Teamwork: 1+1+1=5 *
About the Author
Anne Parker
Anne Parker has an Arts degree and post graduate diploma from Monash University and is a registered secondary school teacher with 30 years of teaching experience in French, History, Career Education and Psychology. She has held positions of Coordinator of Languages other than English (LOTE), Coordinator of Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE)and Coordinator of Career Education. These roles involved implementing major curriculum reform of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development(DEECD). An elected committee member of the Career Education Association of Victoria
(CEAV) for 2 years including 3 months as interim Executive Officer, Anne was involved in significant change management, setting of standards of training of Career Development Practitioners and the ethics governing Practitioners in line with the national peak body the Career Industry Council of Australia (CICA). In 2008 she commenced Careertactics, her own consulting business.
By
Anne Parker
How do you work successfully in a team?
Almost every organisation values a successful team player. If you are able to contribute positively in a team environment at work, chances are that you will eventually do well for yourself also. Working as part of team is an acquired skill and can be learned over time.
Here’s how to do it:
- Have an open, co-operative attitude to all other members of the team. This includes staying away from the troublemakers and gossip mongers who intentionally promote conflict among team members.
- Help and motivate other members of the team. This may be in the form of asking for suggestions, valuing their inputs and also encouraging others to go ahead with their ideas.
- Develop a good working relationship with the team leader. This means supporting him or her on team issues and valuing feedback on your work.
- Be a problem solver. Instead of complaining that the task at hand is too difficult, find ways to solve it. Enlist the help of your team members and if necessary ask for expert guidance outside the team. In the short term, a simple pat on the back or a compliment will do wonders for your self-esteem; and when the boss sees you taking on challenges and getting results in team projects, you may well find yourself rewarded through a promotion, a pay increase or a bonus.
- Respect the values of the team, such as being on time. Coming to a team meeting properly prepared will also stand you in good stead.
How do you resolve conflict in a team?
Conflict arises from differences. When individuals come together in work teams their differences in terms of power, values and attitudes, and social factors all contribute to the creation of conflict. It is often difficult to expose the sources of conflict. Conflict can arise from numerous sources within a team setting and generally falls into three categories: communication factors, structural factors and personal factors (Varney, 1989).
For individuals to work effectively in teams they must be able to clearly communicate their ideas, to listen, and be willing to disagree. Although it is difficult, learning to appreciate each other's differences reflects a team's ability to manage conflict. Well-managed conflict can be a source of positive change and innovation.
6 steps to conflict resolution
- Recognition that there is negative conflict in the team.
- Quickly act to resolve it.
- Appoint a skilled mediator to handle it.
- Listen to all parties.
- Analyse the problems and sources of conflict.
- Generate possible solutions to the conflict.
- Select and implement the most acceptable solution.
Individual timetables versus common goals
It’s common in the workplace to be part of a team or teams as well as having individual tasks to complete. Teaching is a good example where you have responsibility for your own classes as well as being part of a faculty, a member of the school and probably a member of other related organisations. Each team, plus your own individual tasks associated with your classroom work has goals and time frames. How then do you manage these competing timetables and stay sane?
It’s very much about seeing the big picture, i.e. the organisation that employs you and the goals of that organization, rather than your individual goals and timeframe. Inevitably there will be conflicting timeframes which will cause frustration and stress but by focusing on the main game, you might just meet the deadlines and stay sane.
How is this achieved?
Prioritise tasks and projects according to their importance and deadline. Ask yourself the question – what can wait, what can’t?
Time management is crucial. Dividing up your day into blocks of time for certain tasks will keep everything on track.
Keeping a diary (and remembering to check it) will alert you to your obligations and will help you avoid overloading yourself, as well as keeping you up to date with your commitments.
Summing up
Working in a team can be challenging, requiring sensitivity to others, being organised and prepared, and sharing the common goals and values of the team. The bottom line, however, is that it can’t be avoided unless you are a one person business - so learn to live with it and make it work for you.
In a nutshell the advantage of team work is all about producing a better end result for the organisation as 1+1+1 can indeed = 5.
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