How to be a good team player

A team player is an individual who will unify others for a purpose by exchanging information and ideas and empower them and have trust in them. Teamwork is the potential to work together for a common vision. A good team player assists his team by using his strengths, and clearly understanding his task. He must understand the team’s objectives. He must be supportive and trustworthy. He encourages participative decision-making. He invites new ideas and feedback from other team members. A good team player keeps on working for continuous improvement.

It is immaterial what you do or where you live, since it is your attitude which will determine the quality of your relationships. Hence, this applies to just about everything else in your life. Hence, you need to select your attitudes. And since you are free to choose any attitude, why not choose a Really Useful Attitude.

In order to face any situation, your attitude will always precede you. In fact, it is the central force in your life. It is your attitude which controls the quality as well as the appearance of everything you do.

Really Useful Attitudes which you want to see in others are the ones which you need to imbibe in yourself. Some of these are being warm and Enthusiastic when dealing with others. Besides, your Confident and Supportive nature will make you a good team player.

A Relaxed as well as an obliging attitude will take you everywhere. A Curious as well as a Resourceful person is liked by all. Make others Comfortable with you and be Helpful towards them. Always have an Engaging and a laid back look about yourself.

Be Patient with others and be Welcoming at all times. Have a Cheery and Interested look about yourself.

The Really Useless Attitudes which you need to avoid or even give up completely include being Angry or Sarcastic while interacting with others.

Having an impatient or bored outlook is also not appreciated by others. Being Disrespectful or Conceited will definitely not make you a good team player. Being Pessimistic or Anxious at all times is a very negative attitude.

Never be Rude or Suspicious of others in your team. To be Vengeful or Afraid is a Really Useless Attitude. By being Self-conscious or mocking others, will not lead you anywhere. Having an Embarrassed or Dutiful attitude is also not good.

This was the primary step. This involved Identification of the Problem as well as its perceived Solution.

Next step is the creation of A Personal Action Plan. Answer this simple question - My team can count on me to:_________________

This answer will tell you about your strengths as well as weaknesses. You will know how you are perceived by others. The fact remains that what we perceive ourselves may be different from the way others perceive us.

The next question which you need to answer is the specific changes that you want to see within your team in the next three months. This will define the goals for your team and the way to achieve them.

Next comes the part that you are going to play in achieving those goals. The answer here has to be quantifiable.

The last question which you need to answer is “This is how I will know I have done it.”

Once the matrix is qualitative as well as quantitative, the results become visible to all. This is a good strategy to determine your contribution to your team, as well as to know how good you are as a team player.

To conclude, to be a good team player, one must possess both interpersonal skills as well as technical competencies required to perform their job role. The organization must revise the reward structure so as to boost collaborative and team efforts. Also, the organization should provide training to promote teamwork skills and competencies.

A good team player must be flexible in approach. He should be an active listener as well as should remain optimistic. He should communicate effectively. He should be honest as well as loyal and committed to the team. Last but not the least; a good team player must be dependable and reliable. He should meet the targets within specified deadline.

Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

The article is Written and Reviewed by Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.