In an ideal team, members will be more resourceful, feel creative and confident in their abilities and are satisfied with their contribution and part in the team. Those involved in a successful team are more devoted to the cause of the team and feel more motivated and energised in achieving the common objective.  

There are certain projects and goals that no single individual can achieve and there is a need for cooperation between a number of people to achieve a goal. Examples are grand construction projects, large engineering projects, sending men to Moon, making the next mobile phone and so on. In short, a team seems to be capable of achieving more than the sum of the individual members working independently.

A team has several advantages. It is a collection of a range of experiences. It can perform resource management so that the fate of the task does not lie on a single individual. Coordinated movement opens a whole range of activities that may not otherwise be possible with individuals. Members of the team can specialise on different topics so duplication of expertise does not waste the potential of individual members.

In addition, teams can benefit from creative brainstorming sessions, work out the details of each solution more comprehensively and objectively and end up with better and more practical ideas. On top of this are our social and psychological needs to be with others and work with them towards a common goal which many people find extremely motivating and satisfying.

There are several benefits a team can bring to an organisation:

• Creative problem solving
• Efficient decision making
• Bigger range of experiences
• Idea generation and information processing
• Coordinated activity leads to new possibilities
• Benefit from creative brainstorming sessions and use multiple points of view
• Members can specialise in different areas
• Increased satisfaction, commitment, and motivation
• Increased quality through testing and quality control
• Distributed workflow
• Efficient use of resources, talents, and skills
• Work out the details of each solution more comprehensively and objectively
• End up with more practical ideas
• Satisfy social and bonding needs
• Satisfy sense of belonging to a good cause which some people find extremely motivating

Achieving all the above takes time and you do not get this from merely putting together several people and calling them a team. A team needs to be ‘built’ over time by a systematic process until synergy takes the team to the next level.