A team player is valued in any organization. But how to be an effective team player is a skill all in itself. Effective team players in many cases add more value to a company than those with exceptional professional or technical skill. This is because effective team players will help to enable many (a team) to function and not just a few.
Being an effective team player is more than just words – it is a way of doing things. Most of the skill of being an effective team player just comes down to common sense. Effective team players do the following:
They actively participate. This means bringing new ideas to the table. Effective team players will think about what the team is trying to accomplish and bring those ideas to help the team achieve their goal. They don't just throw an idea out for the sake of an idea.
Communication
Communicate their opinions. Effective team players are not timid when it comes to sharing their opinion. At times, one's opinion could be taken as offensive but effective team players know how to phrase their opinions so as not to draw offense or belittle the opinions of others.
Effective team players are reliable. They have to in order to be an effective team player. On a team, each relies on the other to contribute to the team and do what is expected. There is no room for unreliability and an effective team player knows this.
An effective team player is trustworthy. This kind of goes along with being reliable. Each member of the team should be able to trust the other members of the team in order to accomplish the team's mission.
Sharing
An effective team player will share knowledge. It has been said that knowledge is power but an effective team player will share that “power” so that it enables others on the team to succeed.
Accepting criticism
A key attribute of an effective team player is that they can accept constructive criticism. A team player does not take it personal if another team player offers this sort of criticism.
An effective team player has a willingness to work with all kinds of people. In the workplace today, there is no room for any less than this standard as there are folks from all backgrounds in a typical team.
Flexiblibilty
Flexibility is an admirable characteristic of an effective team player. On any team, there are going to be times when things get tough and sacrifices have to be made. A team player will be flexible during those times.
Being a team player has the payback of seeing your team achieve the mission it was assigned. And, with a successful team, it could be that all get a raise because of your efforts to be a team player.
