Australia has cultivated an isolated sense of corporate success, with those trying to climb the greasy pole often forgetting that working well in a team is the quickest way to identify you as an asset to your employer, according to the latest Hays Journal.

“Australia has a strong tradition of team work particularly in sport but in the corporate sector we often see ourselves as individuals where it is the high performing team rather than individual that provides an organisation with its competitive edge,” says Nick Deligiannis, Managing Director of Hays in Australia and New Zealand.

Not having that awareness can be a negative for many candidates – not in terms of getting the job, but progressing within the organisation.

From a Manager’s perspective, considering the team as a whole offers a challenge of its own. High performance teams trust in the competencies of their fellow team members and stand together in the face of change whether that is a change of manager, the technology they use in their work or to the business conditions they operate within.

However, the experts recommend that even a high performance team require monitoring to identify what is working and what isn’t and make changes as needed. The relationships and behaviours of a team need to be reviewed to monitor how a team is working together, handling conflict and developing trust. This should apply to both self managed teams and those that are lead.