If you were choosing team members for a business team in your organisations, who would the best team players be?
Assuming that people have the right technical skills for the work to be done, what personal qualities would you really want to see in your team members? For example, the Scotland assistant coach Matt Taylor has questioned the attitude of the players after their defeat by Italy in the opening of their matches in this season’s Six Nations. "Our attitude was really good in the first two games," he said. "It wasn't when we were representing our country against Italy. The intensity, the desire, the edge wasn't there." http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/31800817
Bottom line, teams need really strong team players to play well, but what other things define such people?
Here are 5 Top tips to be a brilliant team member:-
1. Reliability
You can count on a reliable team member who gets work done and does his fair share to work hard and meet commitments. He or she follows through on assignments. Consistency is key.
You can count on him or her to deliver good performance all the time not just some of the time.
2. Active Participant
Good team players are active participants. They come prepared for team meetings and listen and speak up on discussions.
They’re fully engaged in all the work of the team and do not passively sit on the side-lines.
Team members who function as active participants take the initiative to help make things happen and they volunteer for assignments. Their whole approach is ‘can do’: “What contribution can I make to help the team achieve success.”
3. Cooperate and pitch in
Cooperation is the act of working together with others and acting together to accomplish a job. Effective team players work this way by second nature.
Good team players, despite differences they may have with other team members concerning their style and perspective, figure out ways to work together to solve problems and get work done. They respond to requests for assistance and take the initiative to offer help.
4. Commitment
Strong team players care about their work, the team, and the team’s work. They show up every day with this the care and commitment up front. They want to give a good effort and they expect other team members to do the same.
Team players with commitment look beyond their own piece of work and care about the team’s overall work. In the end, their commitment is about winning – not in the sport’s sense of beating your opponent but about seeing the team success and knowing they have contributed to this success. (However beating the opponent WILL be an issue in the case of Six Nations rugby players!).
Winning as team is one of the great motivators of employee performance. Good team players have and show this motivation.
5. Respect and Support
Team players treat fellow team members with respect, courtesy and consideration – not just some of the time but consistently.
In addition, they show understanding and the appropriate support to their team members to get the job done. They don’t place conditions on when they’ll provide assistance, when they’ll choose to listen and when they’ll share information.
Good team players also have a sense of humour and know how to have fun (and all teams can use a bit of both!) but they don’t need to have fun at someone else’s expense. Quite simply, effective team players deal with other people in a professional manner.
Good team players who show commitment don’t come in any particular style or personality. They don’t need to be ‘rah rah’, cheerleader types. In fact they may even be soft-spoken but they aren’t passive. They care about what the team is doing and they contribute to its success – without needing a push.
Want to read the rest of the Top Tips for being a brilliant team member?
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