Getting Your TeamMates On Your Side
One of the most important engagement benchmark for many companies is the ability to work as a team player. Yet, so many individuals lack this ability with others.
“Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat people – your family, friends, coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way.”
The ladder to success is our relationship with people but in this case, our coworkers. In a company, if just one person is lame or deficient, it can go a long way in ruining the morale and zeal of the department where the person works. When a department fails to work collectively, then they are bound to successfully swim in the pool of failure as the team that works collectively usually has the most success. When a work is being done collectively, everyone benefits.
Deborah Shane, a career and professional branding and social media marketing strategist, also said that “a bad workplace relationship creates negative energy which can affect everyone on the team, as well as customers or clients. It can also cause employee turnover which interrupts building and creating a strong, unified team.” Finally , she says, “conflict fosters cliques and factions within a team that always works against it.”
In getting your teammates on your side for collective success, below are a few tips to achieve that.
1. PRIORITIZE TEAMWORK
This starts with performance expectations when an individual joins a company. Team work should be in the list of what you expect an employed individual and the role they are expected to play at the beginning of their engagement or better still, make it one of your evaluation criteria for rewards.When something of that nature is put in place, all workers will be forced to work better as a team.
2. BE AN INTERLINK BETWEEN WORKERS
Try to know someone in another company who will be able to help with a problem your coworker is facing. Doing this shows off that you have an impressive network—but also that you’re willing to share it in order to help others.
3. AVOID THE USE OF ‘I’
Over the ages, studies have shown that people often use the word ‘I’ more frequently to people they feel are inferior to them. Try not to frequently make use of the word ‘I’ so as not to pass the wrong message across to your coworkers. Rather, make use of the word ‘we’ to really show your coworkers that you are carrying them along else, the people you’re speaking with will view you as more powerful without ever knowing why.
4. APPRECIATE GREAT TEAMWORK
By taking the time to stop and appreciate who you are and what you’ve achieved – and perhaps learned through a few mistakes, stumbles and losses – you actually can enhance everything about you.
Self-acknowledgment and appreciation are what give you the insights and awareness to move forward toward higher goals and accomplishments -Jack Canfield.
When you appreciate and commend team work, it triggers the bond and enthusiasm of team work. It charges your coworkers to do more and by so doing, you are winning them to your side.
5. ENDORSE YOUR COWORKERS
To endorse your coworkers is to understand their goals and do what’s in your power to help them achieve them. When you fail to see this part, your coworkers productivity tends to decrease overtime. But when you identify this part, it is your duty to fix the gap either by reducing the complexity of the work or through your strong team work, build up the sophistication of your coworkers.
6. MASTER YOUR COWORKERS’ WORKING PREFERENCES AND FOLLOW THEM UP
Have a table talk with the people you work with most about how they work best, and find ways to help them achieve that. Maybe one of your coworkers prefers conversations to emails and will appreciate you coming over to his/her desk rather than sending a lengthy message. If this can be done, your workers sees the good in you and in no time even unconsciously to them, you are winning them and you are as well strengthening team work among you and your coworkers.
7. FOLLOW THE RULES OF RECIPROCITY
Friendship- my definition- is built on two things; Respect and trust. Both elements have to be there. And it has to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don’t have trust, the friendship will crumble -Stieg Larsson.
Do exactly the way you want your coworkers to do. Respect they say, is reciprocal. When optimum respect is given to your coworkers, definitely, you will also earn your respect. Also, “If you happily help people first, others automatically will feel a sense of obligation to return the favor,” Weisman says.
8. WORK TIRELESSLY ON YOUR SOFT SKILLS
First of all, what are soft skills? They are personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people. Examples of such are communication skills, decision making, emotional intelligence, leadership skills, adaptability, creativity and problem solving skills. As an individual, you need to possess all these skills before you can get your coworkers on your side.
Finally, Teamwork is often a crucial part of a business as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, more efficiently and effectively trying their best in any circumstance. Teamwork means that people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback.
Do you have any thoughts on getting your teammates on your side? Pls leave your comments in the comment section below
This is an eye -opener