Behind every strong team, there is a strong leader. Want to build a cohesive, collaborative and high-performing team in the age of hybrid and remote work? You’ll need to prioritize a few things.
“To nurture the strongest teams, leaders must prioritize open feedback, consistent touch points, and a standardized work-life balance. Regular communication, empathy, and feedback loops between management and team members drive team cohesion,” according to Kevin Miller, a digital marketing expert, former Google employee, entrepreneur, and angel investor who was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2021 American Business Awards.
From revamping your performance review process to encouraging peer recognition, there are plenty of specific things you can do regularly to foster that kind of culture in your team, but zeroing in on a few foundational pillars will keep you intentional and on task.
Here are five of the most important tips to build a strong team in the modern workplace, according to experts who do this on a daily basis.
1. Focus on responsiveness, engagement and accountability
Mike Raia, workflow automation expert and VP of Marketing at Integrify, has been successfully managing and growing a fully remote team. He attributes this success to three qualities: responsiveness, engagement and accountability.
“These are key qualities generally, but especially when teams are working remotely. When coworkers, customers, and partners are remote, there is a significant risk of appearing detached and uncaring. We avoid this a few different ways,” he says.
“We use tools (Notion, in our case) to map out our days/weeks, assign tasks, provide relevant information, and have one-stop shopping for our work. Centralizing on a tool, whatever tool, makes our days more efficient and provides clear direction.”
2. Cultivate connectivity and openness
Using a central project-management platform is one way to ensure visibility, maintain engagement and promote accountability in a hybrid or remote workforce. You’ll also want to keep the communication lines open – but in an authentic way. Cookie-cutter communication strategies no longer suffice for building strong teams.
“Give your team a voice. Let your team know their opinion matters. Ask them for feedback and suggestions. People want to be heard. When you give your team a voice, they feel like they can contribute to the company’s success and make their own impact on the organization,” according to business growth strategist Dawna Jarvis.
Miller is all about providing multiple touchpoints and maintaining candidness in his team. “We hold weekly team meetings to exchange news, see each other face to face, and keep up to date on changes and improvements. By supplementing these meetings with monthly check-ins for each team member and team-building exercises through Slack, we maintain a culture of interaction and candidness that drives employee comfort and engagement,” says Miller.
According to him, having ample opportunities to share perspectives, offer feedback and encourage social connections makes all the difference when it comes to team cohesion. “If you create strategic spaces to cultivate connectivity, authenticity and open-mindedness, teams will take notice and show up authentically,” he says.
3. Celebrate successes and show appreciation for your team
Winners want to win. So if you want a strong team, you need to celebrate wins. “We celebrate success. We use a team channel to post our big wins, whether it’s a new customer, positive KPI trends, or kudos from other departments. But no fluff,” says Raia.
Appreciating everything your team does also helps build trust and makes team members feel valued at work. “Show gratitude and appreciation for your team. Acknowledge their hard work in front of others, celebrate their successes, and thank them for all they do regularly. Showing gratitude goes a long way toward building strong relationships with our teams,” adds Jarvis.
4. Lead by example
You can read about leadership theories all day long, but if you don’t practice what you preach, it will be hard – if not impossible – to have a strong team. Lead by example, says Jarvis.
“If your team doesn’t see you working hard, they won’t either. Set the tone by doing what you ask of them. You are the example to follow,” she says. That also means setting a positive tone when it comes to work-life balance and boundaries at work. The modern workplace is all about sustainable productivity, after all.
Damian Grabarczyk, the co-founder of PetLab, shares a page from his leadership playbook on cultivating a robust team culture — “As a founder, I’ve learned that the cornerstone of building a strong team in a hybrid workplace is not just in what we say, but what we do. At PetLab Co., we don’t just talk about dedication and hard work; we embody it. When a new challenge arises, I’m there with my team, sleeves rolled up, ready to tackle it head-on. This isn’t just about showing commitment; it’s about fostering an environment where every team member feels empowered to take the initiative because they see it happening at the very top. It’s a ripple effect — when leaders step up, the team steps up.”
5. Hire carefully
If you’re pouring all your energy into building a strong team, it’s important to align your hiring strategies with your goals. “We hire carefully. Candidates must have the requisite skills, but we also pay a lot of attention to resourcefulness and personality. Our internal brand is about solving tough problems gracefully. We hire people that are both smart and easy to work with,” says Raia.
Get clear on your values and vision. Clarify roles and responsibilities. Identify your competitive advantage and priorities. Hire accordingly, and you’ll be well on your way to having a super strong team.
