Looking back at history, we often find that key achievements are attributed to exceptional individuals. The likes of Archimedes, Da Vinci, Einstein and Darwin have been given solo credits to major discoveries and innovations that shaped the world as we know it. While we praise geniuses such as these for their contribution to human advancement and culture, not many understand that their achievements are products of collaboration done in one way or another.
Collaboration Is Behind All Achievements
In March, the BBC published a short piece debunking the myth of the “lone genius.” The article tackled the common belief that the greatest of minds can make significant achievements on their own. It points out that other people’s work inspires great ideas and monumental accomplishments are not possible without teams of people to support the creative genius at the forefront.
Cliched as it may sound, no person truly is an island. Nothing comes out of vacuum, and the execution of anything significant takes the collaboration of many different individuals and organisations led by someone with a concrete vision. In other words, working together is the cornerstone of getting things done.
Now we don’t need to look centuries back to understand the importance of collaboration. We can merely look at our workplace if we are to understand its significance. As our experiences can tell, teams work best when every member works together towards achieving their goal. In contrast, failure is imminent where the team operates like a disparate group.
Benefits of Collaboration
Collaboration, indeed, is key for a team to succeed. Besides that, here are also some good reasons why team members need to work together.
- You solve problems faster.
Team members can easily get past issues if they call on colleagues that are more experienced with the task. They can also brainstorm solutions with their team in the absence of one. It also helps that, when collaborating, members share skills that complement that of their teammates.
- Collaboration fosters participation and communication.
When collaborating, each member of the team can participate in the task and make a difference. Open communication is encouraged in the process. This is important in discussions that explore various ideas and solutions needed to achieve the team’s goal. It won’t take time to see great results when teammates are comfortable with sharing ideas with each other.
- Working together promotes a sense of purpose.
When team members collaborate, they get to see the bigger picture and understand their organisation’s goals. This gives each member a clear understanding of their role and how they can work with their colleagues to help their team succeed. A sense of purpose is then instilled in each member, inspiring them to work together to reach a common goal.
- Individual members get all the support they need.
Not one team member will be lacking in skill or resource if collaboration exists in their team. When skills are shared within the team and everyone can comfortably communicate, engagement between colleagues is maximised. This allows for a high degree of adaptability, regardless of the crisis that arises.
Collaboration is key to achieving great things. Any accomplishment born out of collaboration generates employee satisfaction, and we all know that happy workers perform better, generate more profits, and – most importantly – stay in the company.