Each of us invests in our own personal development and strives to perform on an individual level. However, we tend to work in a team environment. Do we invest in our development as an effective team leader? And are you a team player at work?
As an only child I love setting personal goals and challenges for myself. I like to believe that I am an independent thinker and I don’t mind working on individual tasks on my own. However, I also know that I have a reliable team to which I can approach for assistance, advice and even delegate to if I am overloaded with tasks.
In my personal life I have had to manage and lead teams in events and trips which involved a lot of organisation. It taught me a lot about myself – my traits, strengths, weaknesses and what I was capable of when I pushed myself to the limits.
While we are all trying to strive to be a top individual performer, I think it is important that we don’t forget the value of team performance when it comes to reaching successful outcomes at work. A man named Bob Kelly from Demand Media wrote an interesting article on this topic. He covered why teams are important and therefore why it is important that we are all effective team members within the workplace. Here are his reasons:
Work Efficiency
Teamwork enables you to accomplish tasks faster and more efficiently than tackling projects individually. Cooperating together on various tasks reduces workloads for all employees by enabling them to share responsibilities or ideas.
Allow each individual to have a role that suits their specialisation or strength. And also avoid exclusion; try to give everyone an equal amount of responsibility and working together you can collectively encourage one another to get the task done.
Improved Employee Relations
What better way to get to know your fellow colleagues and what they are capable of than working on a project together? Building relationships and a positive workplace culture is vital within any organisation and it builds a sense of trust.
By working together you can share success stories by brainstorming ideas and working together to achieve targets, and if the outcome is not what you expected you can assess areas for improvement in the future.
Increased Accountability
Accountability will increase when you know that not only one person relies on you to get the job done, but the whole team! It drives you and encourages you to put in 100% as it will contribute to the overall success of the group. It will also show your reliability and efficiency if team members need your help on future tasks.
Learning Opportunities
As a new employee, you can gain knowledge, new ideas and opportunities by working with more experienced employees. It also allows you to become more flexible and adaptable to different situations as you are working with others who may think and work in different ways to you. It opens your mind and your perspective rather than working alone and following the same routine. It is important to face challenges and compromise if need be to reach a successful outcome as a team.
My final point is that in a team environment, it will make the process run smoothly if you approach a group task with a positive attitude. It can be difficult for some people who are used to working on their own or may be more of an introvert. Having a positive attitude allows you to be more open to opinions and allows you to make a good impression to your team. Be encouraging and supportive in the best way that you can.
Have you relied on teamwork in the past to help you achieve results? What was the outcome? What did you learn from the experience?
