How to Be a Better Team Player

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Understanding the Team “Dynamic”

Unless you’re a professional golfer, sculptor, writer, or one-person handyman business, you probably work as part of a team. If you played sports, you probably have developed an innate appreciation and understanding of team concepts. Even if you spent your youth pursuing activities other than sports, you’ve heard some of the ironclad components of teams. A couple of the more popular and oft-quoted statements include, “There is no ‘I’ in team.” and “All for one and one for all.”

To be a better team player, you should also understand some of the team dynamics that affect performance. Since all teams are composed of humans, you won’t be surprised that the dynamics involved can be complex and at times confusing. But, some of the classic components include:

• The personalities of team members. Always the most important and complex component of team dynamics, diverse personalities have the most critical effect on performance.
• Individual team member responsibilities. One of the benefits of teams is the ability to maximize the performance of a group committed to a goal. However, individuals usually have specific roles and must integrate their specific functions into the team goals.
• Corporate culture. The company mission, management personalities, and overall objectives of organizations contribute to their internal “feeling.” Corporate culture may add a positive or negative dynamic to internal teams.
• Communication efficiency. The effectiveness of team communication is critical. Are there many different “tools” available to team members? In addition to the obvious – team meetings – does the team have access to telephone, e-mail, cell phone, instant messaging, or other communication tools?

While these are the primary ingredients of team dynamics, there are also other factors that are specific to your industry, company, and staff. Understanding team dynamics will help you become a better team player and increase your value to your team and your company.

How to Be a Better Team Player

Becoming a better team contributor will make you a more valuable employee. Here are some suggestions to help make you a more effective team player, regardless of the level of talent surrounding you:

• Learn the pros and cons of “friendship” between team members. There is a common misconception that if some team members are real friends, the team will automatically benefit. While it’s true that communication should be better, collective work may improve, etc., there are also often-misunderstood concerns. For example, those team members not part of the “friendship” group may feel excluded, become distrustful of other members, or become timid about sharing their ideas and help.
• Never play the “blame game.” There is a strong natural tendency to blame other team members when performance falls short of team or management expectations. You must resist this temptation at all costs. Understand that company management views its teams as single entities working toward important goals and objectives. Senior management typically bestows praise or criticism on the team, not its individual members. Playing the blame game is almost guaranteed to hurt, not help, future team performance.
• Never communicate personal displeasure with anyone outside of the team. Even Super Bowl and World Series champions have numerous negative issues among team members during the course of an otherwise supremely successful season. These disputes happen on every team, including all work-related groups. The key to being a better team player is to keep these problems “in house.” 
• Focus your energy on what is required now and in the near future. Being a good team player has nothing to do with history. “What have you done for me lately?” is a much more important concept to remember. Target your individual energy on the goal at hand. This enthusiasm directed at getting the job done may become contagious and energize other team members who are focused on past victories and losses.

Becoming a better team player is not difficult. Typically, all you need to do is understand the dynamics, eliminate any non-productive habits you may have developed, and focus on the goals of the group. Embrace the phrase, “Keep your eyes on the prize.”

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