teamwork
High (B1+)Neutral to Formal; commonly used in professional, academic, and educational contexts.
Definition
Meaning
The combined effort of a group of people working together effectively to achieve a common goal.
The collaborative process involving communication, coordination, and mutual support among group members, often emphasizing that the collective outcome is greater than the sum of individual contributions.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Primarily an uncountable noun; implies positive, productive collaboration. Can be used to describe both the process and the quality of cooperative work.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in core meaning or usage. Spelling is identical. Both varieties use it extensively in business, sports, and educational contexts.
Connotations
Consistently positive in both varieties, associated with efficiency, success, and harmony. In UK English, may be slightly more prevalent in formal workplace training contexts.
Frequency
Equally high frequency in both varieties.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
Teamwork is essential for [noun/gerund phrase]It takes good teamwork to [infinitive phrase]The project succeeded through excellent teamworkVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “Many hands make light work (conceptually related)”
- “A well-oiled machine (metaphor for good teamwork)”
- “All pulling in the same direction”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Used to describe the collaborative culture required for project success, e.g., 'The merger requires seamless teamwork across departments.'
Academic
Discussed in social psychology, management studies, and education research on group dynamics.
Everyday
Commonly used regarding sports, family chores, group hobbies, or community projects.
Technical
A key concept in organisational behaviour, agile project management, and human factors engineering.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The departments need to teamwork more closely on this initiative.
- We teamworked our way through the crisis.
American English
- The departments need to teamwork more closely on this initiative.
- We teamworked our way through the crisis.
adverb
British English
- They worked teamworkly to complete the task. (Rare/Non-standard)
- Not commonly used as an adverb.
American English
- They worked teamworkly to complete the task. (Rare/Non-standard)
- Not commonly used as an adverb.
adjective
British English
- The teamwork approach yielded better results.
- They attended a teamwork workshop.
American English
- The teamwork approach yielded better results.
- They attended a teamwork workshop.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- Football needs good teamwork.
- We did the homework with teamwork.
- Successful projects usually involve a lot of teamwork.
- The teacher praised our teamwork on the science experiment.
- The company culture actively promotes cross-departmental teamwork.
- Despite their different skills, their effective teamwork compensated for individual weaknesses.
- The research paper analyses the correlation between perceived psychological safety and the quality of teamwork in virtual teams.
- His leadership fostered an environment where innovative teamwork could flourish.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of a TEAM of rowers WORKing in perfect unison to move a boat. The word literally combines 'team' + 'work'.
Conceptual Metaphor
TEAMWORK IS A MACHINE (smooth, efficient, interdependent parts) / TEAMWORK IS A BOND (unifying force).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid direct calque 'командная работа' in all contexts; in Russian it can imply top-down, military-style orders, while 'teamwork' is collaborative. 'Совместная работа' or 'работа в команде' are better equivalents.
- The English word has an exclusively positive connotation, whereas possible Russian translations can be neutral.
Common Mistakes
- Using as a countable noun (e.g., 'a teamwork' is incorrect).
- Confusing with 'team-building', which are activities designed to *improve* teamwork.
- Misspelling as two words ('team work').
Practice
Quiz
Which of the following is the BEST example of 'teamwork'?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
It is almost always an uncountable noun. You do not say 'a teamwork' or 'teamworks'. You can refer to 'an example of good teamwork'.
They are very close synonyms. 'Teamwork' often implies a defined group (a team) with a shared, immediate goal (like winning a game). 'Collaboration' can be broader, sometimes involving separate entities or longer-term partnerships on a larger project.
It is very rarely used as a verb ('to teamwork'), and it sounds non-standard or jargony. It's best to use phrases like 'work as a team', 'collaborate', or 'team up' instead.
Yes, the word itself carries a positive connotation of effective cooperation. To describe poor cooperation, you would say 'a lack of teamwork' or 'poor teamwork'.
Collections
Part of a collection
Workplace Vocabulary
B1 · 48 words · Professional language for the working environment.
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