The importance of teamwork

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/02/2023 (1154 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The word “teamwork” has long been highlighted as a critical ingredient for organizational success no matter the nature of one’s organization. Leaders know that teamwork helps to cultivate effective communication, team synergy and camaraderie. It has been shown to improve creativity, problem solving and decision making, it helps to increase efficiency, build trust and finally, teamwork is known to help improve company culture overall.

Yet, we all know that teams in today’s work world have changed significantly. Teams are more diverse; they include a mix of remote, site-based and/or international workers in a highly information technology-based environment. Not only that, work itself has become more complex.

However, no matter what changes we see in today’s teams, the basic fundamentals of good teamwork discovered over 40 years of research remain the same. These include research findings that demonstrate effective team collaboration doesn’t rely on individual personalities, attitudes and/or behavioural styles. Instead, success requires just three key enabling conditions: namely a compelling direction, a strong structure and a supportive environment.

Creating a compelling direction is critical as a means to motivate and energize team members. The team’s direction must have explicit and challenging goals that team members can see are important to their organization. The direction must drive team members to work towards personal goals such as professional recognition, higher pay or promotions as well as general job satisfaction and a sense of personal meaning.

From a structural perspective, teams need to have the right number of members, the right mix of skills, knowledge, experience, attitudes, personal perspectives on the direction as well as a mix of age and gender. Team members must be assigned tasks that align with their skills and the operational processes. Rules must be established that help to promote positive interpersonal dynamics and discourages destructive behaviour. Finally, team members need to have a balance of both social and technical skills.

Successful teams must also have the right kind of management support in order to be effective. This typically includes good communication and free flowing information and data needed for their tasks. Teams must also have all the funding, material resources and technology assistance required to do the job.

Further research by a Harvard Business Review team identified one more enabling condition believed to be required for team success in today’s environment. They named this condition a “shared mindset” and emphasized that this team element requires more emphasis and effort because of the distance and diversity we see today in many organizations. In their view, this element is often the most challenging.

Part of the challenge of remote and/or distant teams examined in the Harvard study was that most communication was through technology rather than face to face and so members were more prone to engage in “us versus them” thinking. This appeared to have occurred because individuals viewed themselves as smaller subgroups rather than one larger cohesive group. At the same time, the individual smaller subgroupings of team members viewed themselves in a more positive manner. All of these dynamics were also exasperated by things such as different time zones, regional cultures, and/or incomplete shared information.

The Harvard team suggests that a greater effort must be made by managers/leaders to ensure that team members gain and continue to have a shared identity and mindset. Some suggestions they share as well as some from my own experience are as follows:

Recognize the signs — become astutely aware of interpersonal dynamics. Pay attention to communication patterns, behaviour such as withdrawal, space between people, tone of voice, comment and/or no comment. Listen for words and/or lack of words related to inclusivity such as “we and us.”

Apply positivity — when speaking to the team, provide comments that praise the work of each team components and how they depend on each other to get the job done. Reward teamwork through quick and easy celebrations even as simple as a thank-you note and/or announcement to the team.

Plan for togetherness — when possible, bring the team physically together and plan for both formal and informal gatherings. Provide time for a tour of the main workspace. Create opportunities for shared experiences and personal stories so that team members really get to know each other. Block off time for non-work-related discussions. Take time to review goals and objectives and reinforce the team’s shared identity and mindset.

Explore personal workplaces — allow team members to share more of their personal workspace so that other remote colleagues can really get a full picture of their work environment. Ask individuals to share a story about a personal and meaningful item in their workspace that could help colleagues get to know each other.

Emphasize team trust — focus on healthy discussions, and advocate for each other. Establish a standard set of team rules regarding deadlines, communication and how problems are handled and solved. Encourage discussion and reflection on individual and group achievements. Ensure individual psychological safety so that people feel free to express their honest opinions and feelings.

Practice participative leadership – today’s teams don’t like to be “told” what to do. They want to be part of planning right from the start. Be inclusive and involve team members in decision-making processes. Be prepared to share power. Engage team members in continuous improvement initiatives.

Team leadership — select a team leader who is well respected by members. They need to be seen as transparent and honest, be willing to keep all members informed and help overcome resource challenges as they arise. Consider rolling leadership opportunities where team members can build on their skills throughout the life of the team.

Periodic debrief sessions — highly effective teams become great by learning from experience, making changes and adapting as required. Plan to hold periodic sessions where time is taken to reflect on what is working and what is not working.

In closing this article on the new world of teamwork, I can say that no matter how hard a front-line manager tries, it is the senior leaders that set the tone. If there is little to no collaboration at the highest levels of an organization, the ability to create collaboration at other levels will be negatively impacted. Leaders at the top set the example. Be aware and do your best.

Source: Teamwork in the Workplace: 11 Benefits, Team Asana, December 30, 2022; Collaboration and Teams, The Secrets of Great Teamwork, Martine Haas and Mark Mortensen, Harvard Business Review, June 2016.