Our era is characterized by an intense competition, by a production of goods and availability of services at the lowest possible cost. It is also characterized by an alienation in human relationships; therefore, the development of teamwork is a necessary condition for our well-being.
The definition of teamwork work is not the sum total of its members' individual intellectual skills. Rather it is the life-giving element to a collective intellectual creation, an exponential product from which the best ideas are produced, and the best decisions are made.
So, the process developed within the team proves to be more creative than the mere total of the intellectual work of each of its members. Ideally, participants should possess different traits and come from different realms of experience and knowledge so as to promote flexibility in thought.
The following concepts are cultivated in the team:
- 1. Cohesion: This is achieved when the sense of belonging and of mutual acceptance is cultivated in the group members and the team becomes a source of care for them.
2 Interpersonal learning: Every new member has his or her own specific attributes both positive and negative. The team's attitude towards all new members will help them draw valuable lessons for a more accommodating individual attitude.
3.Substitution of "I" for "we."
4.Mutual help. The team process makes it easier for members to help one another.
5.Relief through self-revelation. Through the spontaneous expression of feelings like anger, stress, shame, guilt, etc., and by revealing information about ourselves we attain emotional relief.
- 6. Guiding and providing information. The clarification of problems helps in countering any sense of confusion and discomfort or any reservations. All too often, the ideas of one team member stimulate another member’s ideas which otherwise would have remained dormant .
- 7. Development of expectation and hope in the members. These are common traits cultivated in working groups or therapy groups in which self-esteem and self-confidence are developed.
Participants in team processes feel greater contentment which in turn reinforces team spirit. The effectiveness of a group session is not to be assessed by the ideas generated in it, but by the possibility of their materializing into action. In other words, there is a natural succession between creative thought and its realization into action as well as constructive criticism of it. Therefore, what is produced is an original, realizable, and efficient outcome.
Best wishes for a creative, team-oriented, more human and productive tomorrow.
Spyros Metaxas, Psychiatrist/Psychotherapist www.anotropia.gr