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“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” (Steve Jobs)

There are many benefits to having a great team, and these have been backed up by scientific research around the world.

These include, for example:

• Improved productivity, with thousands of employees noting that having the respect of their peers is the number one reason they go the extra mile at work.
• Better problem-solving, as team members pool their diverse unique talents and skills to find smart solutions to ever-more complex problems.
• Generation of innovative ideas as team members with different experiences, opinions and perspectives collaborate.
• Taking more calculated risks, as team members know they have the support of a team.Personal growth, increased job satisfaction and reduced stress are all benefits of working in a team.
• Reduced risk of burnout as the workload is shared among team members.

Five steps to build your team stronger

1.  Take care of the basics with the help of your accountant
   • Ensure fair remuneration and that each team member’s salary is optimally structured.
   • Put the basics in place: Employment contracts, salary slips, leave and sick leave, job descriptions and performance reviews.
   • Offer incentives for employees to increase their earnings – from simply working extra hours to profit sharing for achieving company goals.
2. Provide the right skills and tools for each team member
   • Team members should have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and how it contributes to achieving the team’s goals.
   • In addition to safe, clean and friendly working conditions, each team member should have the right skills and the right tools to make their contribution to the team’s success effectively and efficiently.
   • Be sure to provide practical means to track the team’s progress to maintain motivation.
3. Offer perks that matter!
   • Non-monetary perks that have proven to be very popular include flexible working hours, extra time off, transport, childminding facilities, fun social activities and opportunities to volunteer during work time.
   • Health and wellness programmes are an affordable and practical option to help team members to better care for their health, improving productivity and reducing both absenteeism and presenteeism (when team members are at work, but are too ill to perform their duties).
   • Financial wellness programmes can provide team members completely confidential assistance to deal with the financial stress that is known to negatively affect work performance.
4. Ensure open and regular communication
   • Regular and prioritised communication – from weekly team meetings to reports with regular due dates are crucial to share information and provide feedback to the team and individual members.
   • Provide all team members with opportunities to share their input, actively seek out suggestions, listen to understand and work to build consensus, which is likely to result in the best decisions.
   • Define common goals and clear steps to achieving these goals.
5. Celebrating successes and implementing lessons learned
   • Be certain to celebrate milestones and successes with the team, recognising each team member’s efforts.
   • Define the lessons learnt from failures and adjust the team’s approach accordingly.
   • Consider team-building activities that can foster cooperation and build trust and team spirit.

This year, build your team stronger with these simple steps, and set your company up to enjoy all the well-documented benefits of great teams – from increased productivity to better problem-solving and innovation – in the year ahead and beyond.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

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