What is Teamwork?

Teamwork is the concept of people working together cooperatively as a team in order to accomplish the same goals/objectives .

A general dictionary defines teamwork as a "Cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group (sociology) of persons acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause, unison for a higher cause, people working together for a selfless purpose, and so on."

Applied to workplaces teamwork is a method that aligns employee mindsets in a cooperative and usually selfless manner, towards a specific business purpose. Today there is no business or organization that does not talk about the need and value of teamwork in the workplace. While the concept of teamwork and its benefits are well known and talked about, it is very rare to see it being practiced truly in reality. And you may have often noticed what appears outwardly as teamwork is not really teamwork internally. Some things cannot be accomplished by people working individually. Larger, more ambitious goals usually require that people work together with other people. Because of this, teamwork is a desired goal of many businesses and organizations today. Projects often require that people work together in order to accomplish a common goal. Although critics often argue that in the corporate world teamwork has become an empty buzzword, or a form of corporate-speak. Effective collaborative skills (knowledge) are necessary to work well in a team environment. As businesses and organizations become larger or more sophisticated. Many employers attempt to enhance their employees' collaborative efforts through training, cross-training, and workshops in order to help people effectively work together in a cohesive group and accomplish shared goals.

Human beings are fiercely independent animals and we will always have our own opinions and independent methods of doing something. This is the way our minds are hardwired by nature. Except for a very small percentage of us, sharing and collaboration with others is not exactly programmed inside each and every one of us. This is because each person is mainly concerned about his or her rewards, appreciation, need for power over others, and so on. But teamwork is a different ballgame that aligns mindsets in a cooperative, and usually selfless manner towards a specific business purpose. And it involves sacrifices, sharing of rewards, sharing the blame and punishments, true uniformity, suppression of personal opinions, etc., which is not very palatable to many. It is always, "What is in it for me" rather than "What is in it for us.

In order for teamwork to succeed one must be a teamplayer. A Teamplayer is one who subordinates personal aspirations and works in a coordinated effort with other members of a group, or team, in striving for a common goal. Businesses and other organizations often go to the effort of coordinating team building events in an attempt to get people to work as a team rather than as individuals.

A 2003 national representative survey, HOW-FAIR, revealed that Americans think that 'being a team player' was the most important factor in getting ahead in the workplace. This was ranked higher than several factors, including 'merit and performance', ' leadership skills', 'intelligence', 'making money for the organization' and 'long hours'. "The old structures are being reformed. As organizations seek to become more flexible in the face of rapid environmental change and more responsive to the needs of customers, they are experimenting with new, team-based structures"

Teamwork Skills

Aside from any required technical proficiency, a wide variety of social skills are desirable for successful teamwork, including:

Listening - it is important to listen to other people's ideas . When people are allowed to freely express their ideas, these initial ideas will produce other ideas.

Discussing It is important to discuss your ideas with your teammates until you agree.

Questioning - it is important to ask questions, interact, and discuss the objectives of the team.

Persuading - individuals are encouraged to exchange, defend, and then to ultimately rethink their ideas.

Respecting - it is important to treat others with respect and to support their ideas.

Helping - it is crucial to help one's coworkers, which is the general theme of teamwork.

Sharing - it is important to share with the team to create an environment of teamwork.

Participating - all members of the team are encouraged to participate in the team. (usually consist of three or more people)

Communicating - For a team to work effectively it is essential team members acquire communication skills and use effective communication channels between one another e.g. using email, viral communication, group meetings and so on. This will enable team members of the group to work together and achieve the team's purpose and goals.

The forming-storming-norming-performing model takes the team through four stages of team development and maps quite well on to many project management life cycle models, such as initiation - definition - planning - realisation.

As teams grow larger, the skills and methods that people require grow as more ideas are expressed freely. Managers must use these to create or maintain a spirit of teamwork change. The intimacy of a small group is lost, and the opportunity for misinformation and disruptive rumors grows. Managers find that communication methods that once worked well are impractical with so many people to lead. Specifically, leaders might encounter difficulties based on Daglow's Law of Team Dynamics : "Small teams are informed. Big teams infer."

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