We all like to say it’s better to work as a team, and in most cases it is. But what does it really mean?
Is it like a sports team where the combination of physical effort moves towards a common goal? Metaphorically, yes it is. In the work place, teamwork can be key to the success of any business. In most cases, 1 person cannot do everything, regardless of what those Staples commercials say (“Hey, Dave. Good Morning Dave. IT needs you Dave”). Being able to split tasks up among a group can more often than not prove to be highly efficient and beneficial.
Most people enjoy being part of something. Nurturing a team environment will not only grow the it, but the individual as well as it boosts their confidence, encourages interaction with others, and exponentially grows the happiness when success is achieved within the team, as it’s a combination of every member’s happiness. You will often find that the individual members will tend to congregate outside of the professional environment as their relationship with their colleagues improves. Which in turn, feeds the energy back into the professional environment since each member now has a personal connection with the others and an interest in not letting them down and succeeding together. It can also be infections between departments. When department ‘A’ observes how happy and successful department ‘B’ is as they work together, the desire to replicate that is spread. And depending on size of the business, will multiply as time goes on.
But you don’t have to be a large organization to act like one. Teamwork will allow your business to accomplish goals and tasks that give it the outside appearance of a much larger and more organized unit. While this can be beneficial, one must be careful as it can also be detrimental. Appearing larger than you are may set expectations that may not be able to be achieved by a smaller organization, simply based on size, nothing to do with merit or credentials. So continue on with the proverbial “there is no ‘I’ in Team!”
