In the past few months working together with my team mates, there were times when things were smooth-sailing and of course, times when disagreements arose. We have come thus far, meeting several submission deadlines along the way, although it was not exactly easy to cope with having other assignments on hand. Every individual has their own schedule and commitments, and hence finding a common time for project meetings can be difficult.
Nevertheless, what I took away from this process that is relevant to the workplace was 2 key values:
1. Communicating one's opinions effectively
2. Being understanding towards each others' schedule and commitments
To be an effective team member, one definitely has to communicate his opinions with the rest of the team. We have to accept the fact that each individual is unique, having various mindsets and opinions with respect to a certain issue. What is therefore important is then for the team member to step out of his comfort zone and voice out his opinions instead of staying silent, so that others would be able to better understand the matter from his perspective. It is only when every individual in the team is willing to be candid and share their thoughts with each another that disagreements could be minimised, as everyone's viewpoints are addressed before coming to a consensus on a certain issue. In this respect, having an open mind and accepting criticisms from our fellow team members is also a crucial factor for our own personal improvement. It is therefore necessary to take such criticisms positively - as constructive feedback rather than simply perceiving it as derogatory remarks.
Also, when working in a team, it is of utmost importance to be understanding towards each others' circumstances and commitments, although it can be annoying at times. This again relates back to the fact that every individual is unique, having prior commitments and coming from various backgrounds. One should not be calculative as a team member, counting the number of times that he/she has accomodated others' schedules. But of course, the other team members would also need to have valid reasons to justify their inability to make it for discussion on certain days. Being calculative on these little details would definitely contribute to unhappiness that could have been easily erased. Ultimately, it is a team effort that builds on being understanding and compromising or accomodating one another.
During the times where it was inconvenient for my team to meet up, we delegated tasks to each individual to be completed before the next meeting. This helped us to set a common goal to work towards to, and things to be done were completed effectively without wasting time. To sum up, what constitutes an effective team is not only having understanding team members, but also supportive ones.
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