IMPORTANCE OF TEAMWORK

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” –Michael Jordan

Why is teamwork important? Well, it’s one thing to create a team, but quite another to create teamwork. Just as it’s one thing to join a team, but quite another to perform as a team member. To put it simply, teams do not work without teamwork. In this week’s edition, you will find 8 good reasons why teamwork is important.

What is teamwork? There are several ways to define teamwork but for some color why not think of it as the French do. The French language has an excellent expression to describe it: esprit de corps.

This means a sense of unity, of enthusiasm for common interests and responsibilities, as developed among a group of persons closely associated in a task, cause, enterprise, etc. Teamwork can be likened to two compounds, almost essential to modern life. It’s the glue that keeps a team together, a bond that promotes strength, unity, reliability, and support.

Teamwork is also the oil that makes the team work. It can enable smoother movement towards targets, can prolong forward momentum, and can help teams to overcome obstacles. Teamwork has the potential to underpin so much of what is valuable in work. In fact, the benefits to be gained from teamwork synergies are essential for the effective management of resources.

Why is Teamwork Important? 8 Good Reasons!

What difference teamwork makes. Teams and teamwork have become a central part of our work life. Why is teamwork important? Because:

1. Creates synergy: Where the sum is greater than the parts.

2. Supports a more empowered way of working, removing constraints that may prevent someone from doing their job properly.

3. Promotes flatter and leaner structures, with less hierarchy.

4. Encourages multi-disciplinary work where teams cut across organizational divides.

5. Fosters flexibility and responsiveness, especially the ability to respond to change.

6. Pleases customers who like working with good teams (sometimes the customer may be part of the team).

7. Promotes the sense of achievement, equity, and camaraderie, essential for a motivated workplace.

8. When managed properly, teamwork is a better way to work.

Why is teamwork important? It doesn’t mean everybody doing the same thing or everybody being able to do each other’s jobs. It’s more like a means to a synergistic way of working, where the sum is greater than the parts. Properly managed, teamwork maximizes strengths, bringing out the best in each team member. These specific, possibly unique individual strengths are then complimented by the strengths of others, or of the team as a unit.

The value of teamwork is regularly seen in sports. How often do we see teams made up of expensive star players outperformed by teams with players who may be individually less talented. Assuming transfer price tags really are an indicator of talent! The answer lies in two things. The synergistic value of teamwork (our glue and oil), and in the crucial role of the manager.

Not all teams are made up of friends. Nor, for that matter, do they need to be, in order for them to be effective. Teamwork does, however, have the potential to foster a fulfilling, meaningful way of working together.

It’s not necessarily an easy option, nor a panacea for all organizational ills. However, working with a group of people, on a worthwhile activity, with a common goal, can be one of the most rewarding and enjoyable aspects of work.