“Two heads are better than one.” We’ve all heard the old adage encouraging teamwork, but what does working together really do for you? Salesmen thrive off healthy competition, but sometimes the use of teamwork in the workplace is a better answer for winning sales. Here are six ways that teamwork benefits you in the workplace.
1. Fosters Creativity and Learning
Creativity thrives when people work together on a team. Brainstorming ideas as a group prevents stale viewpoints that often come out of working solo. Combining unique perspectives from each team member creates more effective selling solutions.
What you have learned from your individual experiences is entirely different from your coworkers. Thus, teamwork also maximizes shared knowledge in the workplace and helps you learn new skills you can use for the rest of your career.
Collaborating on a project creates an enthusiasm for learning that solitary work usually lacks. Being able to share discoveries with the rest of your team excites employees and fosters both individual and team knowledge.
2. Blends Complementary Strengths
Working together lets employees build on the talents of their teammates. While your strength may be creative thinking, a coworker might shine in organization and planning. Do not hesitate to share your abilities with the team.
Often, a team works well together because team members rely on each other to bring individual talents to the table. By observing the process behind these skills, you can learn how to combine your gifts and become a stronger team.
Every time you see your coworkers utilize a different approach in sales, you have a chance to adjust or improve your methods.
3. Builds Trust
Relying on other people builds trust, and teamwork establishes strong relationships with coworkers. Despite occasional disagreements, an effective team enjoys working together and shares a strong bond. When you put your trust in a coworker, you are establishing the foundation of a relationship that can endure minor conflicts.
Trusting your teammates also provides a feeling of safety that allows ideas to emerge. It helps employees open up and encourage each other. Open communication is key when working on a team and produces effective solutions in difficult group projects.
Without trust, a team crumbles and cannot succeed on assigned projects. Great teams build each other up and strengthen individual members to create a cohesive group. By working together, employees learn that wins and losses affect everyone on the team. Teamwork necessitates confidence in each other’s distinct abilities.
4. Teaches Conflict Resolution Skills
Conflicts inevitably happen when you put together a group of unique people. Employees come from varied backgrounds and have different work styles and habits. While these unique viewpoints create the most successful work, they can also generate resentment that quickly turns into conflict.
When conflict arises in teamwork situations, employees are forced to resolve the conflicts themselves instead of turning to management. Learning conflict resolution firsthand is a skill that employees can use to become efficient managers down the road.
5. Promotes a Wider Sense of Ownership
Team projects encourage employees to feel proud of their contributions. Tackling obstacles and creating notable work together makes team members feel fulfilled. Working toward achieving company goals allows employees to feel connected to the company. This builds loyalty, leading to a higher level of job satisfaction among employees.
Teamwork is not just helpful for employees. It benefits the employer in the long run as well. Employees that connect directly with their workplace are more likely to stay with the company. While employees leaving their jobs often cite a lacking salary, another common complaint is that their contributions do not seem to matter. Teamwork allows people to engage with the company and add to the bigger picture.
6. Encourages Healthy Risk-Taking
An employee working on a project alone will probably not want to stick their neck out for an off-the-wall idea. If the project fails when working solo, that employee takes the full brunt of the blame. While you may not get full credit for a successful team project, working with other people spreads out the responsibility for a failed assignment.
Working as a team allows team members to take more risks, as they have the support of the entire group to fall back on in case of failure. Conversely, sharing success as a team is a bonding experience. Once a team succeeds together, their brainstorming sessions will produce revolutionary ideas without hesitation. In many cases, the riskiest idea turns out to be the best idea. Teamwork allows employees the freedom to think outside the box.
There may be no “I” in team, but teamwork can still benefit employees on a personal level. Do not allow competitive natures to get in the way of personal growth in the workplace. Instead, understand how to resolve conflicts and trust teammates to contribute their best ideas. Learn from your team members and build on each other’s skills to create more impressive results in the workplace.
David is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestsellers, The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them and Sandler Success Principles: 11 Insights that will change the way you think and sell. He regularly authors articles for business publications and continues to be involved in the ongoing creation and development of new Sandler training products and programs.
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