Teamwork Brings Results

A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle, so goes the old age adage. Ever posed to wonder if the same candle gains something by lighting another candle? Well certainly it does gain something!

When a candle is lit up its purpose or goal is to provide light in the dark and help people see better. While it certainly gains nothing at all by not lighting up another candle it also doesn’t lose something in the process. What the candle however benefits if you really look at it is so much. Firstly it gets a helper/companion in the purpose and goal of providing light in the dark. If another candle is on it means there are now two candles serving the same purpose. It gets better results; there will be more light in the same room because two or more candles are now burning.

You are probably wondering why this discussion of a candle right. Well if you look at it we all are like candles who are trying to shine in our various areas. And we might derive some important lessons from this candle discussion. The most important lesson we draw from the candle above is about teamwork.

A team is two or more people working together for a common goal or purpose.

With the advent of modernism most people have been programmed to work alone and to try and outdo all other people. The 21^st century encourages so much competition which at times is unnecessary and unhealthy. Looking back into the ages humans knew that they could not achieve much without cooperation, that is why when they went to hunt they went in hunting groups, when they wanted to farm they would invite the whole community to a field, farm and then have food and drink after the job is done. They certainly derived some benefits out of it.

There can never be long lasting success without teamwork and anyone who thinks they can make it on their own deceives self.

A team can be formal or informal but the bottom line about any team is that there is helping of each other to achieve the common mission. Just like the two candles both burning to light up a dark room.

Team work is seen as a tedious process because it involves team building in the initial stages which is time consuming. Truth is in the long run the benefits will far outweigh the disadvantages. Now let’s look at some of the benefits that teamwork provides.

Firstly teamwork helps people to complement each other on their weaknesses. If a team is built in the right manner, chances are very low that you will have the entire team possessing the same weaknesses. This means you will build each other up in various areas of weakness as what one cannot do the others can. Good are teams do not leave behind their weakest players. They carry them along. An example can be a team of students who form a study group with the aim of performing well in examinations. If one student is not good in another topic the others who are good can help him/her grasp the concept instead of the struggling student having to spend a great deal of time trying to get it on their own.

Teamwork amplifies results. The power of numbers will produce better results if it is tapped. Let’s again use the example of students that form a study team. Teamwork might result in a student performing beyond expectations. This is because time has been saved and those that are best at things will pull up those who are not really doing well. The results everyone gets in a team if everyone is playing their role well will be far much better than individual effort. A student who was hopeless in a certain subject might be pulled up by others and actually pass the subject. Eventually the effect that teamwork has is to amplify every one’s results.

Teamwork provides a chance for feedback. Feedback is what other people will tell you about your performance. Any good team has communication built in. when teammates communicate they will discuss how they can better work together to get better results, during that process people usually discover things about themselves that they never knew. The truth is there will always be something about you unknown to you but known to others. The beauty of feedback is that it will help you get the information about the unknown things and it will help you improve yourself.

There are many benefits that can be derived from teamwork and so much of it you will only get to know if you get involved in some team.

The writer is a motivational speaker

glendhliwayo@gmail.com