Helping employees, managers, and departments work better together has numerous benefits. Instead of thinking of workplace team development as a special intervention, it should be seen more as helping the company work to its full potential. Teamwork is, in essence, a set of individual behavioral choices that workers make in their own interest and for their own satisfaction, safety, and survival.

Better teamwork is essentially free, and the benefits of increased synergy, cooperation, communication, and commitment can yield very tangible results, namely profitability, increased performance, and increased organizational competitiveness. Leveraging this ‘free resource’ is, however, a very ingenious process that is often poorly managed, misdelivered, inaccurately measured, or completely neglected.

Consultants and trainers are often brought in for a quick fix to try to teach something about how to work better, to provide a “feel good” team building experience, or to try to resolve long-standing conflicts and animosities between departments that are causing problems. serious flaws. in process or production. Often these band-aids are too little too late without a long-term remedy.

The stressors of a lack of teamwork in an organization are many; insecurity and mistrust, dishonesty, failure to share information or resources, intentional non-cooperation, miscommunication, and overall underperformance compared to what might be possible. Whether intentional or not, the complexities and interactions of any company with 50+ employees are bound to cause friction and misunderstanding when human beings try to work together. That is why teamwork is one of the most important factors to pay attention to.

Departmental Teams and Identity. Each department naturally develops its own identity, culture and norms. Natural competition between departments will develop in an ad hoc manner if not deliberately guided. Research shows that small units benefit more from developing teamwork and can apply positive teamwork approaches for quicker results. The departmental team is ‘where the rubber meets the road’ in terms of the potential benefits of better teamwork.

Organizational Culture of Teamwork. On a macro scale, the entire organization must be careful about what it communicates about teamwork. Clearly stated expectations about departments and divisions working well together must be continually emphasized in senior executive statements, corporate communications, and symbolism in every plant and office.

Demolishing Walls and Silos. Teamwork is especially important among internal customers in the value chain who perform core functions of the organization and contribute to key processes. Teamwork can be the lubrication that keeps all parts of the machine running smoothly.

Humanity, fun and enjoyment at work. When people feel relaxed and confident, they perform at a much higher level. Humor and enjoyment at work correlate strongly with employee satisfaction, turnover, and organizational climate issues. The warmth of relationships can affect morale and reduce barriers between people who resist coming together and working well together. It’s always better when workers like to come to work and enjoy those they work with.

Leaders lead more effectively. With good teamwork, leaders can share the load more effectively, gradually developing their teams to be more self-directed. This also provides development opportunities for employees and builds respect for leaders. Leaders who lead their teams well are better supported and have greater credibility in the organization. Leaders with strong teams behind them are better able to meet special demands that require extra effort.

Measurement of teamwork. With accurate measurement of teamwork factors and attitude trends over time, teamwork training and other initiatives can be directly attributed to successes, as well as identifying downward trends before they become critics. Teamwork measurement should be one of the important indicators on the corporate dashboard.

Teamwork skills lead to higher productivity. Teams that invest in learning problem solving, group processes, continuous improvement, and other more sophisticated teamwork behaviors will outperform other teams of similar size and composition. Meetings will be more efficient, goals, directions, and tactics will be better understood, key collaborative relationships will be prioritized, and teams will have much more definitive direction.

New Organizations, Mergers, New Leaders, Change. The time and energy invested in developing new teams and relationships is a critical factor in merging cultures from different organizations, integrating new managers and leaders, and establishing a new set of norms and behaviors that will lead to a high performance. There is no substitute for the onboarding step between companies in a merger situation or between managers and employees with a leadership change, but it can be handled efficiently and proactively with a focus on building better teamwork from the start. When all parties are clear and comfortable with the new direction, the inefficiencies of the change can be minimized.

Investment in Lubricating Virtual or Long Range Relationships. Teamwork should be a major emphasis for any meeting where relationships are held virtually or remotely most of the time. Time spent building better teamwork and stronger relationships when the group is truly close is insurance for most of the time when team members can’t meet face-to-face.

Impact on Customer Satisfaction. One of the areas that is most felt when interdepartmental teamwork is poor is the area of ​​customer satisfaction. This could take the form of dramatically different experiences for the customer when dealing with one department or another. It may be a lack of follow-through by production on a critical commitment made by sales or engineering. It may be the customer’s negative experience of feeling left out because no department in the provider’s company seems to want to take responsibility. We have all been there. A strong teamwork training and development theme should show the direct impact on the external customer and the potential costs if the company cannot work well together.

Impact on strategic alignment: Commit to and support plans, especially when they become more complex and easier with good teamwork. When an organization is assigned multidimensional complexity, demanding customers, or the need for specific and highly precise quality levels, it will require much more detailed interactions and cooperation. The importance of great teamwork becomes more important as tasks become more complex. With good teamwork, employees are more willing to take on individual responsibilities and share a positive culture of mutual assistance and support to help shoulder the load. The ability to respond to change, achieve bigger goals, and implement more complex strategies is only possible with inherently strong teams.

Teamwork is a critical factor in employee self-actualization. Great teamwork clears the way for freely shared initiative, creativity, and extra effort when needed. All employees share a desire for greater feelings of involvement, ownership, and participation. Teamwork feeds the fundamental human needs for belonging and acceptance in a group and frees people to express themselves and their talents to the best of their ability.

In short, a proactive approach to teamwork is an organizational imperative, not just something that is paid lip service at the annual company picnic. When it is developed responsibly in each department and throughout the organization, teamwork can be the critical factor that ensures that objectives are achieved, initiatives are well implemented and greater competitiveness is achieved. When high levels of teamwork exist, a variety of measurable factors will trend positively, from lower employee turnover and stress-related absences to departmental improvements and efficiencies and higher levels of customer satisfaction.

Your company will also be a happy place to work.