Do you think teamwork is important to achieve company success? I think so!
Based on my experience, teamwork is very important to increase quality of work and generate better ideas and decisions, and solutions achieved encourage the development of positive and cooperative interpersonal relationships.
Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group of people to carry out a project. Working as a team involves the coordination of two to more people and integration of their ideas to achieve common goals. Each member must contribute to the completion of the set task.
Tips for effective teamwork
There are so many techniques to develop good teamwork. For that, we must learn to make decisions as a team and not in isolation, in order to have optimal group performance. Here some tips to encourage teamwork1,2:
- Build trust - Trust is the main element of teamwork. It fosters an environment where all participants know each other’s skills, understand their roles, and know how to help each other.
- Set common goals - To work as a team, employees must pursue the same goals. Therefore, as a company, it is important to communicate the company’s mission in a uniformed way.
- Create a sense of belonging - Human beings need to feel they are part of something. Therefore, the most powerful factor in team building is the development of a common identity.
- Involve your colleagues in decisions - Nothing affects the dynamics of teamwork more than autocratic leadership. To avoid this, drive the generation of ideas, open your mind and motivate your colleagues to share their opinions.
- Celebrate group successes - Although it is important to recognise individual work, it is key to highlight and reward team results. You may draw attention to the impact of each role, but do not neglect to celebrate overall (group) result.
- Be a leader - Every team needs a leader who can effectively guide and incorporate individual efforts. As a leader, you will have to help the team reach a consensus while making decisions, based on the ideas/opinions of team members, which are also best for the context of the team’s goals.
Activities to promote teamwork
Working as a team increases the effectiveness of results, but it is not always easy for people who are very different to fit in. That is why recommendations for companies suggest carrying out activities1,2, at least once per week, to promote teamwork, such as the following:
- The Communicator - It is one of the most effective activities to promote teamwork used to check and enhance the communication skills of team members. One member draws something that the rest cannot see. Those members will have to draw what they think it is, with instructions the person who made the drawing gives. When finished, compare the original to what each of the other team members drew.
- Dissatisfied customer - In this case, one person will act as a disgruntled client and another as a dependent who must resolve the situation. Attitude, words and, ultimately, the use of emotional intelligence to transform an unsatisfied customer into a happy one, will be valued. The rest of the team will go through each of the roles and the cases will vary.
Good team, good company5,6
It goes without saying people are vital to a company. So too, the quality of the team and the combined talent are important, as both aspects allow for the achievement of objectives designed for the future of the company. Thanks to teamwork, companies will be able to strengthen, grow and move forward. As the number of members of an organisation involved in realising a common goal increases, the results are also likely to improve!
Raquel Mochales
Quality & Regulatory Affairs Delegate, Medline Iberia
Raquel is an environmentalist, with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science complemented by a Master’s degree in Quality Management Systems and Environment. She is also a Senior Technician in occupational risk prevention with three specialties: safety, hygiene and ergonomics. Her professional experience in the world of healthcare spans 11 years and has focused on quality, environment and regulatory affairs in Spain and Portugal.
References:
1. https://www.institutoentrepreneur.com/
2. https://www.losrecursoshumanos.com/
3. https://blog.grupo-pya.com/jugando-en-la-oficina-dinamicas-de-trabajo-en-equipo/
4. https://dinamicasgrupales.com.ar/category/dinamicas/trabajo-en-equipo/
5. https://www.talentsearchpeople.com/es/blog/266-la-importancia-de-trabajar-en-equipo/
6. https://www.aguaeden.es/blog/la-importancia-de-las-personas-en-las-organizaciones
28 October 2020
