How to Be an Effective Team Player at Work
A team player willingly works in cooperation with others. Teamwork, after all, is the process of working together for a common vision and a shared goal. A team player gets along with others, is willing to compromise, doesn’t demand that his or her ideas are used, and works with the team to solve problems. But you can view yourself as a team player and still impede your team's ability to succeed.
Consider a team that I observed during a problem-solving session. Moments after the group gathered, Kyle, a personable, outgoing fellow, volunteered to facilitate the team’s efforts. He positioned himself at the flipchart, ready to take notes. Kyle had previously told me with pride that he was a team player. He wanted his team to succeed and was highly motivated to contribute to their shared effort.
But once at the flipchart, Kyle did as much to obstruct the team's effort as to support it. He dismissed ideas that differed from his own and discounted suggestions without trying to understand the reasoning behind them. He seemed unfazed when several people spoke simultaneously. As the session progressed, he failed to notice expressions of annoyance on some team members’ faces—or, at least, he did nothing about them. It was as if he'd been directed to do all he could to make the problem harder to solve than it actually was.
If you really want to be an effective team player, you have to be willing to consider ideas from others without debating, arguing, or nitpicking every point. This means you need the discipline to listen first and speak second. And when you do speak, you have to be able to express your thoughts and ideas clearly, honestly, and respectfully. If each person on the team treats every other team member with respect regardless of personal matters between them (i.e., even if you don’t like each other), you can still operate as team players in getting the job done.
Furthermore, if you want others to view you as a team player, it’s important to participate without being pushy. You need to engage with others, both one-on-one and in team discussions. But as important as communication is, it doesn’t replace doing the specific job you’re there to do. Sometimes, the best way to ensure others see you as a team player is to become respected for making the team look good. In other words, to be a respected team player, you need both interpersonal skills and the technical competencies required to perform your job.
A team that destroys itself in the course of accomplishing its mission is no team at all—even if everyone is a team player.
