Events

Successful Teamwork

At the heart of successful teamwork is the concept of people working together cooperatively, much like a sports team.

Projects require that people work together, so successful teamwork has become an important concept in organizations. Effective teams are an intermediary goal towards getting good, sustainable results. Industry has seen increasing efforts through training and cross-training to help people to work together more effectively and to accomplish shared goals and teambuilding days, company parties and fun days have become part of that cultural change to create successful teams by developing effective teamwork at many levels.

"The old structures are being reformed. As organizations seek to become more flexible in the face of rapid environmental change and more responsive to the needs of customers, they are experimenting with new, team-based structures” (Jackson & Ruderman, 1996). Successful teamwork at all levels is crucial in this development.

It is certainly true that in spite of our fabulous array of communication systems – email, mobile phones, SMS, Blackberry, wi-fi, laptops and more – that we have become less effective communicators because of all this! So how do we promote successful teamwork when we actually hide behind the technology and use it as an excuse not to interact with work colleagues? In many cases, our interpersonal skills have deteriorated as our technical skills and support develops. We have lost the art of talking to each other in a work environment.

A 2003 national representative survey, HOW-FAIR, revealed that Americans think that 'being a team player' and successful teamwork are the most important factors in getting ahead in the workplace and this has subsequently become true of many in the UK workplace. This was ranked higher than several factors, including 'merit and performance', 'leadership skills', 'intelligence', 'making money for the organization' and 'long hours'.

How then can a company develop this feeling of being a team player? Simulated exercises and challenges that require people to work together in a fun environment can really help to promote successful teamwork by creating and cementing longer term relationships between work colleagues.

In allowing staff to take part in events that encourage face to face teamwork collaboration, be that set tasks and/or challenges, fun days, parties or activity days certainly does allow colleagues to see other aspects of each other and to discover different skills that would not normally come out in a work environment. It is of course so much easier after that to further develop that relationship when you have a funny memory to recount - it builds bridges and develops relationships.

As part of successful teamwork, specific team skills such as communication, leadership, time management, decisions making can also be addressed not in a training environment but in a fun team challenge way that encourages people to explore each others strengths and weaknesses. This is as appropriate for a group of 6th formers just starting out in life and learning how to cooperate with their peers as it is for graduates joining a new company as well as established employees.

The teamwork events that we organise have proven over many years to be very successful in pulling down the walls of ineffective communication, are ideal for new teams, project teams and as part of a reward and incentive scheme for all staff whether that is on an annual or quarterly basis.

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