Team Work

“Must be a team player”; “must be willing to be part of a team” – if you look at any current job openings listed in the employment section, you will see something like these statements listed in the job qualifications. What does it take to make a team? To make a team player?

What does the word ‘team’ mean? “Merriam-Webster states “work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole”. It has been said in order to have an effective team, that it should have no more than say 10 people in that department. But what does it mean to a company in this day and age?

A team player means that someone well, plays as part of team. Its not for the glory of the individual, but the organization as a whole. So, if you like to work independently, chances are you are not a good team player. Same goes if you tend to be competitive.

A team player will take suggestions from co-workers, works well with others; can you effectively manage your emotions while dealing with people? Here are a few key words that weigh heavily in the ‘team player’ scenario:

-compromise

-flexibility

-body language

Most organizations want the best of worlds, someone that is a ‘self starter’ and works well with little supervision as well as someone who is a team player and wants to work with a group of others to accomplish a specific goal for the benefit of the department or the company as a whole. So if you are one of these types of people, chances are, you will have no problems fitting into any type of company.