How To Be A Team Player
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BE A TEAM PLAYER?
Almost every work situation today requires a person to have good team skills. Very few people work alone all of the time; almost everyone works in a group situation at least sometimes. Team skills are also critical in other kinds of groups, including schools, civic and community groups, and at churches, mosques, and synagogues. Knowing how to get along well with others enables you to get more work done and help your team achieve its goals more efficiently and with less effort and stress.
HOW CAN I BE A BETTER TEAM PLAYER?
Effective teams succeed for a lot of different reasons. Here is a list of ideas that will help you be a better team player:
- Set specific goals as a team. Stay focused on the team’s goals and hold yourself and your team members accountable for meeting them.
- Allow others to participate in setting goals that will affect you.
- Learn to work with people who see things differently than you do. Learn to value their different experiences and points of view, appreciating that these differences can make the team better overall.
- Develop the ability to be flexible. Workers today who can adapt to new circumstances and learn new ways of working have a much greater chance of surviving and thriving in the workplace.
- Be friendly and respectful with team members.
- Accept the feedback that others give you. If you criticize their ideas or are defensive, next time they will be less likely to share their opinions with you.
- Be willing to learn new skills.
- Teach others what you know. When knowledge is shared, it multiplies.
"Workers today who can adapt to new circumstances and learn new ways of working have a much greater chance of surviving and thriving in the workplace."
- Work hard and encourage your team members to do the same.
- When you make a mistake, admit it. Avoid blaming someone else or making excuses for why something went wrong.
- Show others on the team that you value their ideas. Look them in the eye when you talk to them, listen carefully to them, and check your understanding of what they say by writing it down.
- Compliment your team members when they do something well. Doing so shows that you take others seriously and value their ideas.
- Build on the ideas of others. When you enhance the idea of a team member— making it an even better idea—you compliment him/her.
- Acknowledge the contributions of others. Never take credit for work or ideas that are not yours.
- Be willing to take your share of the boring or unpleasant assignments.
"Show others on the team that you value their ideas. Look them in the eye when you talk to them, listen carefully to them, and check your understanding of what they say by writing it down."
- Volunteer to help your fellow team members when they need it.
- When something bothers you, do something to make it better. Don’t just complain about it; offer a solution and be prepared to carry it out.
- Make it your rule never to gossip about others. People will learn to trust you when they know you will not betray them.
- Learn to make compromises with others. As long as you are part of a group, you will not always get your own way. Learn to be gracious when the team decides to go with someone else’s idea.
- Think about the future needs of the team. Discuss your thoughts with your team members and encourage them to work together to meet those needs.
- When you meet with other team members, be prepared. Don’t waste people’s time by not being ready to work in a group setting.
- When you don’t understand what someone has said, ask questions for clarification.
"Respect the confidences of others and keep private information private."
- Make a contribution to the team. If you have ideas and opinions, share them.
- Follow up with people to see how they are progressing on projects you are working together on.
- Stay in communication with your team members in between face-to-face meetings. Provide updates of the tasks you are accomplishing that affect them.
- Respect the confidences of others and keep private information private. Place sensitive information in drawers or cabinets and lock them up. If you need to have a private phone conversation, go to a place where you will not be overheard.
- Make it safe for people to tell you what they are thinking and feeling. If they come to believe that it isn’t safe, they won’t open up to you.
- Before you say something, think about how it will sound.
- Eliminate the phrase "yes, but" from your vocabulary.
WHERE CAN I GO FOR MORE INFORMATION?
Avery, Christopher. Teamwork Is an Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done When Sharing Responsibility. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2001.