Coronavirus Pandemic Highlights Eight Key Benefits Of How Teams Outperform Talented Individuals

How much work can you get done remotely without the benefits of working in a great team? We have all met talented individuals who have perhaps started a company. The founder has recruited freelancers, part time employees and even a few full time employees. And yet the company is “standing still” or struggling to grow. Why? Any single individual is only as good as they are. Sometimes they run out of expertise or even knowledge. Another reason could be that the current employees have not bought into the startup or team mission.

Other times, the single founder lacks the strategic knowledge to make critical decisions and does not have a strong team that can weigh in on key decisions. Recruiting and selecting team members is often the most critical skill that a founder or team leader can have in terms of impact on the company.  Sometimes, a single founder or even team leader just does not “trust” that key members of the team will be able to make the right decision. In this particular situation, the company will be hamstrung forever.

You need to embrace the idea that a strong team can outdo anything you could do alone. You need to make your “team work.” Teams are never perfect (what is) but learning how to manage and lead talented teams is priceless. Let’s look at the importance and benefits of building and leading great teams:

No founder can work alone for long. There are only so many hours in the day. You have to work with a team to accomplish a multitude of tasks efficiently because each person can bring their particular best to bear on a single task. Think of Apollo 13. It took the astronauts and NASA’s Mission Command working together to get back the spacecraft back to Earth. Their lives depended on the entire team. One person didn’t just fix the problem.

Problems are more easily solved. A single brain can’t always come with solutions or make the right decisions. In a team, every team member can contribute varying alternatives that one person might not have considered. You can then bring different points of views to a discussion of the alternatives and come up with the best possible solution.

Tasks are accomplished more quickly by teams. An individual will definitely take more time to complete key tasks if they are single handedly responsible for everything. When team members work together, they start helping each other and responsibilities are shared and thus it reduces the workload and work pressure. Every team member is assigned one or more tasks and takes responsibility according to their specialization, level of interest and thus the output is much more efficient and faster.

Work never suffers or takes a backseat in a team. On critical projects, you need to manage your “bus factor.” That is, how many people on a team can get “hit by a bus” before the startup comes to a screeching halt. In a team, the other team members can perform and manage the work in the absence of any team member and therefore work is not affected much. The team keeps the company moving forward.

It’s okay for there to be a healthy competition among the team members. Competition is always good for the team members as well as the organization as every individual feels motivated to perform better than their other team members (or be perceived as being valuable to the team) and in this way, contributes even more to the team. And collectively the team outperforms. On the NHL ice hockey team, the Chicago Blackhawks, Jonathan Toews celebrates as much when he scores as when Patrick Kane, his teammate does.

Teamwork improves the camaraderie among the employees. Individuals work in close coordination with each other come to know each other better. The level of bonding increases as a result of teamwork. Research shows when team members care about one another, they perform better. And when team members perform better, so does the company.

Team members can also gain knowledge more rapidly. Every individual is different and has some unique qualities and skill sets and knowledge. Each individual can benefit by learning something new from their team members, which would actually help them both in the long run. Would there have been a Google if Larry Page did not meet Sergey Brin, and how much did they learn from each other working together out of a garage in Menlo Park, CA?

Working on a team increases accountability. Peer pressure is a powerful force. Particularly if you’re working with people whom you respect and don’t want to let down. The motivation to help your team succeed can help you overcome those down days when you’re not at your best. It’s what gets you going knowing that other people are depending on your work.

The lows of a startup are tough when working alone. Sand traps that you struggle to get out of, monotonous work that you need to grind through, and problems that seem to defy all understanding become less draining and more bearable when there’s someone else to share the pain with. And celebrating an achievement with teammates is a great way to boost morale. If you work alone, who are you going to high-five when you win an important piece of business?

All of this doesn’t mean that working on or leading a team is easy. We’ve all probably had our share of experiences where some team members did not pull their own weight and took the fun out of teamwork. But given the productive results of great teams, you should figure out and gain knowledge on how to build effective teams. It will be the one thing that could make or break your startup. Perhaps even your career.