Teamwork is a valuable part of a business within the modern office to ensure success, but it doesn’t come without its challenges! We all have very different personalities from one another, and that is what makes us unique. Whilst that’s a fantastic thing, it can sometimes cause clashes and problems when collaborating and working together. The key is finding a way to get past any potential pitfalls and make teamwork a success.
Here are a few common pitfalls and how to overcome them.
- Clashing personalities – This is a given and something that will happen occasionally. The solution comes in respecting each other and your views, whilst accepting that you cannot agree 100% of the time.
- One team member not contributing as much as the others – Perhaps this person feels stressed or demotivated for a personal reason and doesn’t contribute around the boardroom table as much. It’s best to talk to this person one and one and see if there is anything bothering them and if not, perhaps accept that they are more of an introvert who prefers not to talk in group settings. If they clearly aren’t pulling their weight, this is an issue that talking to your manger may be able to solve.
- Disagreements over specific ideas – Again, this is going to happen from time to time and it once more comes down to being adult enough to accept different viewpoints and perhaps try and see things from the other person’s point of view.
- Not having the right collaborative environment – If a team don’t have the right space to work together, it’s not going to work! Think about modular office furniture, which can be moved around with ease, and perhaps look at having breakout spaces where people can go to talk without fear of disturbing other people.
Have you experienced any other teamwork challenges?