You Need to Be a Part of the Team. Here’s Why.

There are various definitions as to what teamwork is. Some believe that it is a group of people who work together. Others say that it is a strategy to collaborate and achieve specific goals. While both of these definitions of teamwork are true, there’s more to this concept than just getting together.

Teamwork is a strategy implemented by companies, schools, even households to achieve common objectives. But this is not the only advantage of being a part of a team.

In this setup, each member contributes their skills, experiences, and knowledge about specific topics. Knowing how diverse people are, you can only imagine the vast information people can learn. You might not think you’re learning from your team but as you listen, you pick up information that could be relevant, if not, lifesaving in the future.

So, even if you hate being in a team because you prepare to work alone, you will see its advantages. Some may be for the benefit of a group or a company but most of the benefits are geared to your self-improvement. Here’s why:

Build a support system

In the early stages of forming a team, people test the waters to see if they can get along. As the process progresses, there could be storming and debating which can either make or break the team’s spirit. But if members surpass this stage, they start to build a support system.

Teamwork promotes communication among individuals. It is a conduit to meet friends and build intimate relationships. This close-knit tie among people is an essential factor that motivates individuals to work harder, to cooperate, to become supportive, and to improve. Long after the team parted, the intimacy built while working on tasks could linger and might form stable friendly relationships.

Give and receive feedback

People have the unending need to learn and unlearn concepts. Being in a team helps in this process. This strategy of achieving goals allows you to give feedback about the opinions and actions of other people as you receive a set of critiques yourself. This back-and-forth system is essential for each member to see things from a different perspective which is essential to widen opportunities and reduce the risk of failure.

Did you know that the feedback system among groups is essential to achieve not only organizational but also personal or individual success? With this process, people can learn, adapt, decide, innovate and take accountability which are all factors that contribute to success.

Optimize performance

When you work alone, chances are, you work at your own time at your own pace. During these times, you can become unproductive and inefficient in doing your tasks. But when you’re in a team, you learn to work more effectively by keeping a schedule. There is a time frame to follow which pushes you to work and avoid idle time. If you build this habit, it helps you enhance your performance and improve satisfaction.

Are you planning to work in a team? If so, you need to know more about it, starting with its characteristics.

Common goal

When you’re on a team, you should make ends meet and be at the same page as your members. You may not share the same ideas or opinions but you have to compromise to achieve common ground. This is crucial if you want to utilize the diverse skills and information of other people to work more effectively and achieve common goals.

Accountability

Another characteristic of a team is the ability to take accountability from their mistakes and learn from them. This is why team members should learn to trust and assist each other to build an effective group that can generate outstanding results while reducing risk.

Open Communication

Another important concept in teamwork is open communication. Opinions, feedback, and criticism always matter. All of which are essential to achieve goals and reduce risk. However, people should learn how to say these in a professional way, careful not to offend or hurt other members in the process.

Communication is a two-way street. While others share their thoughts, members should be able to take these critiques constructively, especially if it can boost their performance.

To be open also means to be honest. If there are complications or failures, a member should communicate it to the team to resolve conflict, handle problems, mitigate mistakes, and innovate solutions.

People tend to keep things from each other to put up a good face. So, even if they make mistakes, they don’t open it up in hopes that there is no risk tied to it. But these mistakes should not be taken for granted at all. In an engineering team for example, if one member fails to calculate the risk of building an establishment on an area, he or she should open this up to his colleagues. If not, they are putting future residents at harm’s way. With communication, the team can figure out solutions to mitigate the problem and avoid the consequences early on.

Effective Leadership

Despite what people think, a leader is not someone who commands a team. He or she is someone who holds the team together. A leader is responsible for delegating tasks, resolving conflicts, and understanding members’ strengths and weaknesses to gear them towards self-improvement.

With an effective leader, people feel valued, appreciated, and motivated. Their jobs become more meaningful. Hence, members become more productive. So, if you are to build a team, remember to choose a leader that can offer you these opportunities for the team’s effectiveness and for its member’s development.

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