Teamwork in Business

Teamwork in business is something we are seeing more and more of as we move into the twenty-first century. Teamwork is the idea that you can get more overall output when different processes come together and work as a single unit. This goes along with the concept of synergy. Synergy is the idea that when working together one plus one equals three. Teamwork has developed into an extremely important principle these days. Almost every company is in a very competitive market. When operating in a purely competitive industry there are a lot of competitors that offer a very similar product. Price is going to be an important element to all consumers. When working in this type of environment any edge you can get over your competition is going to be useful. All the decision makers are constantly looking for any method to lower production costs. This can be the different between millions of dollars. Many companies are turning to team building and leadership development as the answer. If done correctly, both of these tools will make your company more effective and efficient.

This can be either very good or very bad for someone in the job market. When going into an interview, having strategic leadership experience is going to give you an advantage. If you lack leadership experience, you may want to do an internship to beef up your resume. It would be beneficial to do some research and think of any leadership experience you’ve had. This could be anything from holding a class office to being captain for your local soccer team.

Last year, the reason most employees lost their jobs was relationship problems. Many people have a hard time getting along with their co-workers. Most companies don’t put up with this type of behavior. This is a little bit different than teamwork issues, but they both have to do with communication in the workplace. Teamwork is one step beyond just getting along with your fellow workers. It has to do with assisting others and working for the overall good of the company. Team building starts with the recognition that the company needs surpass those of your own. If you want to get a decent job, you need to demonstrate to the higher ups that you are going to buy into company policy. No one wants to hire a self-centered, arrogant jerk.

There are a wide variety of success stories that have to do with teamwork. I have seen many sporting events when the less skilled team won. This takes place every year in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. In my own life, I can think of a few times when this has been the case. My baseball team won the Idaho State Championship when I was both 13 and 15. This did not happen because we had the best athletes. We were actually a pretty normal bunch of players, but we knew how to work together. I can also remember a variety of teamwork experiences when owned my own production company. There is one particular event that really shows the power of teamwork. Like I said, a few years ago I own my own production business. This consists of a company that puts on special concert and dance party events. I live in a college town where there are thousands of bored students looking for something to do. My partners and I would provide this entertainment. We would rent out a venue, typically a warehouse or event center, and have a cover charge to get into the party. Promotion was directly related to the success of the event. For a typical party we would hand out upwards to 10,000 flyers. We would also make hundreds signs and banners. We would spend two, three, and sometimes four weeks promoting the thing. In the end, even the senior citizens would know when and where the most happening party that month was going to be. My company was known all over Utah Valley. We took pride in working hard and providing a great product. We were having a lot of success with getting people to the party but could never seem to be ready for them. We would have thousands of people ready to get in, and we would still be setting up. There was a major flaw in the way we were handling the preparations. We had three major partners and a variety of other helpers. We would all pick a task we were good at and work on it till it was done. There were a lot of different preparations to make before you could start the event. You needed to have the sound, lights, ticket area, music, stage, security, ushers, and many other things all ready to go. No matter how hard we tired, we could never get everything done. After being a half hour late for another event, I thought there had to be a better way. This is when the idea of synergy and teamwork came to mind. I had the idea that we would break into two groups and all work on the task till it was done. This would be a bit nerve racking because we were used to seeing everything coming together at once. It would be different working on the sound and lights all the while having no one setting up the ticket area. Even with these concerns, we decided to make the change. The next party came around and we put our new plan to action. In the end, we ended up being ready for everything with 45 min to spare. This was not because we had more people or that we worked harder. The difference was synergy and teamwork. When we came together our work was magnified.

Teamwork helps companies in many ways. First, it gives the employees company spirit. When people work together for a common goal it gives them a sense of belonging. It is important for people to feel like they are a part of something. When they feel this pride, they will want to put their best foot forward. They will have enthusiasm in the workplace and connect with other employees. Second, teamwork brings more efficiency to the workplace. This is really the most important thing. The goal is to raise productivity while keeping production costs as low as possible. There are several procedural things that can be improved through team building. It takes a lot of time to send company memos of every change in procedure. It takes even more time to implement those changes. With teamwork you eliminate a lot of the formalities. When people work together in close proximity every day, it makes changes a lot easier. Fellow employees will have the chance to teach and practice the new methods with others in the company. This will save the company money in training and other implementation costs.