Make Working As Part Of A Team Work

Guest post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess

As a self employed business and pet blogger I have the luxury of working from home and the only other member of my "team" is the Diva Poodle Henrietta. I remember, though back when I was working in the corporate environment and I wish my former supervisors had understood a few of these C's for propelling the team toward excellence. 

When you're spending eight (or more) hours a day in a corporate environment you need to have a team that actually works well together, or one that at least can cooperate toward the completion of a project.

As a leader, there are a few steps you can take to foster an environment that is conducive to productive team members, they are: 

• Communication. Truly, if you can't or don't communicate with your team how will they know whether they're performing at the level you're expecting? They aren't mind readers. Share information and foster open lines of communication between yourself and the team. 
• Coordination. If your team is comprised of individuals of varying talents, coordinate with them so they can work at their peak of efficiency. Also, use action plans to coordinate the outcomes of a project. 
• Cooperate. If your team members agree to cooperate, the project will likely be a breeze. Disagreements between team members can be healthy and lead toward a more indepth project. Don't allow team members to blame one another -- make certain they understand it is a team effort and everyone will succeed, or fail, as a team. 
• Collaborate. If the team feels free to toss ideas around, brainstorm and choose the part of the project in which they will excel, they will take more ownership in the outcomes. 
• Confidence. Show your team you have confidence in their ability to complete the task at hand. 

How do you foster the environment for team excellence?