Have you worked for any team where every team player pitches in and all the team players work together in perfect harmony? Team work plays such an important role in completing projects that it’s worth refining and developing the skills. These skills will subsequently help you make invaluable contributions to your team and work environment.

Let’s use a football team as an example, in football all players are working together to achieve a goal in which a single player who is acting alone cannot achieve, not even if you’re a Messi! In football, you might not the best goal scorer but perhaps you are great at moving the ball forward. In this light, your personal responsibility becomes to consistently pass that ball to the team player known for scoring, so as to increase your team’s chances of scoring and winning. In the team, every player plays a different role and has a different responsibility according to his or her skills. A team player’s strength may be to inspire others to make great things happen.

In any sport, we hear the phrase “good team player” a lot. But in the business context what does it really mean? What do team leaders want from their team players, and how can you make a significant contribution to your team? In this article, I am going to share with you very important tips on how to be a great team player.

The Importance of Being a Team Player

A team is created for several purposes and teams provide opportunities to solve problems using your skills. You can take advantage of a team’s creativity and collective energy; like the concept of division of labour, a team is able to accomplish much more in a shorter period of time. Thus, if you have the ability to work very well with your team, you invariably have the opportunity to complete tasks in a short term which could boost your experience and have a great impact on your career.

Use Your Strengths

What are you good at? Do you know what you are great at? Perhaps you are incredibly organised or maybe you have the ability to motivate people, research hard to find information or resolve disagreements. Whatever your strengths, you have something useful to offer. You need to pitch in your area of strengths within your teams and secure a position within those team where you can consistently shine. This will ensure you contribute exceptionally to your team and increase your chances of doing a great job.

Understand your Team Objectives

Sometimes the team may not function efficiently because there is a lack of understating and communication among team members about what the overall objectives are. If you want to be a good team player then it is a must as well as your responsibility to understand the team goals and be clear about what your job on the team is. This will ensure you complete your tasks to the best of your abilities.

Be Reliable

There are lots of people who make promises they are unable to keep – team efforts are ultimately frustrated when one member of the team says one thing and the other member does another; this will inevitably slow the team’s progress. If you want to be a good team player then you need to deliver on what you committed to and at the appropriate time too.

Be a Good Communicator

Be involved and active within the team. If you sit silently while on the other hand someone else discusses an idea with another member of the team that you know won’t work, then you have inevitably participated in damaging the team’s chance of achieving its goal/target. If you have an alternative suggestion or idea on any tasks, this should be confidently shared with your team to facilitate team effectiveness. If you want to stay respectful and positive in your team then you need to communicate with your other team members, whether it’s challenging their thinking or showing them support.