Teamwork: Pros and Cons

Teamwork is essential in any setting that involves a group of people working towards a common goal. It is a necessity for the innovation process at the work place to take place. More often than not, organizations and schools encourage teamwork to minimize the time and resources that are put into realizing the objectives of the company. Teamwork has been deemed to have an array of benefits not only to the group as a whole but also on the individuals. Firstly, individuals who are part of a team tend to take charge of accomplishing tasks on time and thoroughly. This is only possible for individuals who are proactive in the team and actively vocalize their ideas. This creates space for innovation which is useful in generating ideas especially for companies that thrive on creative streaks to remain relevant and competitive in the market space. The other advantage of working in a team is that every team player does their fair share of work since the duties have been delegated. There is a greater personal initiative amongst workers to achieve the set objectives because there is the fear of incurring blame should they not perform well in their tasks CITATION Ann11 \l 2057 (Lantz, 2011). However, cooperation in terms of teamwork can only be achieved if there is a culture of trust CITATION Mil12 \l 2057 (Mila Hakanen, 2012). People work well collectively if they believe that the other person in the group has their best interest at heart CITATION Joh141 \l 2057 (Berlin, 2014).

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Secondly, teamwork fosters individuals strengths. It gives the employees the opportunity to build on their talents. This cocktail of talent then enables the team as a whole to come up with creative and apt solutions required to meet set objectives. Furthermore, it builds trust among employees as co-workers are able to build relationships. These relationships thrive even in the face minor conflicts because a strong bond has been established. Thirdly, the co-workers learn necessary conflict resolution skills that will enable them to work smoothly with each other. Employees or even classmates learn to resolve disputes among themselves instead of resorting to top management for arbitration.

Teamwork enables employees to take greater and more calculated risks. This is because they have confidence in their abilities especially after having successfully participated in a previous project. The confidence is born of their fellow team members' support. Additionally, a team is more likely to have more productive brainstorming sessions as varied ideas are put on the table. This fosters the employee's ability to think out of the box. Also, teamwork encourages responsibility. Team members are able to own to the success or failure of a project respectively. The failure of a project is not thrown on one person's shoulder but rather each team member is fully aware of how they contributed to the downfall of the project. Furthermore, members of a team take up ownership of their projects as they feel more included in the company. This not only benefits the employee, but the employer as he registers higher numbers of employee loyalty and retention.

Teamwork is not always the best solution. This is as a result of the varied personalities of individuals in the team. Therefore, a clash of egos and ideas is bound to ensue. This could further lead to resentment between team members that would make it difficult for them to collaborate in future projects. Teamwork also has the capacity to limit creativity because most times the employees are focused on achieving the objectives of the company and so their creative ideas take a back seat. Consequently, a company that is deprived of innovative ideas is prone to stagnation. Furthermore, teamwork entails a lot of time and resources and therefore takes a longer time for the objectives to be achieved. This is because of the processes involved in the formation of a team such as selection, organization and socialization. Lastly, there is the looming cloud of unequal participation by members in the group. Some members take a back seat and let the others bear the brunt of the work and then later on take credit for the work. This is manifested mostly by members who are undisciplined and under motivated. This creates breeding ground for conflicts that would kill the morale of the other workersCITATION Pat03 \l 2057 (Delia Varga, 2014)References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Berlin, J. M. (2014). Common Incentives for Teamwork- the unspoken contract's significance. Team Performance Management, 66-80.

Delia Varga, P. L. (2014, June). Personality, Relationship Conflict, and Teamwork-Related Mental Models. Plos One.

Lantz, A. (2011). Teamwork on the line can pay off down the line. Journal of Workplace Learning, 75-96.

Mila Hakanen, A. S. (2012). Building Trust in High Performing Teams. Technology Innovation Management Review.