4 Qualities of Good Teamwork In The Workplace

Teamwork or Teams are not a group of people brought together to manage a task.

Teams are not a group of people who are members of the same function in an organization.

Teams are not a group of people who receive emails from their leader with the salutation “Dear Team”. 

Then? 

Teams are people working together for common purpose and goal and are mutually accountable and committed to achieving the same. 

The team can be specific. When we give assignments, team members should know expectations from them and these members will be specializing in specific areas and will be able to perform the tasks.

Building a successful team and having good teamwork is not so complicated as it seems. These are four qualities must be available in a team to enable successful teamwork in the workplace.

1. Common Purpose and Goal for Teamwork

A common worthwhile goal and purpose create a sense of doing something ‘important’ together.

Teams forms around a common goal & purpose that provides them, individually and collectively, a challenge that they take responsibility for. 

This can give them increased self-esteem and a level of recognition above the norm when they reach the goal. Without purpose and goal, no group will become a ‘Team’. 

The common goal of the team must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Related to Job, and Time-bound). 

The goal needs to be expressed in simple language that people can understand. 

When people work together in an atmosphere of trust and accountability towards a common goal and purpose, they put aside turf issues and politics and focus on the task which we call ‘Teamwork’. 

2. Clear Role and Responsibility of Team Member

The role and responsibility of each and every team member must be clear. 

Everyone should know the role of each team member. This can help co-workers to better understand each individual’s role within the team. 

It also enables each member to perform work in the areas in which he or she is the strongest. 

This way, we can complete assignments on time and without any problem. This enables better teamwork among people.

3. Better Communication in Team

Every team needs people who speak up and express their thoughts and ideas clearly, directly, honestly, and with respect for others. 

Communication is the most important factor in team success and great teamwork. 

It has been observed that this characteristic is often absent in many situations and this is where problems often arise. 

Each team member should speak up when an issue occurs. Everyone should speak up, but at the same time, they should listen to others.  

Communication is all about providing information and assessing what others have to say.This is how important decisions are reached. 

A lack of communication amongst team members can, not only hamper progress but can also create utter chaos. 

Existence of an open communication system within a team, faster sharing of information, ideas, resources, knowledge, and expertise.

Teams need team players who can absorb others, understand others, and accept ideas and points of other people without any debate and argument at every point. 

Most important, for effective communication and problem – solving, team members need the discipline to listen first and speak second so that meaningful dialog results. 

Proper communication ensures that everyone is on the same page and working for the same goals which create good teamwork.

Read This : Career Advice For New Graduates

4. Respect for Difference

We should not forget while building a team that a team consists of individuals. 

Often, in the quest for the perfect team, individual differences either tend to get magnified or totally ignored. 

Individual differences have to be acknowledged, understood, and differences in opinion, if any, should be reconciled to improve teamwork.

All members of a team will not necessarily be like one another, but they must respect each other. 

Professional respect is just as important as personal respect and both can help a team perform more smoothly. 

If each member of a team respects the position of all other members.

Teams develop as people get to know one another and develop respect for their differences.

The best way to develop respect for differences is to experience a journey together as a team 

It allows us to welcome differences of opinion as a means of getting the best solution rather than avoiding them as a precursor to unpleasant conflicts. 

Effective teams often seem to do things effortlessly. They enjoy work, enjoy each other’s company, follow their leader, and help each other. 

Often, teams of great individuals fail to achieve what a team of average individuals achieve with great teamwork.

An Example of Teamwork

Sugarcanes individually cannot stand on their own after growing tall, so, to withstand the winds, storms, and the like, every cane is tied to the next cane by their leaves, like this entire field is networked, and now strong enough to stand. 

There is no “I” in “TEAMWORK, its ” WE”