Month: November 2022

What The World Cup Teaches Us About Teamwork

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A football flying through the air into the net

No matter who you’re rooting for, we can all agree there is a lot to be learnt from the World Cup. But who knew that it could be such an accurate analogy for achieving your team targets? When you break down its meaning, teamwork simply refers to the process of working together to achieve a common goal. Whether that goal is in the net or is your current business objective, reaching that desired destination requires a united team willing to communicate and put in the work.

Why is teamwork effective?

As the saying goes “Two heads are better than one” and in most cases, the quality of work produced as a team is far greater than that of a singular person, thus becoming the primary benefit of collaborative work. This is mainly down to a group’s ability to leverage each other’s skills and capabilities, allowing them to create stronger outcomes by utilising team synergy. Just like football has a goalkeeper, defender, and attacker- your workforce will also have its own variety of unique skillsets, so its best to assign duties which will compliment each person’s abilities. Where one person might exhibit a strength, it may be another’s weakness, and so by working together they are able to mutually compensate and play to each other’s strengths. This creates better consistency, fewer flaws, as well as a more balanced performance.

Secondly, a shared vision creates drive – nothing stands in the way of a passionate team working towards one goal. Not only does a team make tackling any task much easier, but it also creates a supportive work environment and a stronger fellowship.

And finally, every great football team undergoes regular group training; improving upon each other’s abilities and techniques. With every team comes a multitude of different knowledge and skillsets – making it the perfect environment for mutual learning. Discover different perspectives, new techniques, and gain insight from your fellow team members – make the most of each other’s abilities and trade knowledge! You may be surprised to find how many new things you can pick up from your colleagues.

What makes good teamwork?

While working as a team has the potential for higher productivity and better progress, it can also be tricky when not executed well. It’s not all about having good ‘players’, it’s how they are used and how well they are able to work together. Achieving harmony and striking a balance is imperative when it comes to achieving your collective goals, so what are the most important elements that make up a tight unit?

  • Trust – The best starting point is always trust; without which it is difficult to come together and put your faith in your team members. Take the time to know your colleagues, not just their skillsets, but also their personality and ways of working. Once you know each other better the trust will naturally develop, and you can begin to collaborate more efficiently. If you feel your team could use more time getting to know each other or you work remotely, consider holding regular team meetings or video calls.
  • Communication – You may be surprised to learn that there is a lot of planning and discussion that comes before a football match. This ensures that strategies and tactics are understood by each player while strengthening the communication between the team. While there is strength in numbers, groups can easily get chaotic without the use of proper communication. To combat this, make sure to provide ample opportunities for every individual voice to be heard. Check in with one another on a regular basis, create written agendas and keep each other updated on your progress. Be sure to establish clear goals and regularly review your collective progress.
  • Designated roles – To work efficiently as a team, it is essential for each member to have individual responsibilities; it is much quicker to reach your common goal when the workloads are distributed effectively. Just like a football team has individual positions allowing them to play as one tight unit, allocating roles and leaderships will act the same for a business while making sure you cover all bases. So, make the most of each other’s unique skillsets and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

As you can see, there are some striking and unexpected similarities between business and football, and so it leaves a lot to be learned from this year’s world cup. We hope you found this blog insightful, should you require any additional support or have any other queries, our team would love to help. Get in touch:

T: 01903 688789 E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com

6 Ways To Elevate Your Business Blog

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A Man typing out a blog on a laptop on a desk

Having a business blog for your company is important beyond reasons you might expect. Apart from becoming an informative source for your audience, studies show that websites housing regular blogs get more than twice the amount of traffic than those without. They boost your SEO, provide additional social media exposure, and can be incredibly useful for building an email database on customers which can be used for bulking up mailing lists. Moreover, they present your brand as an authoritative voice – showcasing you as an expert in your field and thus gaining more audience trust and recognition.

While writing blogs undoubtedly brings significant benefits, it can be time consuming and requires a level of consistency and execution. But what is the key to doing it well?

Create a strong heading

Create a heading that will immediately grab the attention and tell the audience that you have something worth saying. Try and capture the essence of your content while making the title snappy and easily readable. Distil the entire idea of your blog into the title. Highlight what new information you’re bringing, and don’t be afraid to add a bit of drama – a cliff-hanger to make the audience curious e.g., “5 Shocking Benefits Of Social Media” or some brackets e.g., “How To Be Productive (The Smart Way)”. Be sure not to be overly generous with the word count, it’s good practice to make the title of your blog less than ten words long.

Cater towards your audience

Always tailor content to your target audience. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the target audience of your whole business, but rather who you are aiming the blog at. This could be a different demographic than your normal audience if you have a new and different product or service being released soon. If your blog has a comment section, then it’s a great idea to interact with any queries or comments your readers may have.

Keep it short and frequent

With short form content dominating the internet, media consumers have shorter attention spans than ever – so keep it brief and easy to digest. Short blogs that are released more frequently have been proven to be more effective than longer blogs released every couple of weeks. Blogging a couple times a week is ideal to increase traction however, if you have fewer resources or personnel available to your company, then a weekly post is generally recommended.

Select the right tone

Remember that business blogs are different than personal or lifestyle blogs as their primary function is to promote your business. Depending on the nature of your company, choose the most appropriate tone. E.g., if you work in the legal sector you might want to opt for a more formal voice, but if you work in a field such as retail or media, you may like to select a more relaxed approach. If you’re usure of what would suit your business best, stick to a semi casual tone but keep it informative and professional.

Attach an appropriate blog image

It’s no surprise that content which contains visuals tends to perform better, but that doesn’t mean that attaching any image will do. Always use high-quality, relevant visuals with your blogs, making sure that the subject of your image is in clear focus. Use pictures or graphics which offer the best representation of your writing and don’t be afraid to edit your visuals for some additional artistic flare. Don’t forget to use alt tags and optimise them for search visibility and be sure to adhere to copyright laws. If you’re on a budget check out some of our favourite sources such as Pexels, Canva, and Pixabay which all contain good selections of free imagery.

Master your SEO keywords

Make the most of your SEO keywords and conduct some research prior to writing your article. If you want to appear at the top of those search results, you’ll need to find out what kind of words are being actively searched for by your audience. Once you have done so, utilise them to your advantage, use them as topics and include them in your blogs. However, it’s best not to go overboard, as “keyword stuffing” can sometimes make your content appear lower in quality. To combat this, make use of long-tail keywords, related keywords and synonyms. Include one main keyword/keyphrase alongside two or three keyword variations per page.

We hope you have found this read insightful. If you’d like to find out more about elevating your blog writing or require any other business support, we have the team to help! Get in touch:

T: 01903 688789 E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com