Teamwork: Greater than the Sum of the Parts
If you are an athlete or theater goer—or both—you’ve seen how a coordinated group effort can produce an outcome that is greater than the sum of its parts. Coaches, stage directors, task managers, project directors, and other leaders recommend a wide range of sometimes competing philosophies for inspiring and improving teamwork, but here’s how we approach the concept at QIP.
The Business Dictionary defines teamwork as “the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal.” That sounds right, but we think there’s more to it. In fact, we like the way artist and author explains the concept in more interpersonal terms:
Teamwork is the combined commitment to overcome obstacles. It’s support. It’s encouragement. It’s working together.
It’s rising to the challenge of bettering yourself for the benefit of the whole. It’s providing the support & encouragement necessary to help others better themselves and succeed in their endeavors.
Perhaps to no one’s surprise, many experts believe that, after identifying a shared goal or purpose, the most important aspects of teamwork center on relationships: effective group communications, efficient collaborative processes, and positive interpersonal interactions. We consistently put these ideas into practice here at QIP.
No matter what your workplace role is, it’s a valuable exercise to consider how you contribute to the teams you work within—internally, with business partners, and in client settings. What is your role? What do you contribute? What could you contribute? To evaluate yourself, you can ask questions such as these:
- Am I a consistent contributor?
- Am I a person my colleagues can count on?
- Do I volunteer to pick up the slack when I see opportunities to do so?
- Do I share credit and acknowledge good work in others?
- Do I encourage others?
- Do I treat others with respect?
- Am I a person other people want to work with?
If your assessment suggests that there’s room for you to improve in your team skills, why not give it a try? No one is perfect, but people who collaborate as teammates can do great things together. Up your game in the teamwork department, and see how it improves your professional products, interpersonal relationships, and job satisfaction! That’s what all of us at QIP are continually striving to do.
