7 Teamwork Challenges That Decrease Your Team’s Efficiency And How To Fix Them

Teamwork is one of the most intricate parts of working in a group, whether you work in an office or with a remote team. As Mark Zuckerberg once said “Great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people.”

Nowadays, with complex systems and high uncertainty, it's important to bring in people from different parts of the company to get a full picture of the problem and have a diverse set of perspectives to solve it. The Future of Work is already shaping the workforce and team dynamics. With more frequent and unpredictable disruptions, new challenges are emerging. We need to adapt quickly. But what does this mean for teamwork? Can the same team dynamics and processes still be effective? 

Here Are 7 Teamwork Challenges That Our Research Uncovered And The Solutions To Fix Each Challenge

Challenge 1: Complexity Of The Work — And Workload

When it comes to complexity, there are two types to keep in mind - task complexity and team complexity. Task complexity refers to how much mental effort is required to complete a task. Team complexity refers to the number of resources your team needs, as well as the amount of coordination required.

The solution

As your team grows, the solution is to move from personal project management (tracking everything in your head) to visual project management (tracking things visually).

• Make sure you’re using the right tools for your specific project or tasks.
• Increase transparency by assigning tasks with the help of project management tools.

Challenge 2: Alignment Of Goals And Priorities

When it comes to teamwork, employees don't always know what their teammates are working on or how their work relates to the work of others. Without this context, employees often struggle to see how their work contributes to the greater good. It's important for teams to share information about what they're working on and collaborate closely on shared goals so everyone sees how their contributions fit into the bigger picture.

Solution

It is important to align your team's individual goals with the organizational goal. You need to ensure that every member in your team knows why they're doing what they're doing. This way, there won't be any conflict of priorities or any misalignment when working on a project.

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Challenge 3: Different Working Styles

When you put two or more people together in a team, they are likely to have different approaches to the way in which they work. Some may prefer to plan out exactly what needs to be done, while others will be more spontaneous in their approach.

Solution

To maintain good teamwork, you need to find a way of merging these two types of working styles. You can do this by planning and scheduling in detail but making sure there’s room for flexibility.

If you have a member of your team who insists on doing everything on their own, it might be worth setting up more structured meetings so that you can encourage them to involve the rest of the team in decision-making processes.

Challenge 4: Lack Of Communication

Teams who don’t communicate often struggle to understand each other and collaborate effectively. Also, lack of communication can lead to low morale and negativity in the workplace. For example, if you don’t know what your teammates are working on, you may step on their toes or miss an opportunity to help them out.

Solution

Set aside time for frequent check-ins with your team members. This could be weekly, monthly or quarterly depending on your workflows. If you have remote teammates, consider using video conferencing tools like Skype or Zoom so that you can still have face-to-face interactions.

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Challenge 5: Building Trust Among Team Members

When you have a team of people working together, one thing you need to ensure is that there must be mutual trust among them. Trust plays a vital role in ensuring that your team works together effectively and achieves its objective.

Solution

 In order to build trust, it is important that you spend time with your team members outside your workspace so that they can get to know each other better. You can also conduct ice-breaking sessions where they can share their interests, hobbies and likes/dislikes with each other.

Challenge 6: Decision-Making Processes

Decision-making processes have been a challenging thing for teams even before the pandemic due to the diversity in opinions, knowledge, and skills. A common challenge that many businesses face is that the decisions are taken by a few people (often the leaders), while others are only informed of the decision after it has been made. This can be frustrating for your team members and can lead to a lack of trust among team members.

Solution

To fix the problem,  you should start encouraging everyone to contribute their ideas and share how they feel about certain issues with their colleagues. One way to do this is by conducting pulse surveys where you can ask your employees about their thoughts on a certain matter, or take anonymous feedback from them so that they don’t feel pressured into sharing their views on certain things.

Challenge 7: Accountability And Transparency

When no one is accountable for their actions, the entire team suffers. When employees don’t know who is doing what, your team will lack the focus necessary to succeed. A lack of accountability can be caused by a number of things, including unclear objectives and tasks, not having regular check-ins with your team members, or even simply letting people hide behind the crowd in meetings.

Solution

Establish clear connective structures and well-defined roles. Create some workflow management tools that your team uses on an ongoing basis so that everyone can see what others are working on in real time. Try setting up weekly meetings to go over goals and progress. This is a great way to see where everyone is at with their tasks and to make sure that everything is moving along smoothly.

Takeaway

Teams can learn how to deal with these challenges. These challenges are common, but that doesn't mean they can't be fixed. The above solutions should help you overcome any mistakes of the past and ensure that your team functions smoothly from here on out. But before you move forward, take some time to reflect on your current challenges and develop a plan for improvement. That way, once you get started on your teamwork strategies, there's no turning back. 

Understanding the nature of each problem is a key part of resolving any issue. The bottom line is that in order to fix a problem, you must first understand and accept it. Too often, people will assume things are working because they're "not broken." I hope that you now have the missing puzzle piece you needed the most. Take what you learned from this post and begin your journey on effective teamwork. 

Bonus: Including regular team building activities part of your work culture is one of the greatest ways to promote teamwork. Partner with us to unleash the fullest potential of your team with the help of fun and engaging experiences