7 Easy Tips On How To Work In A Team At Work

Team work is the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal, teamwork is often crucial part of a business as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, trying their best in any circumstances. Teamwork means that people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal conflict between individuals.

“A strong team environment can act as a great support mechanism for staff members group members will help each other, rely on each other and build trust within the group” says Lucy Mutungi a professional career coach at Corporate Staffing Limited.

During challenging times, support is crucial for the success of the project, if a challenge is handled individually you are at risk of becoming overwhelmed and making irrational decisions miss Mutungi further says.

Below are factors to consider when working in a team at work

1. Work respectfully with people from diverse backgrounds

Working in a team involves dealing with people with different principles, in different age groups and even characters you should be able to accommodate these differences to avoid personal conflict with individuals in your team. This will make the whole process easier for everyone.

2. Define the roles and responsibilities of each member in the team

If you are the team leader, always make sure you clearly define the roles for each member to avoid clashing of roles which obviously results to conflict

3. Clearly express your ideas, listen and be heard

Team work consists of constant communication between members and therefore it is important to develop interpersonal skills, remember, people who feel that their ideas are not being accommodated in a team become less involved due to loss of morale. Be open, honest and receptive to others’ opinions, even if they differ from your own

4. Identify the strengths of all members of a team, including your own

It’s important to identify strengths of each individual so that they can focus on what they do best, this also sparks the morale of the team members and maximum results are achieved in a project, as a team leader identifying your strengths also improves your output in the team.

5. Be relied upon to complete your work independently

Team work is detested by most people because of people who are notoriously known for just riding on the backs of others and doing nothing, always remember that every individual effort determines the success of a team project and therefore your contribution is vital.

6. Be assertive if problems arise, and liaise considerately with others to resolve them

Conflict is normal in teams but how you resolve conflict determines the success of a team project, one of the reasons groups encounter difficulty in solving problems is that they fail to follow an organized procedure. For working groups to be effective, they should have an agreed upon procedure for problem solving.

Not all problems are equally important and their relative significance should be kept in perspective. Common sense about practicality and priorities are important ingredients in maximizing people’s time, energy, and commitment level to solving problems.

7. Celebrate and encourage the achievements of your team.

When an individual effort saves the day, always remember to recognize the individual, the same when the team achieves a major goal, this helps to strengthen the group since they realize how important they all are in the team. Give credit where it’s due!

“Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story.” – Casey Stengel (baseball hall of famer)

Do you believe that teamwork is important in the workplace? Alternatively, do you have any examples that you can share where teamwork either helped or hindered your efforts?

By Victor Wachira

Victor is a content writer at Career Point Kenya. Email victor@www.careerpointkenya.co.ke

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