Be A Better Team Player

Here are some essential people skills you should have to perform as an effective member of a group

A team environment facilitates a brainstorming of ideas as each individual brings to the table different ways of solving a problem, handling an assignment and new approaches to running a project more effectively.

Through this, the team can leverage on the synergy that is created. Each team member has varying strengths and weaknesses but often, the sum of the individual parts outweigh the weaknesses, thus enabling the team to achieve the 1 + 1 = 3 formula that represents synergy.

Having such synergy enables the team to create more impact and propels it to greater success.

So what does it take to be a team player? Here are some essential people skills you need to hone:

Seek to understand

In his bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, leadership guru Stephen Covey says that the key to emphatic communication is to “seek first to understand, then be understood (Habit 5)”. What this means is making the effort to understand the other party before choosing your response.

In the corporate environment, each team member needs to understand the vision, objectives and goals of the team.

Why does this team exist and what does it hope to achieve within the given timeframe? When members understand this, they will know what role to play and what sort of accountability is required of them and precisely what they are able to contribute to the team.

Be cooperative

Everyone wants cooperative team members who are able to meet the team’s objectives and fulfil their individual responsibilities rather than a teammate who merely wants to outshine the rest.

To achieve the team’s goals, you should not only be very competent and demonstrate excellent performance but also have a cooperative spirit.

Be assertive

Assertiveness in this context means to speak one’s mind. It springs from having self-awareness and confidence. It is also means that team members are not necessarily fixated on the need to be politically correct.

With this attitude, the team member can contribute his experiences or challenge the ideas brought up by others for the best interest and effectiveness of the assignment at hand.

Being assertive does not equate to aggressive behaviour such as running people down and screaming at the top of your voice. Assertiveness facilitates open communication — each team member has the right to speak his mind and contribute for the team’s benefit.

Build trust

To have a truly effective team, other members must know that they can count on you. So walk your talk and do what you say you’re going to do. If you say a report will be completed by next Monday, make sure it is delivered as promised. If you agree to take on a task or project, make sure you follow it through.

Be solutions-oriented

All members in a team essentially solve “people problems” — problems with customers, the boss and organisations.

Every team member should be solutions-oriented and when issues arise, which are inevitable, effective team members should not blame others, circumstances or the management. Instead, they should acknowledge it and seek solutions, which can be done through brainstorming with other teammates.

Be tenacious

There is a saying that goes, “There are no half-hearted champions”. Only when a team member is tenacious enough to press on towards the goals and objectives of the team with a “never say die attitude” will the team win.

In any project or assignment, there will always be obstacles, difficulties or setbacks. But are you just going to give up when you face difficulties? If all members are able to push on in the face of adversity, then success will be yours.

Be a mentor

All teams will have some members who are “stronger” than others. And it is the weakest link that will cause a team to fail. So if you have certain strengths that your teammates can benefit from, take the initiative to help the weaker ones by mentoring them.

Keep growing

The world is marked by constant change as technological breakthroughs revolutionise the way we live and work.

To cope with all these changes, you need to have a spirit of growth within you to become a more effective individual. No team can survive with stagnant members as every team needs to change to stay competitive.

Thus, as a team member, you must always seek to improve and challenge yourself, your paradigms, the way you work and the strategies and approaches of your organisation.

Working in a team presents many challenges. But the ability to function as an effective team player is fundamental to success in almost any setting, be it the football pitch or the corporate boardroom.

- Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network

Article by Joshua Yim, founder and CEO of specialist recruitment firms.

Connect with Employees

Employers must strive to make employees feel valued and appreciated, regardless of race, age and designation

WHEN he was commander of the Pennsylvania State Police, Major Benjamin Brooks had an open-door policy at his workplace, but he noticed that no one ever came to see him.

When he tried to find out the reason, he discovered a startling reality. He was told that anyone who came to his door found it always closed.

It was a simply a case of sending out mixed messages. The closed door communicated to the employees that Maj Brooks was busy. In reality, he kept the door closed to ward off the noise in the office area. He immediately saw to it that it remained open thereafter.

What he realised was that though an open-door policy allowed an employee access to the manager, the employee had to be encouraged to utilise this procedure.

“Often, employees are reluctant to take advantage of this service because there’s a discrepancy between what the managers say and what they do,” he says.

“The biggest challenge for employers is to recognise that what worked in the past may no longer be appropriate, and that it’s time to make a significant shift in how business is conducted. Employers in this new millennium require different coping skills in order to effectively connect with the different generations in the workplace.”

Naturally, the employer who is aware of these changes, he says, will be able to compete better in the multicultural, global marketplace.

The next logical question is “how?”

