The term "team player" is so often
used as an essential professional attribute that it’s become a well-worn cliché
— but that doesn’t make it any less of a valuable skill to have if you want to
be successful at work, regardless of your occupation or industry.
Being able to work well with others and being
regarded by your colleagues as an effective team player can lead to a wealth
of promising career opportunities. People will tend to seek you out when
assembling teams for projects (which are more likely to be successful when the
members of your team work well together), peers and superiors will turn to you
for collaborations that can enhance your visibility and profile, you’ll
increase your chances of impressing your colleagues and others will want to
support you and celebrate your success as you climb your personal career
ladder.
Although some folks seem to be able to work
well with others no matter what the situation or mix of personalities they find
themselves in, for others it’s not quite that simple. Not everyone is a natural
team player, but everyone can become one with a little effort.
Yes, your work environment and the nature of
the work you do will go a long way toward dictating what makes an effective
team player in your world, but there are some fundamental personal qualities
that most! effective team players seem to possess — and use — to their
advantage when opportunities to collaborate arise. If you have the following
three qualities, be sure to use them to your advantage at work and keep them
polished and sharp.
If not, consider building these skills to
maximize your chances of achieving success:
Patience
Great team players typically have an abundance
of patience in their reserves, which comes in really handy when juggling the
diverse personalities and work styles of team members.
It can be easy to get frustrated in
collaborative work settings, especially when one (or more than one) team member
is tough to work with or tries to exert unwanted control over the group, or
when the project doesn’t go as well as initially planned.
However, those who are known to be effective
team members have the patience and self-control to
keep themselves and others calm, cool and collected, which helps to keep
colleagues and work projects on track.
Flexibility
A close relative of patience, flexibility
allows team players to roll with the punches when things get volatile or
tumultuous during a group effort at work and can pivot effectively when a
project takes an unexpected turn or requires a course correction.
While some folks lose control when things
don’t go according to plan during the life cycle of a project, those who are
good team players are flexible enough to swerve when change is needed — without
putting added stress or strain on their team members.
Reliability
Reliability is where the "rubber meets
the road" on a project, and effective team members consistently deliver in
this area.
When collaborating on a project, they are well
aware of what they are responsible for and make sure that they deliver as planned
and on schedule, allowing their team members to focus on their tasks without
having to worry about weak links, with the end result being that the
collaborative effort becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
If you set your sights on strengthening your
skills in the areas mentioned here, you will improve your ability to work with
others and gain a reputation as someone people can count on in any
collaborative situation, big or small.
Eric Titner has been an editor and content
creator for more than a decade. His primary professional focus has been on
education- and career-related topics. He currently lives in New York City.
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