When people hear that they need to learn how to become team players, many automatically shy away from the prospect, and the more cynical ones think it's a lame effort by management to encourage people to have fun and make friends on the job. While it's true that "teamwork" is a term that can be abused to death by managers who are overly enthusiastic about buzzwords, that shouldn't take away the fact that every department, every group with a need to achieve goals must develop teamwork.

Some teams can foster a stronger bond just by doing more activities outside of work together. Others grow into their roles over time, helped along by an involved boss. Still others require a deft approach, or will need professional intervention, such as that offered by career consultants. Whatever option you select, keep your eye on the prize: a strong, properly functioning team.

For a company to accomplish anything, it must have the right pool of people with the right skills who can do the job. These people, who usually have fairly similar or related skill sets, are generally placed together in a certain group or department that will allow them to do the right type of work connected to the function of that department. Sounds simple enough? That is not the real case. Even if these people have similar backgrounds, knowledge, skill, or experience, it's not a guarantee that a team will be truly formed.

Teamwork doesn't just involve similarly skilled people working together towards a goal. It involves these people working well together. If they work well, they can easily sail towards their objectives. Without a sense of teamwork, people will just be working away at their own pace individually, doing their own thing, without feeling as though their efforts are taking them anywhere.

With teamwork, you are building a group whose individual members trust one another and can rely on each other if things go wrong. This makes for a good working environment, which in turn encourages people to be productive as well.

How do you know if your team is working at maximum efficiency AND consists of people who get along well and work well together, too? Here are some signs that will show you that team building was a success.

1. Any conflicts that arise are easily ironed out among the team members.
2. Productivity and morale are on the rise.
3. There is a stark difference in the atmosphere at work. For one thing, it has become a lot more pleasant.
4. People begin to see you as a trustworthy leader by approaching you more and informing you about the team's accomplishments as well as any of their concerns.
5. You see a change in how the team members relate to one another. If before, they never talked much or hardly discussed anything else apart from work, now, the members of the team are interacting much more enthusiastically.