Building Strong Teams: Maximise ROI with Project Management Courses

Teams are a vital component of any organisation.

Businesses need strong groups of employees to work together to create the best possible outcomes for their clients. But, for teams to work effectively, they need project managers to help them.

This is where project management professionals come in.

MANCOSA skillME offers a Project Management Fundamentals course that teaches business professionals project management basics so they can organise teams and projects.

In this article, we’ll look at why teams are essential for all businesses, discuss different elements of a successful team, and explain the benefits of project management for great teamwork. We’ll also mention various project management courses you can take.

The need for strong teams to achieve business goals

Teamwork is essential for any business to succeed. There needs to be a collaboration between all employees, regardless of their seniority, and across all company departments.

Not only does it allow team members to share their responsibilities so work can get done faster, but it also results in better relationships and company culture.

Some of the main benefits of teamwork include the following:

Improved productivity: Strong teams can produce better results and be more efficient since they can use each other’s skills and complete all their tasks faster.

Enhanced creativity and innovation: Since team members are encouraged to share their ideas, this often leads to more creativity and better quality output. Good teams with the best ideas usually consist of people from diverse backgrounds and cultures since they have different and unique perspectives on several scenarios.

Better decision-making and problem-solving skills: Whenever problems arise, teams can resolve them faster as they can all put their heads together to develop the best solutions. More heads are better than one in this regard.

Increased employee engagement: People who feel valued and value their teams are more likely to engage with the business culture, objectives, and goals. They’re more willing to participate in company events, which creates a happier work environment.

Higher employee retention: Having supportive colleagues means employees are far more likely to stay with the business.

This means that with the help of teamwork, companies can have more productive, innovative, and happier employees. As a result, they’re far more likely to keep their clients happy, achieve higher profits, and reach their overarching business goals.

Understanding team dynamics

Before discussing the elements that make a great team, let’s define a team. A team is a group of people who work together in order to achieve common goals or objectives. Team members work collaboratively, combining their unique skills and expertise to accomplish certain goals and solve problems. Teams are found in organisations, sports groups, businesses and community associations.

Aside from having a common purpose, teams should also:

Have trust and openness: Feel comfortable and safe to share information and ideas without the fear of feeling embarrassed or punished.

Feel a sense of belonging: Each team member should understand why they’re part of the team and their role. This way, they’ll understand their responsibilities better and realise they’re a valuable asset to the team.

Be able to make decisions together: They need to make decisions as a group instead of being peer pressured. This means they’ll also need to compromise at times to come up with the best mix of ideas.

Be willing to correct mistakes: Team members must point out errors appropriately and help each other correct these mistakes. This should be approached in a constructive rather than hurtful manner.

Have positive attitudes: The team should maintain a positive outlook even if projects don’t work out how they want them to. A collective negative attitude will bring the entire team down and cause conflict.

Be transparent: All information, messages, and ideas must be communicated clearly so all team members are on the same page. There shouldn’t be any secrets, and everyone should be aware of problems that arise.

The benefits of project management

Project management can significantly impact teamwork and, as a result, lead to more success for the company. Here are some of the main benefits of project management.

1. Improved team communication

Project management helps improve corporate communication. This means teams can communicate better, ensuring everyone is on the same page. As a result, your team will be more focused and aligned.

Having a clear communication plan as part of the project management means your team will know exactly which communication channels to use during the project. This includes channels such as email, instant messaging, video conferencing, etc.

2. Better project planning and execution

Project management will increase your team’s efficiency and help them execute tasks faster. This is because they’ll know the project’s goals and be more motivated to do their job.

Furthermore, knowing precisely what tasks to perform at each stage eliminates confusion and results in a much more efficient process.

3. Improved accountability

Each team member will also know exactly what tasks must be completed and by whom. Since the entire process is transparent and everyone knows the rest of the team’s responsibilities, members will be more accountable since they don’t want to let their team down.

4. Better problem-solving skills and abilities

As mentioned earlier, more heads are better than one. When a project is managed effectively, team members can combine their heads and skills to create the best results possible.

They’ll also be made aware whenever a problem arises and can decide how the issue needs to be resolved. Not only will this result in better outcomes for the business, but the team will also become closer and be happier in their work environment.

Types of project management courses

Business professionals can significantly benefit from project management courses since it makes them a more skilled and valuable asset to the company. You can consider taking a project management course for beginners, to upskill and learn project management skills.

You can get a project management certification or diploma that’ll take 1–3 years to complete. An advanced project management course, such as a degree, will take around four years to complete.

Or, if you already have a degree in a different business area (aside from project management), you can upskill with a short course, such as Project Management Fundamentals or Project Management: Beyond the Fundamentals.

These project management courses for beginners will teach you the skills you need to manage projects and help your team succeed.

Study project management courses with MANCOSA skillME

Are you ready to advance your skills so you can drive better results for your company and advance to higher levels?

Consider starting by taking the Project Management Fundamentals short course and growing from there. MANCOSA also offers several other short business courses to sharpen your skills, including communication and leadership courses.