Teamwork makes the dream work is a phrase that was popularized by John Maxwell, the American author, speaker, and pastor whose books basically focus on personal development, leadership and teamwork.
Teamwork makes the dream work is more than just an overused phrase, book title, and line from motivational speeches; It is a principle proven to guarantee success in a corporate environment and team situations.
Unarguably, teamwork is an inalienable feature of successful organizations. This goes on to say that great team players become successful in the long run.
This article discusses in simple terms, the Teamwork makes the dream work paradigm, explains how to make a great team, and outlines the benefits of working together.
What Does “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work” Mean?
Collins dictionary defines the teamwork dictum as A phrase used when two or more people have collaborated positively on some project or to some end.
This definition proves that teamwork helps people achieve feats bigger than what they can individually achieve.
Lovers of football, basketball, and hockey understand that teamwork makes the dream work better as they watch their favorite team work as one, to get the ball into the opponent’s goal.
The word teamwork originates from the word team, it is, therefore, necessary to understand what a team should be.
A team is a group of people varied who perform interdependent tasks to accomplish a common objective.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work involves a group of people who share a common goal and put in unified efforts to reach it.
Even Though everyone understands what they each need to do to get great results, the probability of success from the trial of a single person, is slim.
Hence, dreams that work, ventures that grow to worth millions of dollars, and every successful enterprise, is a function of teamwork.
This is not to downplay the concept and advantages of a sole proprietorship, but the fact is that there is little a person can achieve working alone, compared to the grounds that can be covered as a team.
There are countless instances of effective teamwork that fueled dreams and made them work.
From Facebook, the Wright Brothers, and Tesla, to Apple and Microsoft, every big dream is built and sustained by teamwork.
This is why you need to have a team, be part of a team and work hard to sustain your team.
Qualities of An Effective Team
1. Common purpose
Every great team is characterized by a common purpose. For footballers, it is to score a goal against the opponent, win the match, and be awarded the trophy.
But, For soldiers, it is to secure an area, finish a mission and return without casualties.
Members of successful teams work together to achieve the common purpose of the team.
2. Distinct Measurable Responsibilities
We have established the fact that members of great teams share a single purpose. This does not however mean that they all carry out the same roles and responsibilities.
Members have different contributions to make to the actualization of team objectives.
The performance of clearly distinct tasks helps the goal get completed within a short time, unlike teams where everyone applies concerted effort o perform a single task.
The advantage of performing distinct responsibilities is in the measurability of individual output.
By performing separate tasks, every member of the team can clearly measure the project’s progress.
3. Optimism
Members of the best teams support, encourage, and maintain a positive culture with each other.
Members of great teams understand how hard it is to maintain a positive atmosphere with one another, so they put in the effort to make the team work.
The energy in a great team is that of optimism, respect, tolerance, cooperation, encouragement, and motivation.
4. Efficient processes
Team members often have other aspects of their lives that need as much attention as the team. Therefore, It is important to have efficient and effective processes across teams.
Processes like how often the team will meet and when, the itinerary for every meeting, and expectations or guidelines for participating.
Great teams also try to state what is expected of every team member and the deadline for every task.
5. Regular Reviews and Constructive Criticisms
Great teamwork makes the dream work because members of a successful team make it a habit to regularly review the team’s progress and put forward suggestions to help the team work better.
The act of regularly reviewing the team’s progress means being respectfully honest about what sectors of the team aren’t as effective as they should be.
After problem identification, it is necessary that team members make suggestions about the way forward and constructively criticize every suggestion to ensure that only the best idea stands.
An effective team does not frown at criticism as long as the intent is to increase the profit-making capacity of the team.
Benefits of Working Together
You can clearly see how teamwork makes the dream work through the benefits of working together.
Successful businesses can attest to the fact that working together with the right people in the right team is the best part of taking on any task.
The benefits of working together are obviously the reason why teamwork makes the dream work phase have as much patronage as it does.
The following are the benefits of working together.
Motivation
Working together keeps team members strengthened and gives them a renewed sense of energy.
It makes them feel important to the team and the company, which in turn motivates them to succeed.
Working together also creates a desire for self-improvement in people, which in the long run, affects their productivity and the general team output.
Even if they don’t realize it, almost everyone has a continuous thirst for knowledge when they work together and share ideas.
Working on knowledge-based activities in team-building exercises can help individuals stay motivated through the course of the project and in their general lives.
Increased Productivity
Statistics show that teams that work together are 21% more productive and able to achieve company goals.
Teamwork lessens the task of each person and saves time spent working on a single task.
Teamwork involves good communication between team members, which minimizes friction and fallouts between project executors and quickens the project execution process.
Productive Synergy
As long as it is a team, there will be people with different skill sets, knowledge levels, backgrounds, and religious orientations.
Teamwork leverages this diversity and brings them together to create a greater something bigger than their individual efforts.
Teamwork can increase cooperation among members as they learn from each other’s mistakes and triumphs.
Improved Innovation
A workplace is made up of open-minded individuals and employees who frequently share ideas, analyses, suggestions, and concerns.
A team, on the other hand, is made of people who frequently share ideas, analyses, and suggestions, which are compounded to make innovations that benefit the team.
Therefore, you are right to insinuate that a team is the only arrangement that ensures continuous innovation and growth. The reason is that the members are selfless and exist for the common good of the joint venture.
Conclusion
Teamwork makes the dream work is a great principle you should adopt in your enterprise for effectiveness and greater output.
We hope you got value from this article.
If you have any questions or suggestions about how teamwork makes the dream work, we love to hear them in the comment section.
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