To maximize team efficiency or to work within any group project is challenging, this has become much worse given the fact that we’re in the midst of a pandemic where many of us don’t have the luxury of confrontation and urgency over the course of the project. Instead, many of us are forced to meet virtually where it is so extremely difficult to work together without struggling significantly.
This article will go over 5 different ways you could use to maximize and promote team efficiency without overdoing it. Most of these ways and practices should take shape preferably at the start of every project; however, it could be integrated later if required or deemed important.
Setting Roles from the Get-Go
Setting roles for every team member from the start is probably the most important tactic on this list. This should be almost intuitive when forming groups however, many groups fail miserably on their projects because they have not set roles which makes everyone in the group very confused.
Groups should be involved in a dialogue between all members of the group in which tasks are assigned with respect to everyone’s individual and collective abilities. This process must entail splitting up the work between all group members fairly to avoid the unequal distribution of work and burnout.
Setting roles for every team member from the start is essential.
Source: Pexels – RODNAE Productions
Setting Expectations
Expectations in regards to teamwork can be identified as a set of points that are established preferably at the start of the project in which team members agree on a set of deadlines, tasks, and a weekly meeting time. All group members should agree to and are expected to adhere strictly for the duration of the project. It is extremely important that whatever expectations are created are uniformly accepted between all members or else setting expectations will not work.
Pick Team Members Carefully
This point isn’t always applicable because most of us are usually assigned groups through our superiors at work or by an instructor for a class. However, in those times where you can pick your team members, always go with what you know over what you don’t or try to balance it out. The crucial point here is, do not pick a team of people you have never worked with or have heard negative feedback previously from someone you know and trust.
Share Everything
Sharing all your work constantly and giving everyone access to it all is important because it promotes effective teamwork and cooperation. Many group members feel that they should always hold onto their work until submission time which is an extremely bad tactic because it encourages and fosters individuality which will have a negative impact on the overall group performance.
A way to address this is to have a shared Dropbox, Google Drive, or file in which all team members have constant access to in which you could all supervise each other’s work and ensure the team is progressing through any challenges present.
Sharing all your work constantly and giving everyone access to it all is important.
Source: Pexels – Christina Morillo
Meet Regularly
Meeting regularly either virtually or in-person fosters and creates an environment for excellence and group efficiency. When working in larger groups, this can become very daunting and difficult in finding a time that works for everyone. That is why we suggest creating a list of options for different times in which everyone can participate and elect a time that works for the majority. This feature is also available on our Pandos App which creates a time that suits everyone based on the specific hour everyone is available at. Meeting regularly and consistently can pay dividends if done in larger group projects because of its effect on efficiency and inclusiveness.
Maximize Team Efficiency
In conclusion, maximizing team efficiency has many different and unique factors associated with it that are not limited to the 5 above-mentioned ways discussed in this article. There are many other factors and tools that can be used to address many problems which is why we suggest you read articles on our blog for more information, tips, and advice when creating, maximizing and working within a team. You can also use the Pandos app as a random team generator in forming groups which is a very effective tool for many instructors and managers.
