Step 4 of 5•2 minutes read
Importance of Teamwork Onboard
As was previously discussed, seafarers spend long periods on board yachts living and working with fellow crew members. Unlike work ashore, seafarers do not have the luxury of returning home when the work is finished for the day and distinguishing the life/work balance can become difficult. Therefore it is vital to ensure a good relationship with work colleagues.
The ability to be able to work in a team will help ensure a good working environment.
Teamwork is critical for various reasons:
Problem-Solving
Joining forces together with fellow teammates will help in problem-solving. A person on their own can only have many solutions for solving a problem, whilst an entire team who brainstorms together can come up with a larger number of solutions for the same problem.
When a person works alone, it might not be as easy to achieve a good result in a short period of time as it would be for an entire team. Additionally, people working together in a team will learn how to solve conflicts among the members.
Improving Communication
Teamwork sessions with the crew members allow more opportunities to communicate and discuss their views and/or opinions. In doing so, they will feel not only empowered but also feel satisfied and appreciated. Respect between the crew members will also grow as they learn to understand each other, compromise, and work together to reach a goal.
Strong Working Relationships.
Increasing Learning Opportunities
When you are surrounded by other people who give their opinions on specific topics, such as how a job should be carried out, crew members might pick up on new ideas and ways of carrying out a job they would have never thought about on their own. Team members, therefore, start to learn from each other and support each other. These discussions result in seafarers learning new things from their fellow crew.
Strengthen Working Relationships
When a job is done as a team and appreciated by senior officers or their heads of department, the crew will feel extremely satisfied and appreciated for their work. Additionally, they will understand the importance of each and every member of their team plus know the job was done successfully due to the good relationships between them. In return, this good working relationship will develop a stronger bond, mutual trust and even friendship.
Teamwork will also benefit the individual crewmember on a personal level. When a job is assigned, mutual support should be given to everyone to ensure that a task that needs to be done is achieved. If someone within the team is less skilled than the other in specific tasks, the team must help and teach the member about what needs to be done.