Team engagement yields greater productivity, and most leaders would agree with this statement. Team members who are actively involved, enthusiastic about their work, and engaged in healthy team dynamics contribute to the organization effectiveness. This is easy to understand on a cognitive level. Still, developing an engaged team practically is not simple for some leaders.

As a matter of fact, building effective team engagement is not a one-and-done initiative. It involves consistent experimentation, evaluation, and feedback from team members. And this is important for creating the right team culture to drive innovation, implementation, and productivity. Since team members have different personalities, strengths, interests, and skill sets, leaders must be intentional in their efforts.

The process is not a one-time initiative; it is non-linear. Occasionally, I will coach a leader who wants to move through the steps of building team engagement in a linear fashion. The truth is that many of the actions are coinciding. The process is more complicated than simply implementing one action to mastery before moving to the next one.

Building effective team engagement doesn’t have to be elusive. Here are 7 ways leaders can build engagement, leading to better team cohesion and organizational goal achievement.

1. Build a safe environment. An environment that fosters trust is a ripe environment for innovation and creativity. When team members feel safe, they are willing to share more of themselves openly. When the opposite is true, team members may constantly filter how they think or feel. The result may be isolation and unhealthy sidebar conversations. Good leaders model vulnerability and create a team culture of sharing ideas, failures, successes, and struggles.
2. Set clear expectations. When the leader sets clear expectations, team members can better assess whether or not they are performing well. Every task, project, and meeting is a gamble without clear expectations. Have you ever worked on a project to near completion only to discover that your understanding of the goal was far from your manager’s? Not only is this deflating for team members, but it’s a waste of valuable time. Leaders should communicate what is expected and be open to questions for clarification.
3. Ensure role clarity. Who is doing what? Uncertainty about individual roles within a team is another potential waste of time. Assigning several people to the same task is not a good use of resources. Consequently, there may be gaps in the process to completion when resources are not adequately employed. Communicating the desired outcome before assigning work (based on strengths, skill sets, and interests) is a better way to ensure favorable team outcomes and consistent engagement.
4. Allow autonomy. Personal autonomy is the freedom to self-direct or self-govern. High-performing teams will likely desire autonomy and liberty to self-manage. When team members have free will to contract and determine the rules of engagement, it is more likely to develop a level of beneficial accountability. On the other hand, micro-managing will have the opposite effect.
5. Set cadence for check-ins. Leaders should be available for check-ins, both scheduled and impromptu. Team members will have the opportunity to ensure they are still progressing in alignment with their leader’s vision. Furthermore, both the leader and team will have opportunities to share feedback.
6. Give consistent and honest feedback. If one thing dampens engagement, it’s the absence of honest and constructive feedback. Many leaders I’ve coached struggle in this area. Most of them are concerned about how the feedback will be received. In such cases, we discuss the intention and the method for sharing feedback. Both individuals and team members value constructive and honest feedback. This builds trust in leadership and improves engagement.
7. Customize recognition. Most of us like to be recognized, but not all recognition is created equal. Ask how team members like to be recognized and work toward that end. Customize it, but recognize their individual contributions to the team and the team’s contribution to the organization. All individuals are contributing to the team. Do not have favorites! Engagement will plummet.

Research consistently shows that better employee engagement leads to better team engagement. Stronger engagement creates greater team productivity and goal achievement for organizations. Leaders should take deliberate action to foster environments where individuals and teams can thrive authentically. The aforementioned ways to foster that engagement are just the starting point.

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