Anyone who thought the rise of distributed work would be the downfall of teamwork has probably changed their tune by now. The truth is, teamwork is more important than ever.

“The use of teams and collaboration expectations have been consistently rising,” says Dr. Scott Tannenbaum, a researcher and president of the Group for Organizational Effectiveness. “And when I say teams, I’m talking about all types of teams, whether it’s stable work teams [or] teams that now, in the current environment, are operating virtually.”

Teamwork is essential to a company’s success, says John J. Murphy, author of Pulling Together: 10 Rules for High-Performance Teamwork. “Each individual has unique gifts, talents and skills. When we bring them to the table and share them for a common purpose, it can give companies a real competitive advantage.”

But here’s the real magic of teamwork: when done right, it has benefits that go far beyond boosting the company’s bottom line.

What Is Teamwork?

It may seem like a simple question, but the answer often eludes many managers.

At its most basic, teamwork is a sense of unity. It’s an enthusiasm that a group of people shares for their common interests and responsibilities.

But delve deeper and you’ll soon see that teamwork is both a bonding agent and a lubrication of sorts. Teamwork brings people together (the bonding agent) and motivates them to rely on one another to get things done. Teamwork also makes progress easier (the lubrication) and allows the group to overcome obstacles that would have stymied an individual.

Without teamwork, none of that would be possible.

Why Is Teamwork Important?

1) New Ideas

Teamwork among a diverse group of people will almost always reveal new, fresh ideas. And those new ideas are invaluable in today’s competitive business environment.

The differing ages, backgrounds, skill sets, and experience levels of a team mean that there’s a unique perspective just waiting to be heard. When you create a safe space where individuals can work together as a team without the fear of criticism, new ideas and perspectives will start to flow.

2) Improved Efficiency

If you want to improve efficiency in your business, get your employees to work together. This will allow you to split difficult tasks into more manageable chunks and complete them faster. It’s also a great way to ensure that the person with the most skills is working on the part that suits him or her best.

3) Better Quality

The quality you expect from your project (or just your business in general) may be too much for one person to handle. But with teamwork, you get the best that everyone has to offer. As a result, that equals higher quality on a more consistent basis because you’re not relying on only one person.

4) Higher Morale

If you want people to feel better about themselves and the job they’re doing, get them to work together. The morale boost they will receive highlights the importance of teamwork at the office.

When teamwork is a priority, your employees will feel:

• That their work is valued
• That they can contribute to a successful result
• That they have something special to offer

That boost in morale makes every aspect of your business better.

5) Group Cohesion

Group cohesion is essential for businesses focused on success. Without it, individuals will be more likely to apply their efforts for their benefit rather than the benefit of your company. And with everyone working toward slightly different purposes, your project — and your business — will suffer.

6) More Learning Opportunities

Working as a team allows your employees to see the successes and failures of others in a supportive environment. More than that, working as a team allows your employees to learn from each other without undue risk.

For example, when things go awry, the team can pull together to make them better. But in the process, everyone learns what not to do next time. That can provide insight into how to get things done more effectively the first time around.

7) Sense Of Accomplishment

The encouragement and support you get from working together as a team make the accomplishments that much sweeter. That, then, can feed over into a renewed sense of individual purpose and confidence that can reinforce the group as well.

It’s very much a self-fulfilling cycle where accomplishment breeds accomplishment and success breeds success.

8) Faster Innovation

If you tasked one employee with solving a problem, how many different viable solutions could they come up with? Maybe two or three?

But what if you tasked your team with solving the same problem? How many different viable solutions could they come up with? Two or three from each team member.

There may be some overlap in ideas, but that’s still plenty of options. Those options give them and you the opportunity for faster, more reactive innovation. That can mean the difference between getting ahead in your business and falling behind.

9) Less Managerial Interference

When individual employees work together as part of a team, there’s a sense of self-monitoring that isn’t present when they work by themselves.

This self-correcting behaviour means that the manager doesn’t have to get involved as often as they might with individuals. That’s good for you and, ultimately, for your team who now benefits from more autonomy.

10) Stronger Working Relationships

When your employees work together and succeed together, they form strong working relationships. Those relationships can grow to include mutual trust — and maybe even friendship — under the right circumstances.

That’s beneficial for your business because trust and friendship (and strong working relationships) generate:

• Communication
• Support
• Motivation
• Cooperation

Those are traits that every manager wants their employees to exhibit. You can nurture those traits by working as a team.

11) Healthy Competition

Teamwork at the office also creates a healthy sense of competition among coworkers.

This isn’t the type of competition that generates antagonism and bad feelings. Instead, it’s the type of competition that inspires your employees to do their best work all the time, overcome obstacles, reach out for more responsibility, and push your business to the next level.

You can nurture this healthy competition — along with a strong sense of team — by providing the right challenges and rewards to a group that shows signs of pulling together to get the job done right.

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