The Negative Impact of Working in Teams in The Workplace

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Recommended: A reflection on team conflict resolution

Why is teamwork hurting companies and the employees that work there? Teamwork in the workplace is something that is becoming more popular every year with focus on getting a variety of ideas from employees. According to Ana Shetach, “Teams are becoming more common as workers join virtual, autonomous, cross-functional, action-learning, and many other kinds of teams” (2012, p. 25). Similarly, teamwork is difficult for most people. There are many problems that come up with working in teams. Conflict, demographics, stress, recognition and dominant leadership are the 5 main topics that I feel are negatives when it comes to working in teams. In my research, I will break down each of these characteristics and analyze why they contribute to a negative workplace environment. Finally, I will supply the recommendations of why workplace teamwork should be eliminated and individualism should be the main focus.
Teams are wonderful, but every great team has a fundamental problem that has to be addressed. This problem makes working in teams impossible and negative for teammates. “Although teams have the potential to transform this expanded input set into lifesaving decisions and innovative new products, teams also possess the almost certainty of conflict” (DeChurch, Doty, and Mesmer-Magnus, 2013, p. 559). Similarly, conflict is sometimes hard to pin point but it comes from a number of different things. De Dreu and Gelfand explain conflict as “a process that begins when an individual or group perceives differences and opposition between itself and another individual or team about interests and resources, beliefs, values, or practices that matter to them” (2008, p. 416). Therefore, conflict can cause companies to be unproductive. According to DeChu...

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Podsakoff, N. P., J. A. LePine, and M. A. LePine. 2007. Differential challenge stress or hindrance stressor relationships with job attitudes, turnover intentions, turnover, and withdrawal behavior: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology 92:438-54.
Shetach, A. (2012). Conflict Leadership. Journal For Quality & Participation, 35(2), 25-30.
Triandis, H. C., & Gelfand, M. J. (1998). Converging measurement of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. Journal Of Personality & Social Psychology, 74(1), 118-128.
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