Importance of Teamwork in Organizations

by Aaron Marquis, Demand Media
Team sizes vary depending on the scope of the project.

Team sizes vary depending on the scope of the project.

Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images

Teamwork is used across many different industries to increase performance, employee unity and company culture. Companies that must frequently develop new ideas or products using a project-based approach assemble teams in order to diffuse responsibility. Team members use teamwork to bounce ideas off of one another before deciding on a development path for a project.

Problem Solving

Teamwork is important due to the problem-solving synergy gained from multiple minds working on a solution. When one person works on a specific company problem, that person only has her personal experience and knowledge from which to pull for solutions. Using teamwork, team members pool their collective ideas together to generate unique ideas for dealing with problems. Problems in this case are not purely negative. The problem could be developing a product for a consumer to address a need that the consumer does not know that she has.


Teamwork is the backbone of effective communication within a company. When employees work as individuals or independently on projects, they may not readily share knowledge or new information. This lack of communication increases the time it takes to complete projects, tasks or the development of solutions. Teamwork promotes conversation between employees regarding the task at hand, possibly preventing employees from working in opposite directions. For example, if one employee does not communicate that one method of addressing a problem is a dead end, and another employee is still trying to use that method, productivity is lowered.


Cohesion is an important byproduct of teamwork within a company. This cohesion could be the result of increased chemistry, trust or both from working on projects as a team. Cohesive employees are less likely to be confrontational toward one another and more accepting of each others' decisions. Cohesion from teamwork can greatly increase the work-flow speed of a company.


When employees work together as a team within a company, every employee learns from one another. This knowledge is not limited to the personal experiences of coworkers; employees from different departments may learn information from each other regarding the limitations and possibilities of those departments. For example, if a marketing department consistently makes demands with unrealistic deadlines to another department, the marketing department may see through teamwork why its requests are unreasonable.

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