by Erin Ellison
A strong team culture goes far beyond making employees happy. It also boosts operational efficiencies, potentially resulting in increased productivity and profits.
Let’s look at team culture and how it can enhance your employee’s experience and your organization’s efficiencies.
Understanding Team Culture
Team culture is more than a collection of individuals working for an organization with a singular professional purpose. It’s an atmosphere rich with shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape how your employees collaborate and work together toward common goals and an overarching sense of purpose.
The Impact of Team Culture
It has been reported that individuals and teams feel safe and empowered when working in a strong and transparent team culture that encourages their ideas and contributions while offering opportunities to grow professionally and personally.
And, according to the 2017 Gallup State of the American Workplace Report, engaged employees say they feel 17% more productive and have a 41% lower rate of absenteeism than their less-engaged colleagues. In the Global Culture Survey 2021 from PwC, 67% of survey respondents said culture is more important than strategy or operations.
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The Impact of Team Culture on Efficiency
With a strong team environment, your employees will work within a shared understanding of your company values and goals, trust, open communication, collaboration, and regular and robust recognition.
Here are some additional ways that a positive team culture yields results for your organization.
1. Improved Communication and Collaboration
A healthy team culture promotes seamless communication through various channels, breaking down silos between team members and departments. With frequent and open communication, teams can collaborate more efficiently, leading to faster problem-solving and decision-making.
2. Boosted Team Morale and Motivation
It’s human nature for individuals to feel better and more motivated when they feel good about what they do. A positive team atmosphere fosters a sense of purpose and belonging, allowing employees to feel like they are working within and toward something bigger than themselves. You’ll see motivation, productivity, and engagement soar, which organically leads to enthusiastic handling of tasks and products, further boosting efficiency.
3. Increased Productivity and Task Efficiency
A strong team dynamic promotes innovative thinking and creative problem-solving that drive organizational success. Employees feel empowered to think outside the box and collaborate with teammates to develop solutions that might otherwise remain untapped. The welcome and encouraged thoughts of diverse employees with unique backgrounds, experience, education, and expertise open a huge gallery of ideas that lead to efficient processes and workflows.
4. Effective Conflict Resolution and Decision-making
As human beings, we all bring unique perspectives to the table, which can lead to a certain amount of conflict. However, teams with a strong culture welcome and embrace healthy, constructive feedback and develop pathways to promptly resolve conflicts. There are times when conflict — and positive and professional handling of the conflict — can result in a better plan or solution than before.
Constructive conflict resolution enables everyone to contribute freely and ensures smooth decision-making processes and that projects stay on course for success without unnecessary obstructions and delays.
Building a Strong Team Culture
If you want to build a strong team culture where your employees can enjoy a positive environment and see success in business efficiencies and process improvements, consider these tips:
- Leadership’s Role in Shaping Team Culture. Leaders serve as a pivotal part of shaping a positive team culture, leading by example, communicating expectations clearly, and fostering an inclusive and collaborative environment.
- Foster Open Communication and Trust. Encourage regular team meetings as well as one-on-one check-ins with your direct reports. Create an environment with trust, allowing team members to freely ask questions, express concerns, and share ideas.
- Recognize and Reward Teamwork and Individual Contributions. Recognizing and rewarding employees’ innovative ideas and successes are a big part of developing and nurturing a strong culture. It can motivate and inspire employees to continue to find new ways to contribute to your organization’s efficiency and success.
- Emphasize Diversity and Inclusion. Building a diverse and inclusive team is a big part of boosting efficiency and achieving overarching success for your organization. You get the advantage of hearing from a wide range of unique people with different perspectives and backgrounds who can provide creative solutions and better outcomes.
- Increase Recruiting and Talent Acquisition Efficiencies. Build a team with strong management based on diversity and inclusion that allows you to create an organic and positive team culture. Work with a professional recruiting agency with managed services and a focus on change management, project management, and employee engagement to enhance your operational efficiency, improve customer experience, and retain talented employees.
RELATED: Why Culture Matters to Your Bottom Line
At Insight Global, we understand the importance of creating and fostering a lively and healthy team culture. It drives results and allows everyone to share the rewards of achieving operational efficiency and excellence. Our team of experts can help you build management teams that’ll reflect and realize your vision of a positive team culture, inspiring collaboration and engagement that gets results.
Reach out to our Evergreen division to learn how our tailored solutions can transform your organization.
by Anna Morelock 
by Emilie Skaug 