Being part of almost any workforce will task you with facing a wide range of scenarios, including things you will have to do alone and situations where you’ll be working as part of a team.
Teamwork is essential to your personal work life development and how well you are able to communicate with others. Being a great team player will see you landing further opportunities down the line and becoming a valued member of the company you work for.
The same can be said for business owners all around the world. If you run a business, regardless of the size of it, you need to be able to work alongside others and perform well in team-based situations and scenarios.
There are a wide variety of ways you can improve on your skills that apply to working in a team, but none will be valuable than getting experience in the field.
How to be a team player in the workplace
In today’s workplace, it’s more important than ever to be a team player. With the globalization of the economy and the rise of technology, businesses are increasingly relying on teams of employees to get work done. To be an effective team player, you need to be able to communication effectively, collaborate with others, and be flexible in your approach to work.
One way to become a better team player is to improve your communication skills. This means being able to listen attentively and express yourself clearly. It also involves being able to adapt your communication style to different people and situations. If you can learn to communicate effectively, you’ll be a valuable asset to any team.
Another way to be a good team player is to learn how to collaborate with others. This means being able to share ideas openly, compromise when necessary, and work towards collective goals. To be a successful collaborator, you need to be able to respect different points of view and find common ground with others. If you can learn to collaborate effectively, you’ll make a valuable contribution to any team.
Finally, it’s important to be flexible in your approach to work. This means being open to change and willing to try new things. It
How teamwork has changed recently
As we are all well aware by now, the Coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we work full stop; not only the way we work together as a collective. We have had to get to grips with video conference calls and chatting over Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Sharing files online and working collaboratively from a distance has never felt so unique.
If the past year is anything to go by, we have at the very least proven to be capable of doing our best under the strangest of situations.
The truth is, eventually the vast majority of us will find ourselves back in the office, once again being free to work with others as we see fit. Though, we should keep in our minds that the skills we have picked up over the national lockdown period during the time of the global pandemic, will still very much come in handy should we ever have to resort to them once again.
Perhaps the key takeaway point from this period is that if we are not able to be physically close to one another, we still have the technology and communication skills to deal with it efficiently.
Why are work teams assembled?
Teams are made for a few reasons. They may have to convey a one-time task or work together on a continuous premise. In any case, if you can exploit a team’s collective efforts and innovativeness, the group can achieve significantly more in far less time while working together, when compared with individuals working alone.
What’s the significance here for you? Well, teams of people working together are presumably an important aspect of how things are done in your company. In the event that you show that you can cooperate with other people, this could significantly affect your profession and open new doors to you and your teammates.
Being a hard-working, valuable member of any group can open new professional doors for you, since bosses may see first-hand what an incredible job you’re doing. You may even be invited to display your qualities in other group settings – and in more prominent, roles within the business you already work for.
This is the reason figuring out how to be a strong cooperative person is so significant. If you establish a decent connection, no one can tell what prospects may become open to you.
How can I be a reliable team member?
There are many things you can actively do to ensure you are giving your absolute best to the remainder of your team. These next points will make sure you are gaining the respect of your peers while you are in the workplace.
Always hit deadlines
Many a time while at work your boss will ask you to do something by a certain date or time. You need to make sure you are always achieving this, and if possible, finishing your work earlier than requested. This will ensure you always have time to make advancements or improvements to what you have been working on and your team will recognise quickly how efficiently you can complete a task.
If you are working on stuff collaboratively with others, why not offer a helping hand if you have managed to finish early. By offering guidance to other members of the group, you will both help them out and further develop the relationship you have with them; this will lead to more successfully completed tasks in the future, as you will have a greater level of understanding between each other.
Commit to your team
You need to be fully committed to the team of people you are a part of while at work. You should always try to be a cooperative person in the event that you can show others that you have confidence in the team, the interaction and the objectives. Such an inspiration can drastically expand assurance and efficiency throughout your colleagues and co-workers.
Be adaptable
You ought to promptly acknowledge any assignments your director gives to you. Adaptability in your job permits you to find out more and help your group in the process. View each chance as an opportunity to learn and try to be as flexible as possible; in the end this will help you to build on your already-established skillset.
Have an uplifting outlook
Keeping an uplifting outlook while at work goes a long way in being the ultimate team player. If you can maintain a positive attitude, the atmosphere of your workplace will be all the better for it, and so will the rest of your team members. By engaging with all aspects of your work and helping out others whenever you can, you’ll be spreading the positivity you feel throughout the office.
Deal with your own problems whenever you can
If you run into issues, you do not want to immediately bother your co-workers without first trying to solve the problem yourself. Problems come in many different forms within the workplace, for example you may get a customer complaint and must deal with it on the spot.
In this instance, having fantastic and reliable customer service will speak volumes to your customers. Not only will this make them more likely to return to your business, but it will also make them feel like you care about them and want what’s best for them while ever they are at your premises.
Did you know that 93% of customers are more likely to make repeat purchases if they enjoy the service they receive at a company? This means that no matter what products you sell, it’ll always be worth going the extra mile for your clients and consumers.
Gain a clear understanding of the task ahead
In the events that groups don’t work well, it’s regularly in light of the fact that there’s an absence of correspondence and comprehension about what the team’s objectives are. If even just one person doesn’t fully understand what they are being asked to do, the whole group could be in danger of failing.
If you want to take charge of your team and make sure everyone is on the right page within your group, you should ask these key questions of every group member:
- What are we doing here?
- What is the “perfect solution” to this problem?
