Much has been said about Teamwork; It has been defined, structured and packaged so that anyone who needs to explore its concept and put it into practice has in their hands everything they think is necessary for it.
Teamwork is a flag that almost all companies and institutions fly, especially those where the participation of a significant number of people is required to complete a task. There is talk of multidisciplinary teams, high-performance teams and self-directed teams, among others, highlighting their characteristics as if describing a computer or a state-of-the-art car, when in reality, in this Teamwork, credit must be given to the words that Louis XIV of France once said, when referring to the State, but in this case, the phrase must be: the "team" is Me!
What how is that? Simple, Teamwork is not a question of many, it corresponds only to the person. In this brief summary you will observe some of the expositions that are made in the chapter of the same name of my book Inept Managers where it is explained in detail why the concept of this tool must not only be revised but must undergo a reorientation, as such and as it is seen in the present it does not seem to cover the magnitude of what it really represents.
Now, one of the most generalized administrative fantasies revolves around Teamwork, although it may not seem like it, both experienced and inexperienced people conclude that this tool can be introduced into a department or company through talks, courses or meetings with its personal, there are those who introduce them in their policies and norms, they even imagine that it is possible to guarantee it if at the time of the selection interview the candidate is asked if he feels good working as a team or subjecting him to activities where he demonstrates it.
Some others take the answer for granted, stating for themselves that people have to work as a team, which is a requirement of the times in which the administration lives and therefore should not even be consulted.
Well, the reality is different. Teamwork is more than a tool, it is an aptitude.
Teamwork is not decreed, it is not implanted as a chip in the heads of the employees or the representatives of the company and, furthermore, it cannot be considered a requirement or an obligation, since at the moment of presenting itself as such nothing but rejections will be observed.
Teamwork is an aptitude of each person. Human beings are not genetically programmed to work as a team and they should not be, some show that talent and others do not, this does not make those who fail to develop this competence out of the question; Remember that some of the greatest geniuses in history have offered the world extraordinary products from the solitude of their workshops or rooms.
If the person does not have the aptitude for teamwork due to more talks, courses, seminars or impositions to which they are subjected, they will not be able to engage and demonstrate what the collective imagination demands and the dominant paradigm demands in relation to that concept.
Teamwork, as it is understood, has more to do with the concept of Work Teams than with the true idea of what a team should be per se. Let's see:
- The Work Teams are the result of the grouping of people with specific and developed competencies that, when aligned, produce synergy and add value, but this can happen without the idyllic sense that it gives to the concept of the “team”, although it cannot be deny that when this happens, the results usually exceed all expectations.The Work Teams respond to the planning and ordering of the company, it is she who determines who and how long they have to intertwine their knowledge in favor of a specific goal, so It contains everything that is usually wrongly attributed to Teamwork, that is: Hierarchy, leadership, goals and procedures.
On the other hand, Teamwork is a spontaneous, natural expression that obeys more to the empathy, emotional connection and shared vision of its members than to elements of a formal or administrative nature imposed by exogenous agents. Even when they work for a common goal, there are no impositions or commitment, intradiscipline, identification and cost reign.
But only if the person has the aptitude for Teamwork is that this administrative phenomenon, dreamed of, desired and even forced by many, becomes present and prints the energy they require to excel and achieve what they have proposed to the results.
Otherwise the work gets done, yes, but with high costs of frustration, discomfort and imposition experienced at different levels.
Louis XIV of France was wrong, we are all the state, but when it comes to working with synergy and adding value, aptitude prevails and there, without a doubt: the “team” is Me!
