you think about collaboration in the workplace? Do you agree that millennials actively seek teamwork opportunities? Head back to Base Camp and join the conversation!