Be a
good team player

How to be a valid team member

Once you really understand why teamwork is important and the value of being a team player, you'll want to ensure you're doing everything you can to support your co-workers. How do you go about working well with others?

CHECK OUT THESE WAYS TO BE A GREAT TEAM PLAYER

1. understand your role
   As a member of a team, you need to understand your role within the team to work and achieve your duties to the best of your ability. Though you may offer help or solutions to other team members, you also need to respect the boundaries of your position.

2. meeting your deadlines
   You have to be reliable to earn your co-workers’ goodwill. If you say you’re going to do something, you do it and do it well. Reliability is especially important during group projects. After all, if you miss a deadline, your mistake can negatively affect the entire team.

3. be open-minded
   Part of being a team player is being open to people's perspectives and ideas. Every team will experience a conflict at some point. When individuals with different ideas, approaches and skills are brought together on one team, some conflict will appear. But the most effective teams understand that having a diversity of opinions leads to optimal solutions. That is why you should boost your listening skills and being receptive to feedbacks, instead of getting defensive when you receive constructive criticism, see what you can do and change from their advice.

4. adapt quickly
   Not everything you do as a team is going to result in success. There will be plenty of rock along the way on which you will stumble. But getting stuck on mistakes only freezes your progress. That’s why flexibility is one of the key traits of a team player. Don’t be upset that something didn’t work out, step back and say, “Now, we know we have to go in a different direction. Let’s figure out what we’re going to do next.” Be ready to accept any tasks your manager gives you. Flexibility and adaptability in your role allows you to learn more and help your team. Look at every opportunity as a chance to learn.

5. appreciate other people’s work
   Figuring out how to work well with a variety of personalities can be more than challenging with people’s different work styles. However, understanding how each of your colleagues works best can make you a better team player.

6. focus on the team’s goals
   Even though you want to be the best of the best, it’s still important to focus on the bigger picture when working on a team project. The ultimate foundation of being an ideal team player is a person being willing and able to put the team’s interests above their own.

7. celebrate your teams’s successes
   An ideal team player is humble. Humble people are quick to point out the contributions of others and slow to seek attention for their own. They share credit, emphasize team over self, and define success collectively rather than individually. One of the easiest ways to build authentic relationships with co-workers is to give credit where it’s due. You should remember that you’ll receive respect when you give it to others.

8. know your strengths
   Whatever your strengths, you have something valuable to offer. Find a role within your team that allows you to do what you do well. This will help you make a meaningful contribution – and increase your chances of doing a great job. Plus, it's usually much easier, and more satisfying, to do tasks when you're naturally good at them. A successful team doesn't just combine different technical skills, it also allows members to take on more general roles that cross traditional functional lines.

Many of us wants to be a top performer, especially during stressful times, to be a one you must know how to play well with others at work. Coronavirus has shaken everyone to the core, and it made it evident that teamwork is important and workers have to stick together. Sports teams are perfect examples of how many players working together can achieve much more than one player who is acting alone. And same goes for being on a team at work. The ability to achieve goals in the workplace requires collaboration.