Everyone knows that teamwork works. A team effort allows for the workload to be shared and distributed according to each member’s skills and strengths. It’s a manifestation of the “many hands make light work” idiom. A productivity-enhancing, efficiency-building proposition, described by the acronym: Together Everyone Accomplishes More. And of course, management plays a vital role in the success or failure of those teams the company is counting on. Because teams work—except when they don’t. But more about that later. How does the boss/department head pull together an effective team? The fact of the matter is that not every employee has the potential to be a great team leader. Even the guy/gal who’s invested the most time in the project pre-work might not have the know-how to lead the team to a comprehensive, timely project completion. Without a leadership-skills-equipped person at the helm, the team is at best handicapped, at worst a disaster waiting to happen. Choose a person with a demonstrated ability to motivate and inspire, to instill accountability, and to make decisions. Someone with solid “people skills” is a must as well, because leading an effective team requires a strong dose of “learning to play well with others.” A teamwork-related trend that’s expected to continue to develop in 2018 is the move towards smaller team sizes. Have you heard of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ “two pizza rule”? His theory is simple. It states that if you can’t feed your group with two pizzas, then your group is too large to be productive. If the team consists of too many folks—even highly talented, well-chosen people—expect threats to their productivity in the form of communication obstacles, too many opinions, and a general sense of chaos. An equal disbursement of tasks becomes exponentially more difficult, and accountability becomes tougher when the group is too large. The entire endeavor can become tedious, unappealing, and less engaging. A perfect recipe for teamwork failure. Folks are more inclined to open up, share their ideas and opinions in smaller groups, but in a roomful, a what-does-my-opinion-matter mindset can quickly pervade. Considering that group collaboration is one of the hallmarks of teamwork, it’s easy to see why smaller teams work better together. Next week, we’ll explore in detail the definitive ingredient no team can afford to be without if they want to thrive. At MPS Technical, we take a teamwork approach to meeting your staffing needs because we realize the importance of placing the right team members on your employment roster.  We understand how each company’s unique requirements factor into hiring decisions. Give our team the opportunity to place the right people on your team.