Benefits of Teamwork
Team building activity tool
Benefits of Teamwork
Team building activity tool
This is a simple but useful team building activity tool. It’s designed to help clarify the benefits of teamwork in your organisation.
It will encourage team members to consider why teamwork is being used, and how it will benefit different aspects of the organisation. Clarity over these benefits can then help you focus on what needs to be done to achieve them.
To get the most out of this team activity you may want to read some of our other articles on teamwork. Firstly, read about those teamwork principles which can often be lost in the day-to-day busyness of work.
Secondly, and crucial to this activity, in “Why is Teamwork Important?”, we discuss the benefits of team working. Here we stress that it’s one thing to create a team, but quite another to create teamwork. Just as it’s one thing to join a team, but quite another to perform as a team member. To put it simply, teams don’t work without teamwork.
Before thinking about the benefits of teamwork, you may also find it useful to read the article: define teamwork. Then use the associated activity tool: teamwork definition to help your teams understand, agree and “buy into” their own definitions of teamwork. *
Benefits of Teamwork: Why Teamwork?
In considering the benefits of teamwork, a good place to start is with the end in mind. Though fundamental, beneficial and highly valued, teamwork is not necessarily an easy option. Which is why taking time to think about what you really want to achieve through better teamwork is such an essential first step.
The aim of this group activity tool is to help:
- Identify the expected team working contribution to the business and its culture (a strategic aim);
- Identify the desired contribution to people – both staff and the organization’s customers (operational aims).
You will need a large room, a flip chart, marker pens, writing pads, and several packs of post-it notes (4 different colours).
Before the session
Ask people to think about the following and make some notes. Ask them to:
- Identify a team they would consider to be effective;
- Identify a “team” they would consider to be ineffective;
- Consider what makes one successful and the other not.
During the Session
Begin the session with a summary of findings from above. List these on a flip chart for the assembled group to use as a reference.
Place a sheet of flip-chart paper in each of the four corners of the room. Label the top of each page with one of the four headings: Business; People; Culture; Customer.
Next, using a different colour post-it for each category, ask the group to write down the importance of teamwork to each of the listed categories. If the group is large, you may split it into teams allocated to each of the categories. If not, get all present to consider all categories, and place their post-it notes accordingly.
Allow approximately 30 minutes or as long as it takes for ideas to be recorded under each of the four headings.
Summarizing the Session
Ask the group(s) to summarize their ideas, discussing the main contributions teamwork will make to the four categories. Pin these four flip-chart sheets at the front of the room for a summative discussion. Ensure the ideas listed in “Why is Teamwork Important?“, have been addressed in this summary.
Action
* Optional: If you began by getting the team to agree its own definition of teamwork, review this in the light of the benefits identified during this session. Revise and agree again, as needed.
Collate, summarize and record the benefits to circulate to the team, and more widely in the organisation. Refer back to agreed notes if needed during subsequent team building activities, or to help deal with any future conflict resolution, should it be needed.
Ideas for team building
This is one of the articles in our teamwork series. But for some practical tips on teamwork theories, look at our great-value e-guides. 
If you want to put our teamwork concepts into action, you’ll find more information and a wealth of practical resources, in our colossal Team Building Bundle.
Containing 240 pages and 50 tools, these are the 8 key guides we recommend to help you do more than define teamwork, build it!
Why is Teamwork Important
Build a Better Team
The Problems with Teams
Team Health Check
Team Building Exercises
Leading with Style and Focus
What’s the Problem?
Making Better Decisions
