What Are the Strengths and Weaknesses of Teamwork?
Advantages to teamwork include the added input available from multiple people to solve complex problems, the ability to pull together resources to accomplish tasks faster and the cultivation of rewarding interpersonal relationships, according to the Houston Chronicle. Disadvantages of teamwork include communication struggles, lack of innovation due to a herd mentality and a curtailment of accountability when team members pass work onto others.
Teamwork is considered a benefit to productivity and is a staple assignment design for most businesses. Relying on a group to complete a project mitigates the liabilities that arise when a company depends on a single individual to generate ideas and manage a difficult timeline alone. Pooling resources helps to highlight strengths from people where other teammates may lack competence. The intended result is that the whole output of a team is more constructive and efficient than the work of a single person.
The complications of teamwork are often moderated by a team’s leader. As Brunel University London explains, a leader should be appointed to oversee the advancement of a project’s schedule and to intercede when conflicts arise between team members. A team leader sets the group’s objectives and can change course when certain strategies do not prove effective.
