Are you looking for some good teamwork tips to improve the working dynamics of your farm, family, business and life?
Ideas for better teamwork are right here in this episode of the Rural Women Inspired podcast. I am sharing my best tips for teamwork that work well for the farm and home my husband and I run together while he works a full time job off the farm.
So, in this episode, I will give scenarios and tips for:
- My Top 5 Good Teamwork Tips
- How to communicate well with others for effective teamwork
- The importance of “subs” into your team.
- Being kind and encouraging to other team members.
- The overall importance of teamwork in life.
Why You Should Care about Learning How to Improve Teamwork Skills?
Because a balanced life is achieved with a good team at work. Learning to work together with others, listening to one another and allowing members to work with their strengths and skills is important for successful teamwork in the workplace, farm, committee or whatever is going on in life.
I give you plenty of successful teamwork examples in this episode. So, let’s jump right in to the tips.
The 5 Good Teamwork Tips
Keys to successful teamwork include:
- Effective Communication Skills – Learning how to communicate well with others.
- Scheduling – Practicing good teamwork tips by knowing each other’s schedule.
- Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses – Identifying the importance of teamwork in life.
- Encouragement
- Appreciating the work of your team.
Let’s chat about each one of these important parts of teamwork.
Communication
This is the #1 part of the teamwork formula. Always have a plan. And LISTEN to each other! That t-shirt I talked about actually says, “I’m sorry for what I said while working cows.”
Here’s the t-shirt I mentioned in the episode.
List of communication skills to practice:
- Hand Gestures (Elizabeth Shipstead has an excellent post on this topic right here)
- Verbal Communications
- Written Communications. We text and leave notes on paper, dry erase board and chalk boards.
Always remember that no one can read your mind. There’s no sense getting angry with one another because you didn’t communicate and there was a misunderstanding.
Effective communication tips are important to gather up and learn for success. So, take the time to learn how to communicate well with others on your team.
Work out a schedule with your team
Schedule all aspects of your life:
- Work Time
- Family Duties and Time
- Farm Time
- Other
Sit down with the team on a rainy day and plan out the next 5 or 6 months. This allows for plenty of time for unexpected events that will pop up. Also allows for prioritizing farm work during the season.
If you work off the farm, make sure you communicate with work, too. Plan for some days off during the season and let your work know.
Here’s how I balance farm work with kids in the Winter Time
Identify Strengths & Weaknesses of Team Members
SWOT:
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Opportunities
- Threats
When you meet with your team, identify the tasks and assign the people to them who have the strengths.
Example:
- Matt’s strengths are: Farm Management, Markets, Crop Production, etc.
- My strengths: Caring for kids, caring for livestock, etc.
- Mylee’s strengths: Feeding the dog, getting the eggs, etc.
So, once you know who contains those SWOT characteristics, you can assign the best people to certain tasks. You’ll find success by doing this.
Be Encouraging to One Another
Maintain a healthy environment for your team. Always be willing to check into new ideas to see if it is worth the investment to your life. Stay positive under situations.
Even when things aren’t going well, every member of your team needs to be encouraged. You need to listen to each other, look at the bright side of things and encourage each other.
So, example:
We get off the farm and head into town to get away for a little while. We laugh, shop, sit at the river (Missouri River) and just talk things through. It lifts up our spirits and relieves stress. And the time away can really jump start motivation for change, pivots and the energy to charge through anything.
Just be there for one another and realize the importance of teamwork in life.
Appreciate the Work of Everyone on the Team
Building upon communication and encouragement, always show appreciation for the work of everyone on the team. Ways to show appreciation:
- A simple “Thank You”
- A simple “You Did A Wonderful Job”
- Affection (hug)
- Small Gift
Here’s a great gift guide for a farmer.
The person on your team doing this work well needs to be appreciated for the work they do.
My Teamwork Story
My team consists of my husband Matt and our two little girls. We have “subs” that come into our life when we need them to. Those people include family, friends and coworkers.
So, when we started our farm and homestead, Matt and I were both working an average of 60 hours a week off the farm. We had to because our farm was smaller and not really making an income yet. In order to get the farm work done, we worked a lot of nights and weekends. But most importantly, we began to plan out farther in advance (5-6 months out).
When, the kids came, our dynamics changed to include daycare drop offs and pick ups.
Then, 7 years later, our dynamics changed again. I resigned from my job and stayed home with the kids and farm. But it has been for the better. Overtime, we have really learned so much more about one another and are able to work together even better:
- Our communication has greatly improved. I’m a better listener now than I was before.
- We have been able to recognize and split our strengths and weaknesses.
- Scheduling has to happen. It happens weekly and daily. And at the end of a season, we will begin to plan for the next season.
- Finally, we are much better about encouraging and appreciating each other for the work we do. We both realize the importance of teamwork in life.
I feel like focusing on these five good teamwork tips have improved the way we work as a team to live our life together. We have big goals and dreams that are tweaked and changed as we go along. But as long as we work as a team, WE will see those dreams and goals come to life.
Remember: There is NO “I” in team!
Everyone must be involved. Everyone must approve of the system and on task. Also, building a good team takes time. When it all starts working, you’ll realize the importance of teamwork in life.
And people change over time and communication lines change. It takes time to build and improve those lines again. It’s like learning how to communicate well with others all over again. So, be sure to allow for at least a week to really get to know a person on your team.
I hope these good teamwork tips will help you to better the dynamics of your team to make your rural life even better!
Finally, catch all the past episodes of Rural Women Inspired!
RURALITES, HONE YOUR DREAMS, OWN YOUR LIFE AND I’LL SEE YOU DOWN THE ROAD.
~ Much Love ~
