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What’s it: Teamworking means assigning employees to a task or project with other employees. It may be for developing new processes or products. They collaborate, sharing roles and responsibilities to achieve the set targets. Each team member places common goals above personal interests. They share their individual skills and offer constructive feedback.
Why is teamwork important?
Teamworking is an important motivation method to reduce boredom caused by monotonous work routines. Employees engage in joint work and decide how to complete tasks or organize work.
And working together as a team is important to build synergies and build greater togetherness among employees. For example, they prioritize common goals over individual goals. In addition, they also provide each other with constructive feedback to complete and succeed in a task or project. And, such synergies are expected to last even when the project or task has been completed.
Team members share roles and responsibilities. Thus, each feels in control and is more committed to their respective jobs or tasks. When the project is successful, it increases job satisfaction among them.
How does teamwork work?
Teamwork collaborates individual efforts and skills to achieve a common goal. Employees share tasks and jobs, each of which is interconnected. While working on their respective tasks, they put common goals above personal interests. Thus, they are committed to achieving team success, not individual success. For this reason, trust and cohesiveness are vital elements to make the team successful.
Take a car production line as an example. Employees work as a team. The work is divided into several smaller jobs, each responsible for producing a certain part. Then, the parts are put together until the job is done.
Employees need each other and are interdependent, encouraging collaborative work. Thus, producing a complete car unit will not be completed if they fail to work together as a team.
In general, building teamwork needs to consider several aspects. First, before the project starts, the company needs to develop a mission, specify goals and formulate an implementation strategy, including dividing the work and tasks.
Second, once the project runs and the members do their respective tasks, the company monitors their progress against the set goals. It also requires the company to develop monitoring systems and coordinate members.
Third, the company ensures cohesion among members. For example, it requires the company to develop conflict resolution. So, when friction arises, the impact can be minimized and does not interfere with teamwork.
What are the keys to successful teamwork?
Building successful teamwork requires ingredients like:
- Clear common goals
- Setting a common intention
- Complementary resources and skills
- Mutual respect and trust between team members
- Building mutual connection within the team
- Constructive communication and feedback
- Setting ground rules for the team
- Using consensus, including establishing methods to achieve it
- Train emotional intelligence
What are the advantages of teamwork?
Synergy benefits. The team’s output is greater than when each individual’s output is added up. For example, a team consists of 10 members, each producing 5 units in one month. So, in total, they can produce 50 units a month if working separately. And, the synergy means they can produce more than 50 units a month if they work as a team.
More creativity. Each member has different skills and ideas. So, bringing them together as a team can lead to more creativity, which is important for innovation.
Greater involvement. Employees have the opportunity to be involved in decision-making. In addition, decisions cannot consider individual interests but common interests. Then, since tasks and jobs are connected and dependent, members have to run them well; otherwise, other members can get into trouble, or the project fails.
Faster finish. Involving more people allows projects to be completed more quickly than individually. For example, complex projects are divided into several roles and responsibilities to each member. Thus, they can focus on the specific tasks and jobs assigned, enabling them to learn by doing.
Stronger interpersonal relationships. When a company assigns employees to a project, a bond between them is created. It may last even when the project has been completed. As a result, they can collaborate and synergize in their old routine after the project is finished.
Means to develop competence. Teamwork is a moment for employees to learn about each other’s skills, insights, or knowledge. In other words, it creates cross-training opportunities.
What are the disadvantages of teamwork?
Interpersonal conflict. Disagreements and mistrust can lead to conflict. It can ruin teamwork and even result in the project failing.
Infectious bad habits. Teamwork is not only a moment to learn from each other and develop themselves. However, it could be a moment for a member’s bad habits to spread to other members.
Not suitable for all employees. Some employees may be more effective and productive when working alone than as a team. For example, teamwork might result in unnecessary interruptions by other members. Thus, they may find it difficult to focus.
Poor team quality. How skilled and qualified the members determine how successful the team works. For example, suppose the team is made up of incompetent people. In that case, they may spend more time consulting each other without clear progress.
Domination by a few employees. Some members with good skills and knowledge may not voice their opinions because they are not good at communicating. On the other hand, rhetorical and extroverted people may dominate conversations and situations. Thus, each member cannot contribute optimally because some tend to dominate. In other cases, such domination may also lead to an unequal division of roles and responsibilities.
Time-consuming. Building a successful team takes time. Members have to adapt to each other and work in an organized manner.
