Teamwork

NACE ICONCareer Readienss Competency - Teamwork

 

Build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals, while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilities.

SAMPLE BEHAVIORS

  • Listen carefully to others, taking time to understand and ask appropriate questions without interrupting.
  • Effectively manage conflict, interact with and respect diverse personalities, and meet ambiguity with resilience.
  • Be accountable for individual and team responsibilities and deliverables.
  • Employ personal strengths, knowledge, and talents to complement those of others.
  • Exercise the ability to compromise and be agile.
  • Collaborate with others to achieve common goals.
  • Build strong, positive working relationships with supervisor and team members/coworkers.
Engage in activities to develop your Teamwork Skills
  • Online Forums
  • Peer Reviews
  • Student Panels
  • Think-Pair-Share
  • Group Projects & Activities
  • Laboratory Work
  • Field Teamwork
  • Attendance & Participation

Examples of teamwork skills

Teamwork skills are made up of many other soft skills you can work to develop over time. Here are just a few examples of qualities that can help you improve your teamwork skills:

Communication

The ability to communicate in a clear, efficient way is a critical teamwork skill. When working with others, it is important that you share relevant thoughts, ideas and key information. There are many different types of communication skills including both verbal and nonverbal.

Responsibility

Within the dynamic of teamwork, it is important that the parties involved both understand the work they are responsible for and make the effort to complete said tasks on time and up to the expected standard. With the entire team functioning properly by taking responsibility for their own work, they can work together towards a common goal.

Honesty

Practicing honesty and transparency at work might mean working through a disagreement, explaining that you were not able to complete a certain task on time or sharing difficult updates. Without transparency, it can be difficult for a team to develop trust and therefore work together efficiently.

Active listening

Much like communication, active listening skills can help a team to understand and trust each other. Active listening is the act of making an effort to focus intently on one person as they share their ideas, thoughts or feelings. You might also ask follow-up questions to dig deeper into what they are communicating.

Empathy

Having empathy for your teammates can allow you to better understand their motives and feelings. Taking the time to listen and understand how others think and work can help you to communicate with them in the right ways.

Collaboration

Teamwork exists so that a group of individuals with a diverse set of skills and talents can work together towards a common goal. It is crucial to work with other teammates to share ideas, improve each other’s work and help one another to form a good team.

Awareness

In teamwork, it is important that you hone your ability to be aware of the team dynamic at all times. For example, if one person is dominating the conversation or does not allow others to share ideas, it is important that balance is restored so each teammate to contribute evenly. Alternatively, if one person tends to be more shy or hesitant to share ideas, it is important to create space so that all teammates feel comfortable to contribute their unique skills and abilities.

Courtesy of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, and Indeed.com