The importance of teamwork

In business, everyone talks about teamwork and the importance of great teams. The question is this: is teamwork just a buzzword, or is it actually critical to the success of a business? In my experience, having an excellent team who can work together can make a business wildly successful.

There are components of teamwork that make it incredibly important to a business. The following are just a few of the reasons I believe empowering teamwork is good for any company.

When a company strives for a strong team dynamic, it builds an environment that is productive, innovative, and positive. It’s important to hire team members who can fill gaps, then give them a shared vision to work toward. When you’ve built a company that works together toward a common goal and with team members who feel like they belong, you’ll have an unstoppable dynamic for your business.

Be sure to focus on clear communication and transparency. And make sure you’re celebrating the success of your teams. Be open about the goals you’re working toward and the challenges you may have along the way. When the environment is healthy, you’ll find that you have a positive, hardworking team who is willing to tackle any challenge.

Research shows one of the great benefits of teamwork is the engagement it creates amongst the group. In fact, just knowing the strengths that your team offers leads to higher performance. This research showed teams with high engagement had lower absenteeism, higher productivity, lower turnover, and even higher profitability.

Focus on building a great team by helping your employees connect on an individual level. Give them common language and a purpose. Allow them to get to know each other and the strengths they bring to the table. It will take your company to the next level.

Teams make it easier to tackle the workload. When team members work together to meet a common goal or finish a project, it reduces an individual’s pressure to perform while still meeting deadlines. Employees who work together are often able to complete their projects faster, meet objectives more easily, and come up with more creative solutions along the way.

Efficiency is always important in business, particularly as you look for ways to save costs and ensure productivity. No matter the type of business you run, this is always something you should strive to create.

One of the great things about building a strong team is that it allows for differences in expertise, experience, and skills. When you’re able to hire employees with different backgrounds and knowledge, it creates positive outcomes such as higher revenue from innovation, exceeding financial goals, and more.

Bringing different perspectives to the table also increases collaboration. Junior staff are more willing to ask more experienced employees for insights while newer staff are willing to bring ideas to the table. It’s a win-win when teams are encouraged to work together to come up with smart solutions.

It’s not an easy job to build up your teams, but it’s always worthwhile. Take the time to find the right members of your team, then provide them with the culture to make great things happen. Those efforts will make your business succeed, guaranteed.

Jim Allen is a business leader and entrepreneur who has built one of the top-producing real estate groups in the Triangle. He is President of The Jim Allen Group, which is consistently named one of the top real estate teams in North Carolina and even North America.