Team bonding can be stronger when you foster a supportive culture and have an open-door policy. But do you really know how your people feel? Do the team members feel they can express their opinion and trust each other? Does it really matter? In this article at PMWorld 360, Jan Schiller shares how you can increase team bonding by imbibing affinity group culture.
Affinity for Team Bonding
Do people have to extend their work hours just to demonstrate their productivity? As a manager, do you acknowledge small wins or jump on the next project without recognizing your team’s hard work? These are necessary components to build a strong and supportive team culture. Here are some tips for using affinity group styles for team bonding:
Discover Your Stakeholders
Find out who your stakeholders are and the communication channels they prefer. That will help your team to interact smoothly with them without any misinterpretation of interests.
Share Your Wins
If leveraging affinity group culture can improve your team bonding, other departments and business units will also want to participate. Include everyone.
Have Regular Affinity Meetings
Maintain a regular meeting schedule. Share the calendar invite with your crew. If others also want to join, ensure that you book a larger meeting venue.
Let People Have Options
People might have more urgent tasks to complete. So, do not make these affinity group meetings mandatory.
Set Rules
Make it a rule that everyone should listen when a person is speaking. Furthermore, encourage teammates to accept feedback or agree to disagree instead of plunging into an argument.
Select a Subject
You might have to ask your teammates to talk about a subject just to break the ice. Later, they will pick the topics and bring their own ideas to the table.
Understand Your Emotions
Before you work on your team bonding, analyze your emotions first. Prior to knowing how your people feel, work on identifying your own internal inhibitions, fears, and insecurities.
To view the original article in full, visit the following link: https://www.pmworld360.com/blog/2021/06/02/7-tips-on-how-to-improve-your-project-team-culture-with-affinity-groups/
