The word team
player simply put refers to someone who is a member of a team. A team is made
up of a group of people coming together to achieve a common goal. The
importance of teamwork cannot be overemphasized as all we do in life requires
teamwork for them to work out the way we want them to. E.g. Family life,
relationships, marriage, our work even in the church.
The
following are essential qualities needed to be acquired or possessed by a team
player in any team that hopes to achieve its common goal.
PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS
BEING COMMITTED
BEING SUPPORTIVE AND RESPECTIVE
BEING FLEXIBLE
BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER
BEING OPEN TO PEOPLE AND BE WILLING
TO HELP
BE RELIABLE
HAVE GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS
BEING CO-OPERATIVE
BE READY TO ALWAYS PARTICIPATE
ACTIVELY IN YOUR TEAM
BE DEDICATED
BE GOAL ORIENTED
ALWAYS KEEPING TO TIME
EXHIBITING A HIGH LEVEL OF DISCIPLINE
1) PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS
In other for you to be a good team player, you need to be able to develop the ability to solve any type of problem. Must master the act of problem solving as this will be needed for teamwork.
2) BEING COMMITTED
The main essence of having different teams is to bring together a group of people (team members) that are all focused on solving a particular problem or providing useful suggestions on how to resolve major issues affecting them or their immediate environment, either at work or other places. To achieve success as a team, there is need to have a group of people working together who are dedicated to a particular course no matter what happens.
3) BEING SUPPORTIVE AND RESPECTFUL
Team players are meant to be able to have each other’s backs no matter what happens. Everybody in the team is expected to have mutual respect for one another. Recognizing and appreciating their individual strengths, weaknesses and being able to work together using these strengths to achieve a common goal as a team.
4) BEING FLEXIBLE
A team player is not meant to be stereotyped in thinking, if you can’t change that then you most likely will not be able to work together with other people as a team. In the light of this, the need to be flexibility is important in other to be able to work together and arrive at achieving a common goal as a team. Flexibility simply put has to do with your being able to adapt to change in the way you think, view problems and provide solutions to resolving a problem or achieving a common goal.
5) BEING AN ACTIVE LISTENER
Every team player needs to have active listening skills. This is a very important part of communication as it will not only determine how well you will be able to share your ideas and communicate with other members of the team but will also be useful to the team in helping to achieve its goals.
6) BEING OPEN TO PEOPLE AND WILLING TO HELP
In any team, there must not be any element of secrecy, all members of the team are meant to be open and share all their ideas openly. A team player should be ready to entertain all ideas (new ideas) no matter how senseless or unreasonable and as much as possible try to make meaning from all those ideas.
7) BE RELIABLE
Every member of the team must be trustworthy, everybody should be able to trust themselves and their abilities to work together to achieve common goal.
8) HAVE GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS
The need to be able to properly express yourself or pass your
suggestions, ideas or contributions to other member of your team is very important and it is one of the major factors that can affect the performance of any team. Good communication entails, being able to pass your message across to other team members in clear and simple terms thereby making it possible for the common goal of the team to be met and achieved. It also has to do with being able to carry other team members along and also your ability to properly understand their messages, ideas, suggestions and contributions. The absence of good communication in any team leads to conflicts, serious setbacks and inability to be able to achieve that common goal as a team.
9) BEING CO-OPERATIVE
Being able to work hand in hand with other team members is key to being a good team player. Each member of the team must be united and be able to collectively perform all the tasks required in order to achieve the goals of the team.
10) BE READY TO ALWAYS PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY IN YOUR TEAM
This involves being ready to contribute your time, energy and even playing your own part in the team. You have to at any point in time, to make important contribution and decisions together with other team members in other to achieve that common goal.
11) BE DEDICATED
A team player is someone that naturally has the zeal to do all it takes to enable him achieve a particular goal. In a team, team players need to have that required zeal, staying power and persistence to be able to arrive at that collective goal.
12) BE GOAL ORIENTED
As a team player, you always be goal oriented, you have to at every point in time be able to see the big picture even from the beginning. This majorly involves you seeing the goal to be achieved and being able to do all it will take or require together with other members of the team to achieve that goal which could involve serious contribution of time and energy.
13) ALWAYS KEEP TO TIME
Team players are good time managers, this is because they are meant to plan their time in a way that the team will be able to achieve and meet major deadlines within a particular period of time. This has to do with being able to properly put your time to good use, being able to achieve all you set out to achieve within a particular time frame and because team players are goal oriented, they are always good time managers.
14) EXHIBIT A HIGH LEVEL OF DISCIPLINE
Being able to basically adhere strictly to the rules guiding the behavior of the team, its members and activities. A team player must be able to restrain from any activity that will undermine the efforts of the team to meeting its common goal.
