Huddle Up: Teamwork's Key Role in Success

School has started again, bringing frowns to summer-loving children and grins to college football lovers everywhere, including myself. Yes, I’m excited about this fall season, new players, new coaches, new plays, but in the end the only thing that really matters is whether or not they can act together as a team. Even in business, teamwork is one of the most important keys to success. All businesses talk about it, many even have posters framed, matted, and prominently displayed with awe-inspiring quotes about it. You might find yourself endlessly preaching about it through e-mails and meetings, hoping against hope that your requests, demands, and pleadings will somehow turn your office into a well-oiled machine of efficiency.

I have heard some advisors say that some people will never understand or be able to be a team player. Maybe you do feel like teamwork exists in your company culture, but it hasn’t been achieved to its maximum capacity or is present in only a few miniscule situations, most likely not the situations where it is most needed. In all actuality, a business’s growth and success is directly tied to its member’s ability to work together as a team. Instead of finding excuses outside of yourself for why it isn’t working, look inside yourself for the solution.