Working in a Group: Getting Along to Get More Done

No matter what your working situation is like one thing is for sure: you need to be able to work well with others in order to be really productive. Most of us fail to consider just how easy it is build great relationships and build a cooperative team.

In order to avoid tension, there are a number of things that you can do to foster a great team.

1. Show respect for the other team members both with the way you act and the way you speak. By treating the other people you work with in a respectful way, you will show them that you value them. When all of the members of a group feel valued and respected, there are less power struggles and everyone is more willing to work together.
2. Make and maintain eye contact when you’re speaking with someone. Eye contact builds relationships. It shows that you respect the person you are talking with, that you respect yourself and that you are comfortable standing behind the things that you’re talking about. By maintaining good eye contact you will be working towards better communication and will show that you are sincere.
3. Focus on finding practical solutions to the challenges that come up along the way. Things are going to go wrong during the process; someone might call out sick or a team member might forget an important step. Rather than placing blame and getting angry your team needs to work together to find a way to overcome the obstacle. By recognizing that problems are going to come up, you can all work together to get past them without placing blame and making demands.
4. Keep an open mind. You aren’t always going to be right. Neither is anyone else on your team. By remaining open to suggestions you might find better ways of getting from where your team is to where your team ought to be.
5. Suspend judgment. When something does go wrong, don’t rush to blame someone for the problem. Instead, take the time and try to understand what happened. That way, your team can come together to find solutions rather than focusing on the element that went wrong.
6. Speak with a calm and even tone. Try to keep your emotions out of your conversations. Avoid sarcasm and verbal attacks as coping mechanisms. By staying level, your group will communicate more effectively, and that means that you’ll get more done.
7. Maintain personal space. Sometimes when you are working in a group you’ll find that you have limited space. You’ll all be crowded around a table. Each person has their own needs for space and it’s important that these needs are respected. Getting too close makes some people uncomfortable and discomfort affects the ability for the team to work together.
8. When you’re gesturing, make sure that you maintain a neutral stance. When you point at someone, it is belittling and will make him or her defensive. Avoid using any gestures that make people uncomfortable. This is particularly important when you are working in a group that has members of different cultural heritages as many gestures have different meaning to different people.
9. Be consistent in what you say and what you do. If you are not consistent and you send mixed messages, you will interfere with the team’s ability to make progress.
10. Be fair. Make it a point to treat everyone fairly and equally. Playing favorites or treating anyone in the group differently creates tension. Tension causes conflict. Conflict gets in the way of getting things done.
11. Listen actively. When someone in the group is talking, make sure that you pay attention to what they are saying. Show interest and answer or ask questions as necessary. Communication is the key to getting things done in the most effective way possible.
12. Be flexible. As time goes on while you’re working on a project, there will be differences of opinion. In the worst possible case, the project might be cast aside altogether. Don’t get so caught up in one role or another that you can’t take on new responsibilities if necessary.
13. Let someone vent if they need to but only for a limited amount of time. When frustrations arise, it’s best to let people get them out rather than keeping them bottled up and having them develop into something much bigger. However, it is important, when someone is venting, that you do not interrupt or allow the situation that has upset them to spread throughout the entire group. If something more needs to be done, acknowledge and address it so that it does not get out of hand.
14. Focus on the positive. When you find that you’re behind on a deadline or that someone unexpectedly cannot attend a meeting, don’t dwell on it – that will only get you further off track. Keep yourself focused on the things that are going right and you’ll be better able to stay focused on your goal.
15. Encourage the people on your team to collaborate. Sometimes a project is best done when two people are working together to get it done. If a couple of the members of your team have an idea that will enable success, encourage them to work together. Likewise, if you are ahead of schedule for finishing your task and someone else is behind, help them out. It will work to everyone’s advantage.
16. Follow through when you make commitments. If you promise to read over the report someone has written make sure that you read the report. Foster an environment within the team that is based on trust and cooperation.
17. When a problem comes up along the way, focus on the behaviors that are causing the problem. It’s important to keep the personal relationships in tact, and therefore it is important to not target the person exhibiting the behavior. Try to get to the root of the problem and you will be better able to solve it rather than to create more tension.
18. Be honest. Nothing undermines a group faster than dishonesty.
19. Treat everyone as an individual. Every person on your team – though you are all working together – still ought to be respected as his or her own self. Each person brings something to the team that the other members don’t and it’s important to recognize that each person does have needs outside of the project.
20. Treat everyone on the team with respect. Just as each person has needs outside of the project each person has a need to be respected. Don’t belittle the other members of your team. Don’t ask people to share more about their lives than they are comfortable sharing. Likewise, ask before you borrow something belonging to your team members.

When everyone on the team comes together, communicates well and respects the needs of the other members, you will find that more is accomplished than you had previously thought possible.