What steps to follow for team cohesion: from creation to development

If hiring qualified personnel for the needs of a company is a necessity to ensure its success, team cohesion remains an essential point to maintain its prosperity in the long term.

That said, the implementation of a cohesion strategy within the employees of a company requires the follow-up of several of steps. These mainly relate to the company’s objectives and values, the formation of teams and the promotion of communication.

How to improve the performance of teams within the company? What are the specificities of team cohesion and what are its different stages?

Defining Team Cohesion

Team cohesion is when individuals in a group feel connected to each other and motivated by achieving a common goal. It is no longer just about mutual respect between employees, but also about trust, support and equal contribution.

A cohesive team, even when it is composed of employees with different skills, is distinguished by a strong sense of belonging to the company.

It shares the company’s culture, values, vision and objectives. A cohesive group works together and helps each other achieve business goals.

The importance of team cohesion within the company

The cohesion of teams within a company is of paramount importance for the latter. It involves social and professional connectivity between employees and encourages them to stay in the company in order to reduce the risk of turnover.

Low employee engagement is a common remark within companies. When the manager manages to create real cohesion between members, it stimulates their commitment and creates positive relationships necessary for the accomplishment of the assigned missions.

Certain actions such as the organization of a team building day or team building activities could have a significant and immediate impact on employee behavior.

The latter will no longer be motivated solely by the prospect of having a higher remuneration, but rather by belonging to a project and a greater vision. Their efficiency and performance will increase as this sense of belonging takes hold.

The different types of team cohesion

There are two types of cohesion. Cohesion in work and social cohesion.

Cohesion in the workplace

The cohesion of employees in the work represents their level of commitment to the accomplishment of the various professional tasks entrusted to them.

This type of cohesion therefore calls for the involvement of teams on a strictly professional aspect.

Social cohesion

This cohesion is distinguished by the culture of friendly relations between the various employees of the company. At this level, the friendly relations between them will be the driving force that pushes them to show loyalty to the company.

Team cohesion games also promote the maintenance of these relationships between colleagues.

The key steps of team cohesion

To set up a system capable of strengthening team cohesion, it is essential that the human resources management department follows certain steps. Indeed, cohesion must be established gradually. It cannot be immediate.

The manager must therefore provide the solid foundations to weld a work team. In the case of a new company or a team that does not yet have a mission or objectives, the role of the manager will be to create team cohesion.

Define together the objectives and values of the company

Determining the company’s objectives and values is the first point to create team cohesion. While it applies directly to new teams, it must be applied gradually for teams already operating with a specific dynamic.

For a new team

It can be useful to solicit the opinions of new employees as well as their ideas. In some cases, the image that employees perceive of the company may be different from that of the manager. The ideal is to pool the different ideas and opinions so that they serve as a solid basis.

This step is also one of the challenges of employer branding. Indeed, the culture of the company and the development of the objectives and values of the company, will serve to make positive the image that employees have of the latter.

For an existing and already functional team

In the case of an existing and already functional team, it will be necessary to take a step back and observe the links between the hierarchy and the employees. This exercise will highlight the quality of life at work, the strengths and weaknesses of the company.

The following aspects to be addressed during this study:

• The quality of managerial follow-up;
• Managing work-life balance;
• The quality of the work material provided;
• The advantages offered by the company, etc.

The answers will make it possible to adjust the management strategy to strengthen team cohesion.

Developing individual and common skills

To strengthen the cohesion of team members within the company, it is important that each employee feels competent and has the necessary resources to achieve the missions assigned to them.

To do this, during the recruitment process, each employee must be assigned clear responsibilities that indicate their role and place in the team.

Adequate training will also improve teamwork. Such training may constitute cross-functional collaboration in the workplace, conference organisation, etc.

Developing social cohesion

Connecting employees who spend an average of 40 hours a week together requires strengthening their self-esteem and morale. The manager must prove that they care about them and the quality of life at work.

Organizing a team building activity or a team building workshop would be a great solution to develop empathy, team spirit and trust.

By interacting with each other on a regular basis, employees get to know each other beyond the professional framework and form a cohesive team. The company’s employer brand will also be improved.

Focusing on communication

Communication and team cohesion are two intrinsically linked parameters. You should know that team building can only really work if the team manager sets up clear and continuous internal communication.

The role of the leader will be to provide the necessary resources to bring together the different members of the team.

Whether it is support for the realization of a project, the need to brainstorm or any other type of professional task, the employee must be able to get in touch with their peers.

Good internal communication also involves sharing the various information related to the new statutes, provisions and decisions taken in the company.

Resolving conflicts

Periods of tension will be inevitable during the integration phase of the cohesion strategy. Indeed, there is a good chance that divergences will arise, due to:

• The incompatibility of each employee’s working methods;
• Incompatibilities of personalities;
• Power struggles;
• Confrontations of ideas, etc.

The manager or leader must remind teams of the normality of the conflict. They must play the role of mediator, facilitator and limiter in order to avoid any slippage. In this case, the ideal is to encourage constructive internal communication and remotivate teams.

Take employees’ opinions

The company’s employees are the first people to be directly confronted with the company’s organizational and technical problems. Listening to employees offers a number of advantages.

Indeed, the opinions of employees represent a good source of information to know the difficulties not very visible encountered internally in order to provide adequate solutions.

Also, taking feedback from employees helps them feel listened to and valued. This improves the working atmosphere, and increases their performance.

Finally, some employees can provide project ideas or solutions that can be beneficial for the entire company. You can click on the following link to learn more about the importance of employee reviews.

Building trust between employees and the manager

The manager must establish an open communication system so that employees feel more comfortable when it comes to expressing their ideas and thoughts.

In order to develop trust between the different members, the leader must be exemplary by creating a precedent during which they are completely transparent to their teams.

Indeed, the manager represents a guarantor of respect for the company’s values. Since transparency is undoubtedly part of the values to be cultivated, they must set an example by respecting the established rules. Their attitude will serve as a benchmark and standard for the team.

Celebrating successes

Celebrating the company’s successes is key to maintaining a cohesive work team. Indeed, when the members of the company work together to achieve common goals, it is important to celebrate and reward them.

The leader must thank their team for their work and publicly recognize the role and contribution of each member. Offering rewards to deserving employees is also a great idea for team cohesion.

The rewarded employee could even become an employee ambassador outside the company.

Some ideas for activities to strengthen team cohesion

Team building activities are a very effective solution to strengthen the cohesion of the different members of a team. They also motivate employees to excel in their work. Here are some interesting team building activities ideas for companies:

• An escape game: employees will be locked in a room and will have to find hidden clues in the same room in order to get out. This game can have up to 12 people divided into small groups of 2 to 4 people;
• The shooting of a short film: shooting a short film does not require great resources. It is possible to use a personalized studio to accompany the teams. The one with the best film wins the game;
• Karaoke: Discover the best voices in your company by hosting karaoke. It can be interesting to make duets between collaborators. Another original idea is to do a voice recognition contest;
• A laser game: the idea behind this game is to score as many points as possible by touching your opponents with a laser beam while avoiding being hit;
• Charades: the advantage with this activity is that it requires very little means. This game can be played by video call or face-to-face with all team members.

These activities are great ideas to strengthen team cohesion.