Colman Collins is the author of HOW TO SUCCEED IN YOUR FIRST JOB. Colman wrote this book to help recently qualified graduates to navigate their way successfully from the world of college to the world of work. The book is based on his forty years experience, initially as a HR Director withtwo blue chip multinationals including Nortel Networks here in Galway and more recently as the owner and CEO of Collins McNicholas Recruitment & HR Services Group, which also has an office in Galway.
This book is available in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Kenny’s Bookshop, University College Galway Bookshop and online through buythebook.ie and amazon.
This is the third article in a series of eight based on Colman’s book.
This week’s topic is: Be seen as a team player
Decide to be seen as a team player from day one. Even if you haven’t been a team player in college make an effort to be seen in this light at the start of your working life. Life at work can be difficult from time to time but it is much more difficult for people who don’t fully integrate into a company. A person who takes a solitary approach runs the risk of being seen as a loner, a nerd or worse still a snob. Being seen as a team player is a much sought-after quality in employees and I would strongly encourage to make an effort to be seen in this light even if it doesn’t come naturally to you. As well as being pragmatic to get on well with your fellow employees it also makes work much more enjoyable and fulfilling if you are part of a team.
Implement the team player approach in the company as a whole.
I don’t think it is enough to only try to be seen as a team player within your own department. If you limit yourself in this way you run the risk of defining yourself much too narrowly. Remember companies need to be much more integrated and interconnected nowadays. This means you need to be able to relate as easily with colleagues in other parts of the company as you do to those within your own section. If you limit your team player approach to your own department you can contribute to an ‘us and them’ approach which is a very unenlightened approach for you to adopt and is one that most successful companies try hard to prevent as it is not good for the company or its customers. Also avoid limiting your contact to those in your own age group or to those who share a similar background as this will only serve to unnecessarily limit the range of your contacts within the company.
Being a team player means there is great synergy in a department or in the organisation as a whole.
Such an approach can result in exceptional levels of productivity, quality, innovation and customer service. This is very much as it should be as an effective organisation should always aspire to be more than the sum of its parts.
Share the credit where your work on a project receives positive recognition.
In this type of situation while taking your share of any well deserved recognition you should also give credit generously to others who may have contributed in any way to your success or to the success of a project where you role was more obvious than theirs. Failure to share credit means you run the risk of being seen as selfish, self-centred and not a real team player. This could backfire on you in the future as you may not get the same level of support on a new project because of your perceived lack of respect for your fellow team members.
Acknowledge when you make a mistake that impacts your team or the company as a whole.
NEVER try to cover up your mistake and NEVER try to spread the blame to others who are not culpable. Any failure on your part to be upfront about your errors will be seen negatively by your manager and colleagues. If the errors are serious your failure to admit responsibility may lead to disciplinary action or dismissal in extreme cases.
Being a team player doesn’t exempt you from making tough decisions which may put you in conflict with other team members.
If you discover that a colleague is attempting to cover up an error by trying to blame another team member or by trying to alter some documentation you have to call them out on this and advise them that if they persist you will be obliged to report them. Your approach in this situation should be to consider the needs of the organisation as a whole rather than your relationship with the person who is considering taking an unethical course of action. Remember if you turn a blind eye to this issue and it subsequently comes to light that you knew about what your colleague did it will reflect badly on you and in extreme situations bring your suitability as an employee into question.