Says Maj Brooks: “The best way for employers to handle these challenges is to recognise the demographic realities of the workplace.”

By recognising the need to be culturally competent and culturally flexible, the employer will not allow superficial differences to impede organisational progress.

It will also make better business sense when the employer realises that the organisation’s success will depend on the full utilisation of all of its available human resources, irrespective of their cultural or territorial differences.

In his career as a human resource (HR) consultant/presenter, Maj Brooks says he has spent a great deal of time on recruitment, retention and talent management, and by employing many of these strategies he was able to realise a greater return on investment in HR.

“This was measured by higher morale, and greater job satisfaction and as a result, realistic alignment of skill and job function. The biggest challenge was finally realising that we were in the people business. It was much easier to retain, develop, and manage our existing HR talents than to constantly hire new employees.”

The best way for organisations to retain and manage valuable human resources is to ensure that positive inclusion is an organisational philosophy, rather than a programme.

The importance of inclusion, says Brooks, is critical in today’s multicultural talent market more than ever before.

“It’s important because it ensures that the organisation will become more competitive in a multicultural marketplace. When employees feel that they’re an integral part of the organisation, morale is high, production increases and there’s a greater return on the organisation’s investment in its people,” he asserts.

But where do employers start? The best way for employers to connect with the employee is to undertake this simple principle: the key to learning is listening.

An employer must be able to bond spiritually or emotionally with the employee. Adds Maj Brooks: “If the employer can connect with the employee, it will be able to impact the employee. If it is able to impact the employee, it will be able to influence the employee. If it is able to influence the employee, it’ll be able to move the employee wherever it desires.”

However, he is quick to clarify that this will only happen when the employer is able to positively connect with the employee through his words, deeds, philosophy and emotion.

Research shows that when an employee is hired, 90 per cent of the emphasis for selection is on his or her technical skills. However, when an employee is fired, in 90 per cent of the cases, it is due to the lack of people skills.

Consequently, employers must become more proficient in the art of emotional intelligence. “This challenge becomes more acute, particularly when bridging the gap between veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X-ers, and Nexters in the multicultural work place,” he explains.

- Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network

Build a Perfect Team

To achieve outstanding results, you must learn to embrace diverse team styles

IN TODAY’S world, there often seems to be a search for perfection in our leaders and managers. We want them to have a big picture focus, be able to manage the details, make sure that practical implementation is completed and counsel team members. And while they are at it, we also want them to be creative.

Unfortunately, such people do not exist, or if they do, they drive people crazy by over-managing or end up so stressed that they leave soon.

The real measure of successful teams is their ability to combine varied skills effectively.

It is the leader’s primary role to make sure this happens.

The Belbin model

How do you take the guessing out of assessing team styles? There are many good systems for doing this but the one that has been around the longest and is globally widespread is the team role model of Dr Meredith Belbin.

Dr Belbin was asked to research why some teams worked well and some did not. This original research at Henley Management College led to five years of extensive work on
team effectiveness.

The outcome was a model that identifies nine types of roles. Although 27 years old, it is still the gold standard of team styles.

What is your “natural” team style?

To be effective in a team, you need to be able to understand your unique style. Most people have two to three dominant styles and there are other styles they are not so good at.

Scrutinise the nine styles outlined and see if you can recognise them in your team:

■ PL: Plant
Very creative; the ideas person

■ RI: Resource investigator
Extrovert; good at making outside contacts and developing ideas

■ ME: Monitor evaluator
Shrewd, prudent and analytical

■ SH: Shaper
Dynamic and challenging

■ CO: Co-ordinator
Respected, mature and good at ensuring that talents are used effectively

■ IMP: Implementer
Practical, loyal and task-oriented 

■ CF: Completer finisher
Meticulous and pays attention to details; also full of nervous energy

■ TW: Team worker
Caring and very person-oriented

■ SP: Specialist
High level of technical skills; loyal to profession as opposed to organisation

All styles are needed

The usefulness of the model lies in the fact that whatever style you are, the team needs you. It is also good to know the styles at which you do not excel.

How many times have leaders given detailed tasks to people who are big-picture oriented, or assigned jobs that required toughness to people who are essentially very harmonious in nature? It does not work.

But understanding a person’s preferred and least preferred styles in a team can enable managers and leaders to get their team performing to its strengths.

A Belbin Team Profile has observer as well as self-perception inputs that enable team members to compare colleagues’ perceptions with their own.

I have been running Belbin workshops for 20 years. While cultures have all styles represented, I have observed that each country seems to have strengths in particular
styles.

Perfect leaders are few and far between, but leaders can build perfect teams by recognising and using their team members’ styles effectively.

– Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network

Article by Philip Merry, founder and CEO of Global Leadership Academy.