Definition

Teamwork can be described as the desire for a group of individuals to achieve a certain goal
together.
In a team, tasks are divided among the team members. The tasks of the different team
members depend on each other. Eventually, the tasks of all members are merged in order to
reach the final goal. By working together with a team and dividing tasks, the responsibility is
divided among all group members. Sometimes it is smart to appoint a group leader who
ensures that tasks are carried out in a structured and coordinated way.

There are three conditions that a team must meet in order to function properly. These
conditions are emotional involvement, respect for expertise and playfulness.
Emotional involvement means that team members are involved with each other and with
the goal. All members must have a clear view of the final goal.
Respect for expertise is about listening to the input of other group members and

Types of teams

1. Functional team
A functional consists of permanent members. Usually the members of a functional team are
employees of the same department, but with different responsibilities.
There is a main responsibility, namely the manager, all individuals in the team communicate
with the manager how their tasks go. The manager is responsible for the final product.

2. Cross-functional team
The members of a cross-functional team are located in different departments within a
company. Tasks are divided among the different employees with their own specialization.
 
3. Matrix team
In a matrix team, 2 "bosses" are designated. Employees report their work to different
managers. Employees in this team have multiple managers because they work for different
departments.

4. Contract team
With a contract team, all employees have a contract. This contract is for example offered for
a specific project. After this project the contract expires, and the employee is no longer
employed by the company. This happens a lot when a specialist is needed for specific tasks.
Importance of teamwork

Teamwork motivates
The use of teamwork within a company stimulates loyalty and friendship between
employees. This can be a motivation for employees to work harder and to support
colleagues. The different individuals can work together to reach the final goal. If teamwork is
good work, the whole team would be motivated to reach a goal together.

Team Perspective
When using teamwork within an organisation, individuals come up with different ideas,
creative expressions and possibilities. For example, a team can exchange thoughts by means
of a brainstorming session in order to eventually solve problems within an organisation in an
effective and efficient way.

Learning opportunities
When working in a team, employees can learn from their own mistakes as well as those
made by their team members. They can also learn from team members who are more
experienced in a certain area. By working with a specialist, you also gain more knowledge
about a certain subject.
Employees can strengthen their individual skills by learning from what they have done wrong
and by looking at team members. Sometimes you don't have to reinvent things yourself, but
you can better see how other people are doing.

Workplace synergy
When a team works in a way that pays attention to each other, cooperates and employees
encourage each other, a strong synergy is created on the work floor. This strengthens the
feeling of being a real "team". When the synergy is high, employees have a strong feeling
that they can present themselves together as a collective at a high level. The fact that
individuals in a team need to be aware of the roles they take on in a team also plays a role in
this. The other team members must be able to rely on you to live up to their expectations. If
everyone controls each other in this, there is a good chance that a good result will be
created as a collective.