Teamwork Skills

Working as part of a team can be fun and challenging. Like any skill, it takes practice. Teamwoork is a skill you will use in all aspects of your personal life as well as your work life.

The workplace today relies very heavily on teams of workers to get jobs done. There are design teams, surgical teams, sales teams, and investment teams. In each tame the members must work together to reach a common goal.

Each person on a team has something unique to contribute. To design and build a house, there must be people who know kitchen design, electrical work, plumbing, landscaping, etc. Each contributes to making a house functional and attractive. Besides providing a variety of skills, a team that works really well together can accomplish more than each of the members could on his or her own.

Team Roles
Typically a team will have three or more members. Initially, the role you play on the team might fall into one of the following categories.

Team Roles and Functions

Team Role	Primary Function
Leader	Keep members focused on the team's goal, Make sure everyone understands his or her job, Watch the timeline, Set a good example.
Contributor	Help others stay on task, Support other team members, Ask questions, Complete tasks, Evaluate outcomes.
Encourager	Listen, Share ideas, Encourage everyone to participate.

Teams commonly go through four stages before they function successfully. The first two stages are usually awkward and can produce conflict that team members must resolve until they get to know each other and see how they fit within the team.

Team Working Stages

Stage	Tasks	Relationships
1	Set specific goals. Decide what to do and when, Decide who will do what, Decide who will lead or if leadership will be shared	Get to know each other, See where members fit within the team, Share enthusiasm, Encourage shared participation
2	Stay focused on goals, Make decisions, Develop processes for carrying out team plans	Recognize and accept differences, Develop ways to behave that are acceptable to all, Resolve basic conflicts and build trust Form a team image.
3	May use individual ways of getting own parts done, Follow planned process for making all of the parts work together.	Make team goals as important as individual goals, Cooperate and get along well, but could function better, Support, encourage, and guide each other.
4	Achieve high levels of productivity, Work independently, Take initiative, Focus primarily on getting work done.	Know how to work together, Have achieved a high level of trust, Contribute equally, Resolve conflicts and make decisions quickly, Reach a level of win-win cooperation.

Modified: 2/10/05