teamwork

Y-Negocios

2022

We explain what teamwork is, its advantages, disadvantages and keys to make it successful. Also, examples and phrases.

Humans can accomplish great feats when we agree.

What is teamwork?

Teamwork or cooperative work includes those tasks that are carried out in a shared and organized way, in which everyone assumes a part and everyone has the same objective in common. It is a form of work organization based on camaraderie, since the team must assume jointly and in an articulated manner all the tasks to be carried out, and not simply distribute them and then put them together.

Teamwork is one of the oldest modes of labor organization in the humanity, whose greatest potential is precisely in their ability to organize socially. In fact, the presence of language in our species he holds that point: we are gregarious animals and we can accomplish great feats when we agree.

On the other hand, teamwork generally requires a set of common rules or at least an agreement of conduct that allows to reduce the frictions and tensions inherent to the coexistence and the confrontation of different points of view. Seen like this, the experience being part of a team can be seen as a rehearsal of participation in the society all.

Advantages and disadvantages of teamwork

Teamwork presents considerable advantages for its members, such as:

  • Greater work capacity, thanks to the synergy of the members of the group.
  • Greater speed of completion of the work, due to the above.
  • Greater exchange capacity of information and shared experiences.
  • Greater diversity in the approach to trouble, which translates into a wealth of perspectives.
  • Strengthening the ties of cooperation, cohesion and collective spirit.

Similarly, teamwork can have the following disadvantages:

  • Possible tensions around the leadership or to the working mechanism.
  • Risk of dispersing the Energy of the group in small disconnected activities.
  • Delay of processes before excessive debate.
  • The responsibility it can be diluted in the collective.
  • Dropouts or work reluctantly, when there are unresolved tensions.

Importance of teamwork

Teamwork is essential in a large number of human experiences, and in many others it is simply unavoidable. The work teams They tend to be a versatile and high-impact problem-solving tool, drawing on diversity and synergy.

On the one hand, it provides its members with the satisfactory experience of solving a trouble together. On the other hand, big problems are usually easier to solve when you can delegate tasks and integrate a team, rather than facing them alone. Also, no one knows how to do everything, and needing others is a central part of the social experience.

Keys to teamwork

A quick guide to successful teamwork will necessarily contemplate the following recommendations:

  • There must be leadership. Establishing a team does not mean that hierarchies are not necessary, although these must be mutually agreed and must have the approval of the team. The experience, the personality, formal instruction are possible and feasible criteria for choosing the Leader and the leaders.
  • Clear and formal rules are needed. Every group has its agreements, and those agreements must be honored. How to choose the leaders? How to choose new leaders? What task corresponds to each one? All of this should be agreed and established so that group members know what is expected of them.
  • The communication It's fundamental. As in most social relationships, you should avoid assuming the thought on the other and instead provide the greatest amount of useful information to the team. In this way, everyone is more likely to evaluate their various problems from a similar point of view.
  • Successes are celebrated together. Which means that the group spirit must prevail, understanding each achievement as a team achievement, and reinforcing the idea that working together is more and better than working separately.

Examples of teamwork

A sports team organizes individuals as versatile pieces.

There are examples of teamwork in the nature: the perfect order of bees that build and support the honeycomb, each dedicated to a specific task, or that of the worker ants that fight any invader together.

However, a perfect example of teamwork is found in sports practice, which is why it is used so much sport What metaphor of understanding and coordination of the groups.

A team of football, baseball or whatever, consists of a finite number of individuals who play the same sport, but in different positions: some focused on attack, others on defense, others as versatile pieces ... all at the same time on the field , according to the pre-established coordination to, together, win the game.

Phrases about teamwork

Some famous phrases about teamwork are:

  • “Getting together is a start. Staying together is progress. Working together, a success ”- Henry ford.
  • "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships" - Michael Jordan.
  • “A civilization can only endure if many contribute their collaboration to the effort. If everyone prefers to enjoy the fruit, civilization collapses "- José Ortega y Gasset.
  • «Team spirit is what gives many Business the advantage over its competitors ”- George clements.
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