Challenges of Working in a Team

Introduction

Building Trust

One of the most prominent challenges of a team is how to build trust. Because trust is a vital building block for team relationships, a lack of trust can disintegrate teams because it leads to toxic cultures, threatens productivity and derails communication (Sonalkar et al 2020). Moreover, team members who do not trust each other are demotivated, and this affects the organization’s bottom-line. Trust is an important factor in human interaction, but it cannot be optimized or engineered like processes (Maynard et al, 2018). It is emotion-bound and thrives over time. That said, an easier way to build trust within the organization is to encourage authenticity. It is easier to develop string interpersonal relationships through open exchanges and honesty (Lin et al, 2021). this can contribute to individuals receiving and giving trust more readily.

Proximity

The other critical challenge of a team is close physical proximity. Organizations consist of teams of various forms and sizes. In the wake of COVID-19 though, technology has changed and supported how teams can work remotely. However, research by Lin et al (2021) show that while remote work seems to be the ‘new normal’, it does not present as the most optimal way through which teams can engage. Even with advanced technology, teams can get more done and work better when the members are in close physical proximity. Therefore, Sonalkar et al (2020) insists that even if teams work virtually, they must have periodic physical meetings. Humans are significantly shaped by their social environment and may therefore not thrive well in broken social bonds (Maynard et al, 2018).

Even as every organizations restructure into remote work; they should develop new ways of enriching communication between remote team members. For example, organizations should adapt video calls instead of audio calls to optimize the experience of full interaction through verbal and non-verbal cues, environmental influences and body language.

Purpose

Teams may also not thrive when they lack a clear purpose. Lack of purpose makes it hard for team members to develop unity of purpose and direction because they essentially do not know why they are doing what they are doing. Yanchus et al (2017) also noted that when teams lack purpose, they are not compelled to connect and work with colleagues. To build purpose, team leaders must regularly and clearly communicate to the team why they exist – as a key motivation. Explaining the ‘why’ creates meaning, direction and clarity to team members.

Conclusion

In conclusion, developing teamwork is a difficult practice and as the work environment becomes more complex, teamwork will also be more challenging. However, if teams focus on building relationships and connections every step of the way, they can easily address challenge of proximity, trust and purpose.

References

Lin, C. H., Lin, H. Y., Tseng, W. P., Ma, M. H. M., Tsai, M. S., Chen, S. Y., & Huang, C. H. (2021). Resuscitation teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic in the emergency department: Challenges and solutions. Resuscitation, 160, 18-19.

Maynard, M. T., Kennedy, D. M., & Resick, C. J. (2018). Teamwork in extreme environments: Lessons, challenges, and opportunities.

Sonalkar, N., Mabogunje, A., Miller, M., Bailenson, J., & Leifer, L. (2020). Augmenting Learning of Design Teamwork Using Immersive Virtual Reality. In Design Thinking Research (pp. 67-76). Springer, Cham.

Yanchus, N. J., Ohler, L., Crowe, E., Teclaw, R., & Osatuke, K. (2017). ‘You just can’t do it all’: a secondary analysis of nurses' perceptions of teamwork, staffing and workload. Journal of Research in Nursing, 22(4), 313-325.

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