SIU PRSSA Southern Illinois University Public Relations Student Society of America
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You can’t be successful in the workplace if you don’t know how to be a good team member. A good team member has a higher chance of being noticed by their boss and being recognized as an extraordinary employee.
Craig Engstrom, Director of the Communications Studies undergraduate program at Southern Illinois University, and Associate Professor with an Ph.D. says, “The whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. When you are in a team, you have diversity, multiple viewpoints, and more knowledge, skills, and abilities. The result of this is often better outcomes. Also, we’re social animals.”
Being a valuable team member can open many opportunities. This can lead to you being invited to use your strengths in another team setting.
Joshua Houston, a Senior Lecturer says, “It is important to be a good team member because this is a requirement for success in the workplace and personal career advancement. Just as importantly, for me, is the fact that working in a group is an opportunity to help others and show off your best, most empathic qualities.”
Being a great team member is not easy but is a very important skill. This article will give you three tips to become a great team member.
Commitment to The Team
When everyone is committed, work will get done faster and with better results. Show commitment by offering support, focusing on collaboration, and by being reliable and responsible.
When you offer support to the others in the team, the team will be more productive. Ask if anyone is of need of help, or if you yourself needs help.
Groups have better results when everyone focuses on collaboration. This happens because when you ask how you can help; you are building goodwill with your team. It is very important to be reliable and responsible because it shows you are trustworthy and committed.
“I work in teams all the time. I am reliable, honest, and reflexive. I do what I say I am going to do when I say I am going to do it. I am honest with my team when I can’t do something, don’t want to do something, or don’t have the knowledge and skills to do something. Reliability and honesty are two very important traits to me” says Engstrom.
Communicate Well
You need to communicate well when working in groups. You have to listen, offer feedback/help, and get to know your coworkers.
You need to listen to your coworkers. Put that phone away and pay attention. Watch others nonverbal cues, and make sure you are making sure your body language is right for the situation.
When you offer feedback and help you show good communication skills, and that you are listening and want to communicate your thoughts.
Getting to know your coworkers is important because you are getting to know who they are. This allows you to have more to talk about. This informs you on the best ways to communicate with the team.
Stay Positive
Positivity is great because it allows creativity and innovation. Having many breaks, being intrinsically motivated, and being reflexive helps people stay positive.
When one has many breaks, their performance and mental health increases. Behavior that is driven from one’s internal reward is called intrinsic motivation. This keeps people motivated which increases positivity in the workplace.
“Reflexive means thinking about how you can improve. I am always self-evaluating and thinking of ways I could do things differently–whether it is listening better to teammates or technical execution of ideas. I think being reflexive helps one achieve continuous improvement. Those without a little self-doubt are usually terrible team members and are perpetrators of the Dunning-Kruger Effect” says Engstrom.
Amara Pope, who is pursuing her PhD in Media Studies at Western University (n.d.), says that research shows that employees who are positive are 12% more productive.
In many professional fields being a great and collaborative team member is crucial to success. Especially in Public Relations, working in teams is a must.
“In every industry teams are important, but especially in creative industries like PR. When we share, talk, and collaborate, it stimulates our creativity and increases the chances of a unique solution to a problem–and PR cases and campaigns are just a problem. A client needs something, the team satisfies that need. What is more, when you have the support of the team, you’re willing to take more risks. Moderate risk is important to creative success” says Engstrom.
“Public Relations is a team sport. Even writing assignments often require collaboration. Professional communicators work with others to ensure that our approach is comprehensive,” says Houston.
It is so important to be a good team member. It demonstrates that you can be depended upon. Great team players will achieve better work with faster results. Be a good team member and become successful.
