If you want to reach the greatest heights in your career, you’re going to want to work on your soft skills. Apart from being skilled at your job, you also need to know how to manage people and get the best out of them. One very important soft skill is teamwork. Most jobs require us to work with other people so you should know how to make the best of it.
At HiCounselor, we know it doesn’t matter if you work from the office or remotely, you’re still expected to communicate effectively with others, hold meetings, give presentations, etc. That’s why we’ve created this list of teamwork skills you should work on to shine at your workplace. If you need help getting your career going in the right direction, contact us to find out how we can help you do just that!
This is one of the most important soft skills because you’ll need it at every stage of your career, from the start to the finish. You have to be able to talk honestly and clearly about goals, deadlines, workload distribution, etc. with others. Keeping an open line of communication with your colleagues can help resolve problems before they blow up. This is a crucial teamwork skill so make sure you focus on it!
Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand a situation from their perspective. When you work in teams, you work with diverse people, some of whom will function in ways that are polar opposite to yours. When we come from a place of understanding and are supportive, it can help others feel more at ease around us. This teamwork skill is important if you want to avoid toxicity.
There are, of course, hierarchies in the workplace and they need to be taken seriously. However, within teams, there should be a sense of fairness and impartiality. Some people are more talkative by nature but they shouldn’t be the only opinions heard. Some people might come from disadvantaged backgrounds but that shouldn’t be held against them at the workplace. This teamwork skill helps foster trust and openness.
This is an obviously integral part of teamwork skills because you need to be able to collaborate with others to get the job done. When you work in a manner that is helpful and respectful of everyone on that team, the end result is greater productivity. Each member should be encouraged to fulfil their obligations to meet deadlines and quality parameters, so you’re working with each other instead of against each other.
When you work with others, problems are bound to arise sooner or later. Unlike handling rifts between family members and friends, we learn to tackle professional disputes much later in life. Luckily, however, you can use many of the same tactics to build this teamwork skill, such as focusing on solutions, choosing win-win options, talking things out, avoiding taking potshots or low blows, etc.
To ensure a team works well together and no one sabotages anyone else, aim to create an open and honest environment. That starts with each individual being encouraged to speak honestly. Even if someone makes a mistake, they should be encouraged to admit to it so it can be fixed as soon as possible rather than throw a wrench in the works later. Transparency is a teamwork skill that can make teams more effective.
This teamwork skill might seem like an easy goal but it can be a tough one to really master. Many of us wait for our turn to speak or can’t focus on someone speaking for more than a couple of minutes, which makes us bad listeners. In the workplace, this can lead to confusion and misunderstandings. We should also learn to listen to perspectives entirely different from ours to try to see if we can learn something new.
While collaboration ensures we can all work together, responsibility is the teamwork skill that ensures each individual in the team does their part. Each team member has to perform their task so the team can reach its collective goal. Everyone is to be held accountable for their end of the deal and should be able to deliver what they were assigned. Each team member should also know exactly what their job entails.
This is another important teamwork skill that goes a long way in ensuring a team works efficiently. Feedback should be as positive as possible, even when someone is being told how to perform a task better or avoid certain mistakes. When feedback is given in negative ways, it can either make people feel defensive or unmotivated. Positive feedback helps improve performance and improve skills.
Work is a big part of our lives and we spend a considerable amount of our time with our colleagues. This means that we often get to know them in more personal ways rather than keeping things strictly professional. Asking your colleagues about their family life, their hobbies, the problems they’re facing and remembering to ask follow up questions at later times helps build a sense of community and togetherness.
These are just some of the teamwork skills that can help your career progress more smoothly if you employ them well! We hope this list helps you figure out how you can improve professionally. If you’d like more help in putting your best professional foot forward, contact HiCounselor and let one of our mentors guide you in the right direction!
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