Working as a Team

Nothing has to be more rewarding that working with other people on a project.  I’m certain the size of scope of the project doesn’t matter because you have someone you can rely on to help deliver it, and lean on should you need to.

IT has a strong tendency to force you to work alone for hours on end, trying to work out a solution to the most annoying problems, but if you’re have someone working with you the time seems to go faster, and they can check your work and offer ideas which you may not have thought of yourself.  I know I’ve spent hours in the evening working out complex problems only to talk to someone about it the next day and get it solved almost right away!

Why working in a team is a good idea

Most small business owners thing working by themselves is a good idea - it sounds logical after all.  You only need to answer to yourself, and only you can be to blame should something go wrong, you’re also directly responsible for results, but there is one problem with this, that is you can’t do everything.  Everyone has things they are good at, and things they need help with, and that’s why working as a team is a good idea.

Working as a team doesn’t mean you’re admitting defeat, in fact it’s the complete opposite, it means you’ve identified where you’re strengths lie, and where you need help to deliver a better solution, faster and more cost effectively.

An example

People tend to find examples easier to follow, so I’ll use one that I’ve used many times before…

I’m a smart person, and generally that means if I’m stubborn enough to want something, there is no way on gods-green-earth that anyone will stop me from achieving it.  So knowing that if I focus my attention on something means if I wanted to learn how to be a lawyer, I’d train for 5-7 years and get really good at the job, but the problem is, I don’t have that long to learn something which I don’t really care for, or even need to know, when I can ask my lawyer a question, he pops an invoice in the post, and I pay it.  It’s certainly cheaper than 5-7 years of my life, and to add a twist, it’s probably something my lawyer enjoys doing (and getting paid for something you doing is certainly nice).

So we can’t all be good at everything, and there are things we like to do, and things we do.  There are also things which don’t make sense for us to do, and that’s when you need to build a team of people who can get everything done that needs to be completed.  I feel another example coming on…

My business team presently consists of:

  • Me
  • Accountant
  • Lawyer
This was my initial team, who provided the business with direction, vision, sustainability, and some good processes.
Now my business team adds more people who look after our customers, find new business, write great applications, provide awesome service, and generally make the day more enjoyable and go faster - bearing in mind we all spend more time working than we probably do with our families these days, it makes sense to enjoy the company of people you work with.
You team also extends a little further than your office, you also have suppliers and customers who you probably should get along with equally as well, again you spend a lot of time with all, and if everyone gets along it’s nicer to come to work, do a good job, and cruise off home - no one likes a bad day!

A great team

Everyone has different experiences, and working as a team brings that all together under one place, and what we all hold collectively in experience and knowledge, and it’s that collective expertise that helps build your business team and get bigger projects, and deliver some really world class solutions to your clients, one person doesn’t matter, it’s the team of people who start to make up your business, all delivering what you would expect of yourself.  Working as a team checks the boxes of being human.  We all like company of other humans, and like to have a good laugh, and share our life stories.

About this entry

Title: Working as a Team

Published:
03.04
Category:
Business, Random, Work