Hey y’all!! At some point, we all have had to or will have to work in a team setting. So, building off of the theme of relationships, I figured this is something that we should dive into. So pull up a chair and let’s talk teamwork.
It’s time for sports!!!
Whether you’re psyched for the football season, binging soccer, or watching the championships of a video game tournament, we’re all strapping in to watch people compete with each other. Most sports are excellent opportunities not only to see the best of the best vie for dominance, but to witness teamwork at it’s finest. Let’s talk about what teamwork is.
Teamwork is defined by Merriam-Webster as “work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole”
I’m not really vibing with that definition though. To me, teamwork is collaborating with a person or group to achieve a goal. This definition fits better because it encompasses all groups and puts the emphasis on accomplishing a task.
There are teams that we wouldn’t even consider teams. Like, there’s the obvious, like sports and work teams. But you’re on a team with your significant other, a boxer and trainer are a team, and a family is a team. Each team is striving towards a goal, and it’s important to note that even though we might fight, we’re on the same team. We’ll get to that more in a second, but let’s dive into how to make teamwork work.
First things first, you have to identify what you want to accomplish
Why collaborate with someone if there’s no end goal? You can’t strive for something if you have no idea what the result is supposed to be. In the case of a soccer team like Atlanta United, the goal, no pun intended, is to score more goals than the other team. It’s a pretty straight forward task in terms of concept, but the actual application is incredibly complex in application. Most objectives are simple, but not easy to achieve.
That being said, sometimes the goal isn’t apparent from the start. Which generally means you have to figure it out beforehand. But it’s better to try and figure that out on your own. Unless you’re joining a team, in which that’s already been established.
Build a team that has complementary skill sets and motivation
Man, let me tell you. This part is tough. As many of us know, there are a lot of people who can do a lot of different things. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to gather people with varying abilities. We can’t be good at everything, so by doing this, we can make teams where people are strong in areas where we’re lacking.
This applies to relationships as well. I’ve found that having people in your circle that think differently is crucial to being well rounded. They say that opposites attract, and I believe that’s because opposites complement each other, just like yin and yang. People’s differences ironically can be a catalyst for unity.
COMMUNICATE!!!!!!!
Literally can’t emphasize this enough. As the backbone of any sort of relationship, communication is paramount to their success. And since a team is a form of relationship, it suffers from the same issues. We talked about that before, so I’m not going to get into that here, but just know that being able to work through problems and effectively communicate our present state is crucial in making things work.
But sometimes it doesn’t work
This is the hardest part to remember about any form of relationship. You can do everything to the best of your ability, and it still goes awry. And that’s ok. It’s a part of life. In a business, it could result in an employee leaving or someone getting let go. Sometimes couples realize that they aren’t meant to be a couple. Again, that’s ok. What’s important is to take stock of all the lessons learned and wish others the best.
No matter the outcome, we’ve got to accept how things played out. It sounds simple, but it’s not easy at all. But that’s the only way to move on and not be weighed down by what was or could have been.
Teamwork makes the dream work
This is one of my favorite phrases. It’s important to remember that sometimes you can’t accomplish things by yourself. Even though Floyd Mayweather is in the ring by himself, he’s got a whole team of coaches and trainers in his corner. We all have dreams that we want to accomplish. We might be able to achieve them ourselves.
But why struggle by yourself when you can have a group of likeminded individuals striving towards a goal? I’ve found that support makes most things easier, so we should remember that whenever we have something tough to do or are struggling, that we have a team in our corner that can raise us up and make us better.
I want to thank you for talking humans with me today. If you haven’t already, please subscribe and share! As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts, so drop a comment, hit me up using the Contact Me page, or find me on Instagram @ryokeniii. Also, don’t forget to talk humans with someone this week. Talk to you later!