How to be an effective team player

Renuka Vembu finds out the success mantra of working in a team amidst people from different backgrounds and cultures, values and principles, mindsets and ideas.

An ideal team comprises well knowledged members, skilled individuals and top performers possessing the required technical know-how and functional expertise. They represent a competent workforce that follows the structural path to achieve well-designed organizational goals and objectives. But something is lacking and the team looks disjointed; something as crucial as inter-personal skills. What is the success mantra behind working in a team amidst people from different backgrounds and cultures, values and principles, mindsets and ideas? So who decides when is the appropriate time to come to a consensus among pools of resourceful inputs, or call it too much of a creative difference? Who draws a line between the battle of mind and ego versus team interests and viable options? Here comes the role of a team member who reflects the character of being an effective team player.

Key attributes

Being an intrinsic part of a performing team not only boosts personal career aspirations, but is delicately linked with the growth of the organization and vice-versa. What will then be the prescribed basic characteristics expected, or rather needed of a good team player? Let us not only read, but understand, analyze and try to implement a few of the required essential qualities. A desired team member, from the junior-most level to people in the top management—is one who not only speaks, but also listens attentively; who not only listens, but also understands; who not only understands, but also interprets it correctly. To put it succinctly—communication and co-ordination are the two central attributes.

Looking beyond yourself

Let us reflect on a simple and the most common example which every individual is confronted with at some stage or the other: suggestions, ideas and view-points are invited for implementing a certain project or for solving an issue in hand. After days of brain-storming and hours of discussions, when your idea is not taken forward, there is an immediate feeling of disappointment, dejection and betrayal. It is important here to bear in mind that your idea being rejected has got nothing to do with you as an individual. And more importantly, a lesson to learn—your ideas do not have to be interesting, but they need to be pragmatic.

Creative conflict

Certain amount of creative conflict within a team is essential to bring out the finest creative output and to churn out a feasible approach, but compromising and arriving at a consensus are equally important. Too long a passage of impasse, overindulgence of negative energy and drastically varied styles of functioning derail the task. Manoj Mandavgane, Head HR and Global Resourcing, 3i Infotech says, “It is important to understand that the sum total of what can be achieved as a team is far greater than what can be done given the same number of individuals working independently. From this arises one of the essential tenets of a team i.e. interdependence between team members. It naturally follows that an individual should be open to constructive feedback and suggestions and should accordingly navigate towards achieving the company’s goals by constantly developing skills and knowledge so as to be an effective, contributing member of the group.”

Mandavgane asserts that most importantly a good team member should be excellent in peoples’ skills and should be able to gain acceptance and respectability for the team to function as a cohesive unit.

Finding the middle ground and going with the best available option, which may not always be yours, means putting the team and company objectives ahead of personal agendas and complementing, appreciating and respecting colleagues and sub-ordinates. This also paves way for exploiting the unique skills in every individual and encouraging each other for healthy competition, which is essential to survive and thrive in today’s dynamic working space. To sum it up, working together as a team does not mean functioning without creative or personal differences, but that of not letting individual differences overtake the team or corporate priorities.

Significance of soft skills

Fulfilling the organizational goals facilitate personal growth. Technical and functional expertise and leadership qualities need to go hand-in-hand with the much needed soft skills. You often need not be correct in making your point, but you have to be diplomatic and subtle. Your attitude reveals your personality. Instead of commanding or preaching, inspire by just leading the way. Taking additional responsibilities and initiatives, showing interest in extra-curricular activities and being pro-active inspires your entire team to look up to you and sets up a benchmark of desired behavior. Neelakshi Radhakrishnan, Assistant Vice-president, Evolv, says, “Soft skills hold more essence in the IT sector because of their prime focus on high-end technical data which is often difficult to comprehend. The mounting corporate pressure to perform and to adhere to deadlines has led to the absence of the much needed soft skills. With stiffening competition in a robust environment, senior managers confront situations which demand that their company be presented in an enhanced manner to clients abroad, and soft skills help this task by polishing and providing the finishing touch to an individual’s personality.”

Displaying flexibility, multi-tasking and cross-skills training is another key to be a team player, and goes a long way in helping a cross-functional and multi-process team. Rational thinking and objective approach, understanding and analyzing the team requirements, measuring the available resources and working towards a common goal is imperative in the functioning of the business. Sharing of responsibilities and caring for team members sends out a positive signal to the entire team and boosts their spirit. Discipline and selfless dedication stimulates a high morale within the team.

The concept of being a good team player is a skill that will come in handy in every walk of life. The situations may practically exist everywhere—from playing in the sports field to dealing with clients and decision-making in the corporate boardroom to handling your own family members and meeting unforeseen exigencies. Glenn Parker in his book ‘What Makes a Good Team Player’ categorizes a fine team player into four slots—the contributor, the collaborator, the communicator and the challenger. Synthesizing and synergizing in all these areas and working towards a common mission are fundamental to not only collect hefty pay packages, but also for personal harmony and job satisfaction.

Nowadays, all companies place high importance on individual behavior pattern and team spirit rather than on aptitude tests and functional proficiency. Interviews during the recruitment phase are carried out with a view to examine the behavioral pattern and personality traits of an individual. Psychometric tests and group discussions are all an exercise to gauge the individual response or action in a given specified set up.

Management games give a practical view of human nature and conduct when encountered with real life-like situations. It focuses on an individual’s level of understanding of what is required of him/her and his/her way of executing it within the given framework. People management has taken precedence across all verticals and in all fields, and to leverage utmost benefits, one has to master the art of being a good team player. There are institutes that assist individuals vying for a place in the corporate world, with all the pre-requisites of applying the rules of the game that will help them get placed in a higher pedestal than their peers. Companies are constantly on the look-out for people who blend with the organization’s cultural fit. It is therefore obligatory for people to imbibe a more humanistic approach at their workplace to create an environment of well-being.