Whether long-term or singularly purposed, successful work teams effect positive change and build teamwork within the organization. With the right balance of teams, your employees can thrive together and as individuals, and can better support customers. If you’re thinking about setting up long-term work teams, you’ll want to ensure each team includes a diverse group of employees that can meet regularly to work toward the team’s goals. You’ll also want to make sure those goals are set and reviewed within a specified time frame, such as quarterly or bi-annually.

To achieve the most well-rounded workplace experience, consider forming a team to cover each of the following areas:

1. In many organizations, those in supervisory roles (department heads, managers, supervisors, and team leads) form a natural leadership team. That’s good, because this team’s role is to guide the company and its resources to greatness. The leadership team devises the company’s strategic objectives, and then plans the road map to get there. This includes setting goals for the company and its employees, and then providing guidance and supervision as the plans are carried out.
2. Employee Morale. This enthusiastic bunch serves as the company’s cheerleaders and purveyors of camaraderie. Company picnics, holiday parties, birthday celebrations, and baby showers are planned under this team’s efforts. The team also organizes philanthropic efforts, such as sponsoring a family in need, or donating money or leave time to a sick or bereaved coworker. Basically any event that spreads unity and positive feelings will fall to this team. Try including them when you plan your next staff meeting or team-building session.
3. Culture and Communication. A close relative of the Employee Morale team, this team works to define and foster the company culture that all employees work within. This team’s fingers are always on the pulse of the organization, so its members notice trends and can recommend when to adapt policy or practices to better suit the emergent (or desired) culture. And since this team is so tapped in, it can also serve as the company’s communication powerhouse, working to ensure clear interactions between management and employees. This is the group behind the employee newsletter, employee satisfaction surveys, and the suggestion box next to the break room.
4. Usually safety starts in Risk Management, but members of the Safety team will ideally come from every department. In its effort to keep employees safe at work, this group should meet regularly to discuss the organization’s safety successes and challenges. This team will plan and initiate safety trainings and talks, and will be on the lookout for everything from obvious safety hazards, to ergonomics, to effective PPE, to ADA compliance.
5. Employee Wellness. Employee wellness usually falls to Human Resources staff, but like Safety, this team will be at its strongest with members working together from every department. This team concentrates on employee health, including fitness, nutrition, and mental and emotional well-being. It plans events such as health-and-wellness fairs, nutrition institutes, and health screenings, such as blood pressure and cholesterol checks. This team can also set up walking/jogging clubs, gym activities, and weight-loss challenges. These activities can fill in any wellness gaps not covered by the EAP or employer-sponsored health insurance—and they can make wellness fun!

Once your company’s teams are in place with their charter members, check in on their progress and offer what support you can to help them succeed. When teams start to effect visible positive change, other employees will want to join in the effort to make a difference. Successful, well-rounded teams let employees play an active role in the company’s overall health, and can make the company an even better place to work!