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Teamwork

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. -- Henry Ford

Teamwork is defined in Webster's New World Dictionary as "a joint action by a group of people, in which each person subordinates his or her individual interests and opinions to the unity and efficiency of the group.

Teamwork is work performed by a team towards a common goal. The most effective teamwork is produced when all the individuals involved harmonize their contributions and work towards a common goal.

To develop Teamwork, the team should be allowed to operate in a manner that produces results. In a teamwork environment, people understand and believe that thinking, planning, decisions and actions are better when done cooperatively.

"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."
--Michael Jordan

Talent is great, but teamwork requires people who will work well together and share a vision and commitment to the goal at hand. Teamwork represents a set of values that encourage behaviors such as listening and constructively responding to points of view expressed by others. People need to come together physically for discussions and meetings. During this members must feel comfortable and positive interactions between members are highly encouraged.

Most companies realize that teamwork is important because either the product is sufficiently complex that it requires a team with multiple skills to produce, and/or a better product will result when a team approach is taken. It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit. Everyone wants to feel that they are on a winning team, that the organization, project or team is moving ahead, and that they are an integral part of the group. Teamwork: Simply stated, it is less me and more we.

"He who wished to secure the good of others, has already secured his own." -Confucius

A team building success is when your team can accomplish something much bigger and work more effectively than a group of the same individuals working on their own. You have a strong synergy of individual contributions. But there are three critical factors in building a high performance team.

Factor One: The team must have a clear goal. Team goals should call for a specific performance objective, expressed so concisely that everyone knows when the objective has been. In order for people to be able to commit to a team they need to be sold on the direction in which the company is headed. Specifically, people need to be shown:

Your vision for the future.
Your strategy for getting there.
Why this is the best strategy.
Every achievement that indicates this team is winning.

Factor Two: The team must have diversity of skills and personalities. This allow team members to use their skills in full and compensate for each other's weaknesses. This allow to have different personality types to balance and complement each other during the implementation of the project.

Factor Three: The team must receive external support and encouragement. Encouragement and praise works just as well in motivating teams as it does with individuals. This is not a one-time discussion or announcement. People need to be constantly reminded of what the organization stands for and that there is a bright future for them.

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