An office is only as good as its employees and the employees can only work to their full potential if they interact well with their colleagues. Companies know this and go to great lengths to make sure that their workplace is a frictionless, well-oiled machine.

That said, workplaces lacking in chemistry are fairly commonplace. Poor chemistry and miscommunication between employees can lead to reduced efficiency and tension in the work space, so it behooves the concerned to do everything they can to make sure that the team gels well.

A typical project involves the cooperation of multiple departments, and the whole lot have to work as a unified whole to meet results. What can be done to strengthen team chemistry? We have a list of 7 things you can do to bring fraternity to the team:

1. Set Goals: If you're not envisioning a greater outcome towards which each of your team members contribute to, it's only natural that the coordination will be a little sloppy. A team that has clear goals will work much more efficiently, and independently, than one without one.

2. State Responsibilities Clearly: The leader has got to be the one who defines the responsibilities for the team. Who does what and who works with whom is an important element of building team chemistry. When an employee has clear objectives and a plan on how to achieve those objectives, he or she can avoid having to go through the frustration of figuring out what to do next and whom to approach.

3. Feedback: This one's an obvious one. You need to take the responses of the team very seriously. They, more than anything else, will tell you what's going wrong and what might need to be done. Making the feedback anonymous might make them feel more comfortable and draw more honest responses.

4. Regular Meetings & Activities: Long-term trust can only be built on familiarity and repeated engagement with each other. That's why you need to organise regular meeting and team-building activities. Throwing challenges at them during these sessions is also a good way of encouraging them to work together to solve a problem.

5. Communicate Openly: Honesty and unambiguous directives are important in a team environment. Miscommunication can severely hamper the team's efficiency. This doesn't mean should be free in communication to point of the being unprofessional. Display sensible judgement.

The results can only arrive if the team works together to pull it in. Poor team chemistry leads to a bad work environment and that can be very damaging. You've got to maintain the rhythm throughout the year by having the team engage in activities and follow the right policies. The tips above will help facilitate this.

Article and image source: http://www.ivyclique.in/article/HR/Building-Team-Chemistry-5-Necessary-Elements/NDU0NQ==/MTMy