Today’s corporate world clearly understands the benefits and advantages of teamwork. It is a proven fact that individuals when working together in teams with cohesion and synergy are able to achieve far more than they can as individuals working in isolation.

However, not all teams are successful. Teams that are not cohesive can perform badly than individuals working alone. Resentment, factionalism and dissidence are some of the negative qualities that can infect a team and seriously damage its ability to perform.

All organizations spend great amounts of time and resources trying to construct teams and to convey the advantages of teamwork to their employees. Workshops, seminars and books are used to explain the benefits of teamwork.

However there are some simple steps any organization can adopt to enable effective teamwork. 

1. Clarity in expectations: The team should have clear objectives and expectations. The organization should be consistent in its support of the team with regards to resources. The objectives of the team should be known to all the team members. 

2. Awareness of the broader picture: The members of the team should be aware of the overall strategy of the organization and where their work fits in. 

3. Commitment: commitment to the team is important as committed members alone will be able to give their best. It is necessary to ensure that all the team members are in the team voluntarily out of their own interest. The members should have a sense of excitement and opportunity. 

4. Provision of tools and skills necessary: The members of the team should be provided with the necessary tools and skills to perform the job. Every stage in the process should be taken care of by at least one member of the team. 

5. Knowledge of the rules and responsibilities: The team should have a clearly defined strategy and objectives. The members of the team should be in agreement and willingly adopt the goals of the team as their own. There should also be well-defined methods of measuring success. 

6. Control: The team should have the desired authority and power along with the resources to attain the goal. The limits of this authority should be specified. 

7. Interpersonal skills: The members of the team should understand the objectives of the team and should collaborate with one another willingly. Negative emotions such as resentment, ego clashes, power struggles should be identified and addressed. Interpersonal skills are critical in team work. All opinions should be studied and a consensus should be developed. 

8. Creativity in thinking: Creative thinking should be encouraged. Innovative ideas should be rewarded. Trainings programs that encourage creativity should be made available. 

9. Accountability: The team members should have a sense of responsibility and a feeling of accountability. They should be aware that every action and implementation of a plan or design has consequences whether positive or negative. Accountability should not degenerate into finger pointing and blame-games. 

10. Coordinating mechanism: There should be an effective mechanism to coordinate the efforts of the individual teams and to integrate it into the larger effort of the organization. This system should also enable the team members to see how the job has made a difference.