How to work successfully in a team
Chances are that at some point in your working life you’re going to have to work as part of a team. Whether this be for a specific project or an ongoing collaboration, all teams face similar challenges and obstacles that need to be overcome in terms of a working dynamic. Knowing how to work with others successfully and efficiently can be a great asset for the workplace and allow things to run much more smoothly.
Here’s some important things to remember when working in a team to help make any collaborating you do a little easier.
Objective- The first thing you should do in any team is agree on what your end-game is. If everyone is clear on what common objective to work towards then it means that the teamwork will likely be cohesive.
Planning- You need to make sure you’re all on the same page from day one, so that no one ends up doing random and irrelevant work. Clearly setting out your plan for whatever project you’re doing will help to give everyone clarity, and help to lay out things like timeframes.
Delegation- No one can do everything by themselves, and you probably wouldn’t want to anyway. After planning out your project, make sure that all the team members are assigned clear roles that equally and fairly divide up the workload.
Communication- Unless you’re a team of mind readers, it’s important to always be clear and stay in contact with the people you’re working with. Try and set up regular meetings to make sure this happens smoothly, though the progression of modern technology means that you can easily organise yourselves without waiting to meet in person.
Listen- Sometimes in group situations loud voices can drown out quieter ones, leading to some being shut out of the conversation. Try and keep an eye on this in meetings and speak up if you feel that some people’s voices aren’t being properly listened to.
Unity- While of course not every decision can and should be voted on, major ones should always be agreed upon by all of your team. Doing things without telling the rest of the team, or that only certain people are happy with, will likely just cause confusion and chaos.
Compromise- Not everyone is going to agree on every idea, and that’s fine; differing opinions coming together is what can make collaborative projects so interesting. However, this will sometimes mean that you’ll have to sacrifice and compromise on your ideas for the benefit of the group. Remember that this doesn’t mean your ideas are bad, just that they’re combining with others to make something even better.
Respect- Throughout all team projects you need to bear in mind that you are in a workplace environment. Shouting and arguing won’t get you anywhere in group projects, and not only that it is also disrespectful and rude. Even if you get angry and frustrated, you should always try and remain professional, because nobody wants to work with someone unpleasant.