Having to work in a team often gets a bad rap. Most of us groan when we are given a group assignment, and there are a million articles online about how to manage working in a team or how to deal with different personalities in a team.

Let’s change it up and discuss the real benefits of teamwork – both in your studies and at work. Firstly, and most obviously, working in a team is a fantastic idea generator. You can bounce ideas around, talk through different scenarios and troubleshoot potential problems.

For those of us that struggle with self-motivation, working in a team means that you are accountable to your team mates and more likely to meet deadlines. Nothing kicks you in the bum more than the angry faces of your peers or workmates if you’ve failed to do your part of the task!

Next, the old saying ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ is definitely true when working well in a team. If you can reach ‘teamwork nirvana’ – that is, you can trust your team mates to contribute meaningfully to the task and to complete their work well and on time, you get the double header of an enhanced experience with a shared workload…win win.

Finally, working in a team is just another way to expand your networks. At university, you can be linked with people that you wouldn’t normally spend time with, or at work you can be teamed up with people from different departments – both great opportunities to make contacts that could help you out in the future.

For those of you graduating soon, make sure you head along to our ‘Tips on working effectively in a team’ workshop. It’s part of our Graduate Gateway series coming up after exams.