We've seen it time and time again in resumes, and our candidates often describe how they "work well in a group", or "enjoy working as part of a team". Of course, we love to hear this as it is crucial to have team building/group think/group work skills in order to succeed in most professions today.
Really, though, what makes you a "team player"?
Great listening skills accompanied by the willingness to understand and think critically about who your fellow team members are is crucial. To function as a group effectively, staff members should be aware of and respect each others' differing personalities and viewpoints. This can be challenging, but results in much more productive meetings, projects, and an altogether "smoother" day-to-day grind. Hear each other out, discuss, respect, and practice the "agree to disagree technique" if necessary.
Enthusiasm and positiveness - because no one wants to work with a negative Nellie!
The ability to collaborate, compromise, and complete.Work together, be flexible, get things done. Each member of a team has unique talents, strengths, and weaknesses; adjust accordingly to fit into the puzzle, and complete your projects/tasks quickly and precisely. Everyone can't be good at everything, so play off each others' skills to achieve your common goal.
Speaking of goals, have one. Whether it's project specific, or a general, day-to-day goal for your office, focus on it. If everyone focuses, the outcome will undoubtedly be a positive one. At Walrath Recruiting, each of us have individual goals but focus on one common goal as a team: find the best for the best by providing the best service we possibly can.This isn't something that can be reached and then tossed to the side; it's something we strive to do each day, so we're always motivated. As I mentioned in my previous post, we're all aware of the roles each Walrath team member plays; we're very different in terms of personality, professional and personal background, and skill set, but we maintain a positive atmosphere and work together to accomplish what we set out to do, always as a team.
When an interviewer asks an interviewee to give an example of a time he or she worked with others as a team, a specific example should be provided - Included in the example should be the tasks given, the goal, and how it was reached.
Now, how's this for teamwork: Renee brought a large fruit bowl to the office for her whole team, so that we can eat healthy and do great work today. This is much, much healthier than the toasted cream cheese bagel I had from Dunkin' yesterday!
Today's blog post, brought to you by a large-sized fruit bowl from Panera. Go team!
Stephanie Snyder
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