How To Be A Team Player
Business Meeting (Photo credit: thetaxhaven)
Working on projects with co-workers isn’t always a walk in the park. There’s always the slacker, or the Negative Nancy, or maybe you just can’t seem to find your place within the group.
1. Break the Ice: Working with new people for the first time can be a little awkward. Whether it’s your first day at a new job, or you’ve never worked with certain employees before, it’s always good to get to know one another. Before you dive into work, grab coffee or dinner with your team. This will reduce tensions, and reduce the small talk when it really is time to get down to business. Here’s a list to get the conversation flowing
2. Remember Your Strengths: Everyone within the group should bring something to the table. Just because you may not be the most outspoken doesn’t mean you don’t belong. Don’t forget why it is that you are a part of the team, and let your personal strengths shine through.
3. Be Reliable: Don’t make promises that you can’t keep! This will make others loose faith in your abilities and your ideas won’t carry as much merit. Also make sure you are always on time – time management is key.
4. Schedule Group Meetings: Things go so much smoother if meetings are planned out. Make a checklist of key points to hit, what everyone should accomplish, and what the next goal for the group is. Meetings can easily fall short if they aren’t organized. The same goes for conference calls – here’s how to make them more productive!
5. Confront The Slacker: The best way to deal with a difficult person in the group is to confront the issue head on. Be honest about the problem, but don’t be insulting or negative. That will just cause tension and awkwardness. Most of the time the person doesn’t even realize they are creating a problem in the first place and are happy to readjust the situation.
6. Stay Positive: No matter the situation is it always essential to keep your head up and stay positive! One bad day at work doesn’t mean that the project is turning into a disaster. Things happen, good and bad, and the group just needs to stay on the same page through it all.
How do you play nice on a team at work?