Teaming Up To Succeed - Tips For Developing Cohesive Teams

The other day I was watching ( and listening to ) one of the popular sports channels ,I heard the commentators explaining the success of these unlikeliest of heroes as, “Team players playing as a team.” Exceeding expectations as a team. United by tenacity. United by desire.

A sense of being a team and working as a team are powerful things, and time and again, in sports and in life, we see individuals united in collaborative efforts achieving goals far beyond what each could do on his or her own.

The following story will better explain my view on what best can be derived by teamwork.Here it goes.... 

A consultant was asked to give a talk at a sales conference. The CEO asked him to focus on the importance of cooperation and teamwork between the sales and marketing teams, since neither group had a particularly high regard for the other, and the lack of cohesion and goodwill was hampering effectiveness and morale. 

The marketing staff used to constantly moan about the sales people 'doing their own thing' and 'failing to follow central strategy'; and the sales people said that the marketing people were all ' idle theorists who waste their time at exhibitions and agency lunches' and have 'never done a decent day's work in their lives'.

Being a lover of rugby, the consultant decided to use the analogy of a rugby team's forwards and backs working together to achieve the best team performance:

"......So, just as in the game of rugby, the forwards, like the marketing department, do the initial work to create the platform and to make the opportunities, and then pass the ball out to the backs, the sales department, who then use their skills and energy to score the tries. The forwards and the backs, just like marketing and sales, are each good at what they do: and they work together so that the team wins..." said the consultant, finishing his talk.

The audience seemed to respond positively, and the conference broke for lunch. At the bar, the consultant asked one of the top sales-people what he'd thought of the analogy - had it given him food for thought ?

"Yes, I see what you mean," said the salesman, "It does make sense. The sales people - the backs, yes? - the backs need the marketing department - the forwards, yes? - to make the opportunities for us, so that we, the backs, can go and score the tries - to win the business. We work together as a team - each playing our own part - working as a team."

In any organization the craft of teamwork is an important characteristic that forges the road of success. When a group fails to successfully collaborate, they fail as a whole and nothing good comes out of it.Teamwork is the basic and crucial element for productivity at work.

Bringing together the knowledge ,interests and experiences of employees is a great way to strengthen internal communication.Initiatives to bring about effective team work are necessary at all times to ensure a smooth and happy work environment .Needless to say,such an environment is conducive to increased productivity.

Perhaps even more important to realize is that when a team is not effective, it runs the risk of causing more damage than good. In an organization this can mean the failure of projects, added expenses, lost time, and added stress to the team members.

Through effective teamwork, a team becomes a high performance team that is capable of accomplishing unimaginable things.

What are your opinion for teamwork and benefits of developing cohesive teams.