- When is our deadline?
- How regularly will we meet?
- What budget do we have to work with?
- Who is accountable for carrying out our ideas?
- Which jobs and obligations will every one of us have?
Be clear about what you’re there to do. This will assist you with finishing your errands to the absolute best of your abilities.
Be Reliable
We’ve most likely all worked with individuals who have made promises they failed to see through. It’s baffling when somebody says a certain thing and then performs the opposite of it, and it can truly damage any team’s progress, regardless of the working environment.
You can be a significant resource for your group by carrying out what you said you would do – on schedule. For certain individuals, it’s all a little bit too simple (and, sadly, very normal) to make guarantees they can’t live up to.
If you claim you’ll be finishing something for the team before the day’s over, ensure you do it. If you say you’ll go to the 5:30 meeting, don’t be late. Little things like this can put your team at ease and make them more comfortable when working alongside yourself.
Being dependable additionally applies to the work you accomplish for your team. If you have exclusive requirements, individuals will rely upon you to deliver quality work. If you complete high-quality work one day, but then fail to do so on the following morning, your team may begin to view you as an inconsistent contributor. Ensure that you aren’t seen as unreliable by staying consistently helpful and a joy to be around for your co-workers.
Different ways you can improve your teamwork skills:
If you have found yourself working more successfully on your own in the past, try not to worry too much as you can quickly improve on your collaboration skills.
Offer assistance when you can
In the event that you see a colleague who appears to be struggling or is battling to get things done on time, inquire as to whether you can help. Cooperative individuals support each other during troublesome occasions. Make sure to request help yourself should you need it, too.
Celebrate the success of others
If someone in your group succeeds, so do you, and therefore you should celebrate the victory with them. It implies you are one bit nearer to finishing an objective. Commend their prosperity. Remain updated on their own lives and set aside the effort to communicate interest and care.
Always listen carefully
Undivided attention means listening and insightfully reacting to what your colleague has to say. Pose inquiries about things you don’t comprehend for sure, but if you have the answer to other people’s problems, then please fill them in when and where you can.
Communicate effectively
Keep your group up to date on your progress and ask them how they are getting on with theirs. You ought to be in steady correspondence with your group to guarantee that everybody is pursuing a similar objective, and nobody is accidentally doing the same work.
Respect your co-workers
Perceive that other colleagues are additionally attempting to complete their tasks and consider how you can support them. Set aside the effort to become acquainted with your group. Everybody has a task to carry out that is no easier than your own. If you can respect your teammates, you will in turn demand that same level of respect from them
Working alone can improve your teamwork skills
Being a great individual worker in turn makes you a much better team player, so rather than only focusing on your teamwork skills, you should aim to better yourself in more singular positions also.
Often when you’re at work you’ll find yourself being tasked with completing solo assignments and be faced with taking on a project all on your own. This is often the case for people working for smaller-sized business ventures, as they do not normally have the spare members of staff to continuously work in teams.
If in the past you have struggled to complete large tasks as an individual and have become more used to working as part of a team, that is completely understandable. Though, you should probably try to brush up on your solo working skills so that you can be ready to face all types of situations and scenarios while you’re at work.
Here is a collection of short points on how to better yourself as an individual worker, to develop your skills as a team player:
Prioritise the right things
Occasionally while at work you’ll find that you have a long list of jobs to get through before the end of day draws in. In order to do everything on time you’ll need to be able to prioritise certain things and show off your time management skills. Developing these skills can be easier said than done, but with the right level of hard work and determination, coupled with some experience in doing so, you’ll soon be on your way to perfectly prioritising your goals and objectives.
By figuring out how long time to spend on each activity and working out what order to complete them in, you’ll become a more efficient lone worker in the process. Again, these skills are not necessarily easy to develop, but the more time you spend trying to get it right, the better you’ll become at it over time.
Always be on the lookout to learn
Always attempt to learn more and build upon your already established knowledge. Not only will this improve your intelligence, but it will also make you a more useful worker for your employer. If you can show that you are a forward-thinking employee that is always eager to learn more and advance their skills, you’ll soon start earning the reputation you deserve, as a complete independent worker.
One great way of learning new skills that will be applicable to the workplace, or just building upon those you already have, is to read business books from past entrepreneurs and those that are currently putting a huge stamp on their respective industries.
Remain focused
You will always be faced with distractions while at the workplace. If you are in the office all day, you’ll notice email notifications, meeting reminders and other people wanting to engage in conversation while you are trying to get on with your latest project. You need to become better at making decisions and choosing when you can switch off for a minute or two. If you are in the full flow of work, it is unwise to stop yourself to engage in conversation for example.
If you are becoming derailed by things regularly, you could start to write down what is making you lose concentration. By doing this you’ll likely start to see a pattern come together and you can actively try to avoid it from there.
Be able to switch the type of work you’re doing
Believe it or not, a large part of being a great individual worker is also reliant on being able to work with others as a part of a team. Owning the skillset needed to perform in both types of situation is essential for the modern-day worker, who will often be tasked with doing numerous differing things in a small space of time.
If you can master working within a group of people, the chances are that you’ll be a perfect fit to always work on your own; there are more transferable skills than you’re likely first going to be aware of.
There are many differing benefits to working both on your own and as a team, but if you can master one, you’ll likely become much better at the other too, as a result.
Seasoned professional with a strong passion for the world of business finance. With over twenty years of dedicated experience in the field, my journey into the world of business finance began with a relentless curiosity for understanding the intricate workings of financial systems.