The Real Benefits of Team Working
Divides the effort
One of the great benefits of teams is that you can take what appears to be a mammoth task and divide those tasks between people. As a result, things get done faster.
Creates more ideas
One person operating on their own can generate ideas. At the same time, the breadth of the ideas of one individual will be limited by their experiences to date. With a team with a wide range of experiences, you can generate many more ideas.
You become the facilitator
In his book, Teamwork 101
, John C Maxwell states that the true measure of a leader is getting people to work hard together. In many ways, I see this as the leader facilitating or enabling great team performance.
Camaraderie
On all the great teams that I have been part of, there was always a huge sense of camaraderie. This enabled us to get things done even when the odds seemed to be stacked against us.
You learn quickly
One of the fastest ways to get good at something is to see someone in action who is already excellent in an area. When team members all play to their strengths, you learn a lot quickly.
The bottom line
The truth is teams have the potential to deliver great benefits. So what’s the biggest benefit you have experienced from being part of a team?
Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to become highly effective leaders and managers. For more information click here
6 Responses to “The Real Benefits of Team Working”
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New blog post: The Real Benefits of Team Working http://goalsandachievements.com/teams/the-real-benefits-of-team-working/
RT @DuncanBrodie The Real Benefits of Team Working: Divides the effort
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Very clear, consise and practical explanation of the benefits of teamwork.
One of the most interesting aspects for me is what can happen when the “Creates more ideas” aspect of teamwork goes wrong. Two major challenges often rear their ugly heads:
1) There is a degree of paralysis, as the team has too much idea generation and not enough decision making. This can either be driven by a genuine lack of certainty about the right route to take, people holding on too firmly to their own ideas and not allowing anything else to influence them, or simply a lack of desire to make the decision – either because the investigation would then be over (and the team might be enjoying it), or because “there is always new information around the corner”.
2) Conflict appears. The wonderful, creative spirit of a team can turn sour if not managed well. I’ve seen a many examples (and been able to catch a few just in time) where different styles, perspectives and approaches have threatened to break – or actually broken – a team. The issue here tends to be one of “how fundamental” is the disagreement…does it go to the core of who we are and what we do, or is it more tactical / executional?
Great stuff Duncan – thanks.
Hi Simon
Some great insights from you and thanks for taking the time to post them.
You are spot on that idea overload can be an issue. There clearly needs to be a great evaluation process too and as you rightly say a great decision making process.
The conflict one is real and I guess like you say it is all about ensuring that conflict remains productive rather than destructive.
Duncan Brodie