We all have different roles in life, at home, at work, in business.
We behave differently at different times dependent upon various situations and adopt distinct roles, behaviours, traits and reactions.
When we hold these roles, we may be inside or outside our comfort zone which will change our behaviour also.
In a team, we always need a leader, and we need good team players who perform separate roles. Those who challenge things, those who facilitate situations to assist, whilst others may be resistant to participate.
Edwards de Bono has his Six Thinking Hats which explains this in more detail and is helpful particularly in meetings or work situations.
What we do know is a team player is someone who enthusiastically contributes to their team to complete tasks and to achieve team goals.
A key attribute of a team member is to actively listen to their co-workers, respecting each other’s contribution and ideas with the aim to achieve as a team.
Using each other’s strengths to the best of the team’s ability makes a solid, cohesive and successful team.
As a team player we all need the softer skills to add to our main roles and responsibilities and these can consist of the following:
- Understanding what your role is and how this correlates with other team players; we all have strengths so finding out in what way we can individually benefit each other and the team as a whole is important
- Being accountable for our own actions or mistakes; we can all make mistakes but owning up to these and taking responsibility is one way we learn and worth bringing to the team’s attention rather than hiding away; sharing these usually gains more respect from peers
- Working collaboratively is something that adds strength to any team, however, this word can be used loosely and often isn’t always acted out. Working collaborative is around offering opinions and ideas or even solutions to the team and respecting each person’s responsibilities and boundaries
- Being adaptable helps us work more in tune with our team members particularly within a busy team. By doing this we can share the work and share the gain
What type of team player are you, perhaps you might want to contemplate how you have and do interact with others and see where your strengths lie?
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