Teamwork makes the dream work! How to work well in a team –
What we're covering..
Introduction 👋
Whether it’s at school or work, everyone seems to be talking about why it’s important to be able to work in a team. 🤷♀️
Working well in a team can help you to:
- impress your manager at work 🌟
- get other people to help you reach your goals 🏆
- create new ideas 🧠
- save time when getting things done ⌚
- make work better quality than if you did it alone ✨
- get more work done 📈
But how do you actually work well in a team? 🤷♀️
Here are our top tips for being the best team player. 🏀
1. Listen👂
In a team it’s always tempting to share your ideas first, and not really pay attention to what anyone else has to say. 😬
The best team players are the best listeners, making sure that everyone has room for their say. 💬
If you make others feel listened to, they’re also far more likely to listen to you. 🙌
2. Be kind 🤝
Team situations can:
- be intense 🤯
- feel like you’re in competition with everyone else 🥉
- create conflict 🥊
which can lead to team members being unkind to each other.
To keep your team happy, it’s important to be kind to everyone, especially if you disagree with them.
When working in a team, you should:
- be patient with others⌚
- try to avoid arguments (19 ways to stop arguments from exploding 💣) 🧨
- be thoughtful and considerate – offer help, look out for your team members 💖
- avoid talking over others 🤫
- keep calm, even if you feel frustrated🧘♀️
- make others feel important/special (133 ways to make someone feel special 💖)
- watch your words – try not to be harsh towards others 🙊
- avoid talking badly about your team members 🤐
If you’re kind to others in your team, they will be more likely to:
- help you 🤝
- listen to you 👂
- be productive 🏆
- be kind to you 💖
3. Encourage others 👍
Team environments can be uncomfortable for a lot of people, meaning some team members might:
- become more shy or quiet 😳
- feel intimidated by other team members 😓
- hesitate to speak up in a group 🙊
- feel outside their comfort zone 😢
This makes it really important for you to encourage and support your team, to make sure they feel comfortable and confident to do their best work. ✨
4. Be proactive 🏋️♀️
In a team, other team members will pay close attention to how much work you take on. 👀
It’s common for arguments to arise in teams, when they don’t feel like you’re taking on enough work.
To avoid this, you can be a proactive member of the team and volunteer to take on work. 🙋♀️
Being proactive can encourage others to take on work and do their bit too.
If you’re proactive and help get things done, people are more likely to see you as a positive member of the team. 🌟
5. Be positive ☀️
Research has shown that:
- having a positive mindset can make you solve problems quicker. 🧩
- feeling positive can reduce your levels of stress hormones, making it easier to focus and process information. 🤓
So – being positive can make you smarter, and help your team to be smarter too! 🧠
You can help your team to be more positive by:
- celebrating successes 🎉
- complimenting team members on their good work 🙌
- treating challenges like an opportunity to learn 🤓
- making time to have fun with your team 🪅
- helping the team to resolve conflicts 🤝
6. Celebrate diversity 🌍
Research shows that as humans, we tend to like people more if they’re similar to us.
Humans tend to:
- Like things that are familiar 🪞
- Be scared or skeptical of things/people that are different 🤔
- Trust people more if we have things in common with them 🤝
In our article, “Why being different is good: 11 reasons why your differences make you valuable 🪞” we explain how diverse teams can actually be way more successful.
If you celebrate diversity, and make an effort to work with people who are different to you, it can actually increase your chances of being a successful team!
7. Make decisions together 🧠
In a team it can be really upsetting if you’re not included on important decisions.
When making decisions in a team, you should:
- give everyone in the team a chance to share their view 🗣️
- get “sign off” from your team before making decisions that will impact them ✅
- be flexible and compromise to help reach decisions in the team 🧘♀️
8. Set clear responsibilities 📃
It’s easy for arguments to develop when it isn’t clear who’s doing what in a team.
If responsibilities aren’t clear, important tasks could get forgotten with nobody looking after them.
When working in a team, you should:
- agree clear responsibilities across the team 🤝
- make sure that the whole team know each other’s responsibilities 🔁
- update team members if any responsibilities change 🔊
- make sure that tasks are divided up equally to avoid people getting annoyed at each other 🍰
9. Set clear goals 🏆
Setting team goals can provide a clear direction for your team, making it easier to get stuff done!
In the chaos of teamwork, people can get derailed easily and end up lost doing random tasks, especially when they don’t know what their end goal is. 🗺️
Set clear goals and remind people of them, to help your team stay on track! 🛣️
10. Communicate clearly 🔊
One of the biggest causes of arguments in a team is when you don’t understand each other.
This makes it really important for you to communicate clearly, so that people understand you.
To make sure that you’re fully understood you can do things like:
- Get to the point when you’re talking to people – don’t waffle! 🎯
- Keep instructions short and simple 📏
- Check with team members that you’re making sense ✅
- Choose communication methods that give a clear message e.g. talk to people in-person rather than emailing them, so they can hear your tone of voice and understand what you mean better 📱
Conclusion 👍
So that’s it!
To work well in a team, you should:
- Listen👂
- Be kind 🤝
- Encourage others 👍
- Be proactive 🏋️♀️
- Be positive ☀️
- Celebrate diversity 🌍
- Make decisions together 🧠
- Set clear responsibilities 📃
- Set clear goals 🏆
- Communicate clearly 🔊
If you know any friends or family members who might benefit from learning about how to work well in a team, share this post with them!
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