Building Team Unity in 5 Easy Steps

Team Unity

A team without unity, without cohesion, isn’t really much of a team, is it? As an employer trying to build a strong workforce or a coach trying to build a strong team, UNITY should be the first item on your checklist.

“Unity is strength…when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved,” American poet Mattie Stepanek.

So the question becomes how do you build team unity and foster a sense of belonging amongst a group of individuals that may have little in common outside of the fact that they are members of the same team?

COVID-19 Update: This question becomes even more critical during times of distancing, while teams are working remotely. It’s increasingly difficult to maintain that sense of unity while we work apart from one another.

That’s why we, the team building experts, have adapted our programming and introduced: Virtual Team Building! Stay connected, build a sense of teamwork, and keep on track to reach your goals!

How to Build Team Unity in 5 Easy Steps

“Clearly, building meaningful relationships in the office can have a positive impact on job satisfaction and, as a result, success,” says Andre Lavoie, CEO of ClearCompany.

The average American adult employed full time works 47 hours per week, and four in 10 workers put in over 50 hours each week. So, it’s important to like what you do and who you work with. According to the Gallup Organization, workers who identify coworkers as friends (or even best friends) are seven times more likely to be engaged in their jobs. They are more likely to be satisfied and productive.

Fortunately, building team unity just takes a little work…

Step 1) Clearly Define Goals

As Andrew Carnegie once said, “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.”  It is important that every member of the team knows and understands the company’s goals. Without a clearly-defined finish line and plan to reach that finish line, everyone will ultimately run in different directions.

Step 2) Clearly Define Roles

As the old saying goes, “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” This is just as true in the workplace or on the field as it is in the kitchen. Without clearly defined roles, productivity comes to a standstill. Too many leaders – too many voices – slow the process, lead to missed deadlines, unproductive behavior, errors, and ultimately failure.

Step 3) Establish Trust

Scottish author and poet George MacDonald once said “To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.”

Trust is essential to an effective relationship, an effective team, and an effective business. We must trust our co-workers, our teammates. We must trust that they will do their jobs. We must trust that they will pull their own weight and add value to the team. But building trust is not always easy. As theologian Isaac Watts once said, “Learning to trust is one of life’s most difficult tasks.” Trust must be earned, and this can take some time.

Step 4) Encourage Open Communication

“We’ve found patterns of communication to be the most important predictor of a team’s success,” writes study author Alex “Sandy” Pentland, MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory. The ability to communicate clearly is critical, and yet it is something that many companies take for granted. In fact, according to Talent Management, 86% of employees blame lack of collaboration (just another word for communication and teamwork) for workplace failures.

“The general consensus of the executives was that effective communication skills are more important now than ever before for business success,” say researchers James Bennet and Robert Olney, “and these skills will continue to be a critical component of the information society.”

Step 5) Practice

Teamwork – unity – takes practice. Sometimes teams need to get out of the office to improve productivity, within the office.


How Terrapin Adventures Can Help Your Team Build Unity

Our Team Building Activities allow individuals to play different roles within the team, in order to work out solutions to specific challenges. Each exercise is fun but also challenging, designed to make your employees stop, think, communicate, adjust their plan of action on the fly, and ultimately fail before succeeding.

Get in touch with a Guest Relations Specialist today and ask about how we can help you plan your team building event.

If you have any questions, please call Terrapin Adventure at 301.725.1313, or email us at info@terrapinadventures.com to learn more


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Works Cited

  1. “THE IMPORTANCE OF UNITY IN TEAM SUCCESS.” Addocura. N.p., 4 Nov. 2015. Web.
  2. Glaze, Sean. “Two Main Ingredients That Create Team Unity.” Two Main Ingredients That Create Team Unity. Association for Talent Development, 30 July 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
  3. Pentland, Alex “Sandy”, and Anita Woolley and Thomas W. Malone. “The New Science of Building Great Teams.” Harvard Business Review. N.p., 15 July 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.
  4. Bennett, J. C., and R. J. Olney. “Executive Priorities for Effective Communication in an Information Society.” Journal of Business Communication 23.2 (1986): 13-22. Web.
  5. Lavoie, Andre. “How to Build Meaningful Relationships in the Workplace.” Entrepreneur. N.p., 01 Sept. 2015. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
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