Why do we work in teams?

2. Teamwork to Increase Speed

(a) Greater speed by dividing the complexity
Some projects are so complex, and have so many interlocking requirements that although one person could get it done, it would take years or decades of their life to do so, and by which time the market opportunity would have closed and any hope for a return on their effort would have disappeared. So teams are used to bring more people to attack the complexity and deliver the desired outcome in weeks or months rather than years or decades.

(b) Greater speed by collapsing elapsed time
Some projects are not so much complex—where the knowledge required to get them done is specialized and in short supply—but are instead large, and as such, are expected to take a long time to deliver. Again there is little doubt that a diligent individual could do all of the work and see the project delivered eventually, but “eventually” is too long a timeframe for almost everything these days. And so multiple people are brought together to work on a team to attack the project and see it finished sooner rather than later.

Have you got a story to share about how one of these reasons played out in your work?