MAKING TEAMS WORK: How to Create Productive and Effective Teams

Hopefully, this ebook will give you all sorts of new ideas on how to relate more productively, more efficiently, with less stress, and with greater results with those you work with. So let’s start off by asking a very serious question, and that is: who cares?

I’m being very serious when I ask, “Why do we even get so concerned about collaborating with our team members?“ Isn’t it more productive just to get to work and put your head down and do your job? Can’t you get a lot more done that way? Well, yes, there are certainly times when it makes more sense to work solo, and you don’t need a team for everything.

However, there are distinct advantages when it comes to your personal productivity and working with a group of people. So I have a couple of ideas to suggest that you consider, when it might be a good opportunity for you to work with others.

First of all, one of the best things about being in a team is that you have more information. You have a greater total of knowledge that comes to you when trying to solve a problem. For example, you could ask in an upcoming staff meeting, “Let’s brainstorm all the states in the United States that begin with either the letter M as in Mary, or N as in Nancy.“

Now, if you tried that problem by yourself, how many states could you come up with on your own? There are 16, by the way; but many people cannot come up with the complete list. However, the involvement of more than one person increases the knowledge that can be brought to bear on that problem, and would decrease the amount of time spent in solving it. This is obviously a very simple illustration, but this
is just as obviously an advantage.