Improving Teamwork: A Bufferchat Recap

This week in #bufferchat, we talked about ways to improve teamwork, strategies for keeping teams on track, how to find your role on a team, and much more!

Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, at TWO times every Wednesday for valuable industry insights and networking with nearly 400 other smart marketers and community managers. Same topic, same place, just at different times – feel free to join whichever chat time that works best for you!

For our community in Asia and Australia (or anyone in other timezones that like this time the best!): 4 pm AEST (Sydney time, UTC+10)

For our community in North/South America, Europe and Africa (or others!): 9 am PT (California time)

This week’s stats:
1st Bufferchat: 106 participants; 641 tweets; reach of 985,443
2nd Bufferchat: 279 participants; 1,764 tweets; reach of 1,437,570

Q1: What are the components of great and effective teamwork?

From the community:

• “A common goal and everyone knowing their role in achieving it. Respect acknowledgement of people’s core strengths.” @Jodie_Rogers
• “Deep, deep listening, as this is at the heart of everything; including teamwork.” @blondepreneur
• “A clearly articulated mission that each team member has stake in is critical to effective teamwork.” @EvynnTyler
• “Great + effective teamwork requires communication that’s focused, compassionate, and deliberate, and actions w/ selfless intent.” @AnnDiab
• “A terrific team has stellar communication, anticipates issues that may arise & flexibility to adapt to changes that may come.” @RCPatchett

See all the great answers to question 1 here!

Q2: What kind of roles are important to have in a team? Do you play a particular role in a team setting?

From the community:

• “Big picture thinker/strategist (me), quick ideas person, project manager/details person, facilitator.” @WendyMaynard
• “A good team in the 21st Century needs members who can bounce between being leaders and team players!” @theready
• “Motivator, organizer, mediator, leader, communicator—All roles are important to gain success.” @hellobrittnee
• “Coordinators for driving, doers for progress and happy champions just because the mood needs to be set right!” @coslois
• “Roles need to reflect business objectives. I think nowadays you don’t have A ROLE in a team, your role is always changing.” @cheidebluth

See all the great answers to question 2 here!

Q3: What have your successful team experiences looked like?

From the community:

• “My best team experiences embraced each other’s strengths and weaknesses.” @connieurway
• “Successful teams celebrate their wins more than they fret about their challenges. They support and lift one another.” @jesswlms
• “Everyone ends the project or initiative as happily as they began it–even if there were challenges (overcome) along the way.” @jgombita
• “When goals are achieved, and everyone who played a role in the success of the team feels fulfilled and appreciated.” @rhizaoyos
• “When the entire team feels empowered and it’s electric! Everyone is mutually motivating one another.” @izzydoesizzy

See all the great answers to question 3 here!

Q4: What are strategies or processes for keeping teams organized and on track?

From the community:

• “It’s hard to continue moving forward w/o checking in. Status meetings help everyone feel part of something bigger.” @kookypixel
• “Start off a project defining clear goals, desired results, and expectations for each person involved.” @milestech
• “My strategy for this as a team leader is DELEGATE DELEGATE DELEGATE I know this isn’t my strength!” @iSocialFanz
• “Comms like @Slack and @Skype plus project manage tools like @Trello or @Asana make #teamwork dreamy.” @_nicolemich
• “Don’t have meetings for the sake of meetings. Update each other creatively. Only meet to solve..or celebrate!” @jesswlms

See all the great answers to question 4 here!

Q5: How would you start to improve the dynamic when a team isn’t working well together?

From the community:

• “Don’t assume what the problem is. Listening is key when someone senses that the team isn’t working well together.” @danielleirogers
• “Often, we don’t fully see our fellow team member’s obstacles. A little perspective can go a long way.” @Wilde_Agency
• “Talk to people individually to uncover what’s the issue. Not everyone will speak up in a group setting.” @matageli
• “Make sure everyone gets air time! “Loud” team members can end up dominating discussions and leaving others behind.” @hirenoah
• “Someone needs to speak up! Not everyone will notice/agree that the team dynamic is off.” @Anne_E_Mercer

See all the great answers to question 5 here!

Q6: Do you know of any great resources for learning about and improving teamwork?

From the community:

• “@HarvardBiz has a lot of this topic. Most importantly, keep an open mind and be willing to adapt yourself.” @kenburbary
• “Also @actionablebooks – awesome conversations that encourage deeper connections across and within teams.” @pamelamaeross
• “@gethppy has an amazing resource library for teams. Check them out. www.gethppy.com/resources.” @flaviancristea
• “Nothing beats the experience of group work. Maybe that’s why there’s so many group college projects.” @julzhou
• “Games are a great tool to improve teamwork. It might sound silly, but taking a break to play improves morale.” @sgrayme

See all the great answers to question 6 here!

Q7: What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned about teamwork?

From the community:

• “Don’t let title dictate how you participate. Listen. Be proactive. Ask hard questions. Be receptive. Say thank you.” @matageli
• “Teamwork is about mutual respect. Show respect to your team, and a good team will reciprocate.” @TheCudaFish
• “That other people’s ideas can be just as good as my own. You have to put your pride aside.” @totallytblog
• “There is a line between making sure your voice is heard and quieting other voices.” @mrkampmann
• “Listen and pay attention: everyone has something valuable to add, it’s a good leader’s job to uncover/encourage it.” @romikid

See all the great answers to question 7 here!

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Thank you so much to our community for sharing your awesome insights and for participating in this chat!

Catch #bufferchat each Wednesday at 9 am PST, 12 pm EST, 5 pm BST OR at 4 pm AEST (Sydney time, UTC+10). Join our new Slack community with over 2,000 members to continue these awesome conversations all week long!

Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!

Image sources: UnSplash