An effective team works towards the achievement of a specific objective which will benefit the organisation and its members.
A survey by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) in 2016 shows that 52.3% of young people think teamwork is the most sought characteristic in an organisation, followed by communicative ability (33.3%) and creativity (14.4%).
When a person feels part of a whole their commitment increases and hence, teamwork works as a propeller for a productive environment, as well as having other benefits such as:
- Getting better ideas: the possibility of brainstorming, where everyone can contribute their vision, offers a much broader picture and thus various routes to reach the goal.
- Taking advantage of the differences: Each project requires an ability to perform, which will become an opportunity to highlight the skills and talent of each member.
- Taking the right decisions: The availability of several points of view will be enriching and allow the team or leader to pick the one that works best.
- Reducing stress: a worker may feel overwhelmed by the burden of responsibility that they have when working alone; whereas, while working in a collaborative, supportive team environment the feeling of stress is reduced as the team members can work inter-dependently.
Keys to strengthen teamwork:
- Define the role of each member. This way, each employee will know beforehand which role and tasks are theirs and how they need to work inter-dependently with other team members
- Encourage effective communication.
- Propose a weekly follow up of objectives to track progress.
- Create a climate where each team member feels their contribution is recognised, can give their best effort and continue to develop their potential.
