Teamwork requires skill. Not everyone is a good team player. Some people are better leaders but not good followers. Some people can only work alone. While others do well in teams. What makes a person a good team player? The important thing is to have a sense of responsibility and cooperation. Keeping the common goal in mind and working toward achieving the team’s goals are necessary. In teams, cooperation works more than competition. Team members should never compete with each other. Instead, they should help each other and build on each other’s’ strengths while trying to negating each other’s weaknesses. In a successful team, the whole is more than the sum of the parts.
There are a few things to do to improve team function and achieve your goals efficiently. Each member should identify their strengths and weaknesses and take the role that is right for them. Roles should be delegated early, a leader chosen, and each person’s responsibilities clearly stated. The reason for the team, what the team is trying to achieve, should be clearly stated as well and it should be ensured that each member understands the goal of the team and their own responsibilities. A time frame should be set for the overall plan as well as for each major part.
It’s important for each team member to have a sense of obligation and accountability. If each member knows what their responsibilities are and strive to accomplish them, the team will be successful. Otherwise, they will be unable to achieve their goals.
Last but not least, a due date should be set for each major part of the project and on that date, it should be assessed whether team members have met their obligations, roles redistributed, and alteration should be made to the schedule based on the team’s progress.
Written by Kokab Rahman, Founder of Radeya
