Teamwork Really Does Make the Dream Work

Working as a team can become one of your greatest assets in business. There is only so much one person can accomplish on their own, but with a team, there is a division of responsibilities and a variety of strengths that can be utilized. It requires a certain level of trust and respect to work together effectively, but once that is achieved, the sky is the limit.

I am the kind of person who often enjoys working alone. In fact, I really did not enjoy group projects in school because I felt like I did most of the work anyway, but everyone else got to share in the credit. However, now that I am a part of a team that is actually invested in one another’s success and cares about the work we all do, I love collaborating with them. We work well together because we each have different areas of expertise that we use in our efforts. The key is to divide up tasks based on our individual strengths.

Patrick Lencioni’s ideas on “The 6 Types of Working Genius” explain how organizations can leverage their teams based on an individual’s working geniuses, working competencies, and working frustrations. Essentially, there are six types of talents, or geniuses, required for accomplishing a project (wonder, invention, discernment, galvanizing, enablement, and tenacity).

Each person will have two areas in which they excel, two areas in which they can effectively accomplish things but don’t necessarily get excitement from, and two areas in which they would really prefer not to work in. When you have a balance of working geniuses across the team, you are able to get more done and do so efficiently. When you are lacking in an area of genius, you must lean on the individuals that have that particular skill as a genius or a competency. By allowing individuals to work within their geniuses instead of within their frustration areas, everyone is better off.

Even if you don’t take the assessment to see where your working geniuses fall, you can still apply this information to your own team. The key to making the dream work as a team is figuring out what kind of work motivates each individual and assigning tasks based on that information. If no one on your team has a particular strength needed for the project, you might consider providing additional training in that area or adding another team member who does excel in that particular role.

If you want to leverage your team to get the most out of them, play into their strengths and find a balance between the different areas of expertise of your team members. Instead of relying on just one person to be great at everything, look to your team of people and lean on them. After all, teamwork really does make the dream work.

-Meghan Slaughter