“Teamwork is the ability to function well in a team-oriented environment. It requires social and communication skills, and also an ability to adapt to changing situations as dictated by the developments of the team. Good teamwork will create more productivity and value than all the team members working individually.”
This interview is reaching out to a broad audience to help me (and you!) get a better understanding of just what people actually think about teamwork and how it impact their lives. I hope you enjoy it and maybe gain an insight or two.
Interviewee Profile
1) What is your official job / position title?
Systems Engineer
2) What is your direct supervisor’s official job / position title?
Producer
3) What industry do you work in?
Software
4) How many years have you been in your current industry and job?
4
5) What are 3 to 5 of your most important skills, specialties, or areas of expertise?
Intelligence, coding, planning
Interviewee Responses
01) Describe (in your own words) what you think ‘teamwork’ means.
Teamwork is the ability to function well in a team-oriented environment. It requires social and communication skills, and also an ability to adapt to changing situations as dictated by the developments of the team. Good teamwork will create more productivity and value than all the team members working individually.
02) Think about a person you feel needs team-building training. How do you think this training would help him/her?
This training would help him by getting him adapted to a teamwork-oriented approach to software development. Software is a field where it’s possible to function solo, so there are people who are good at the technical aspects of the work but don’t have any real teamwork experience. Gaining this experience would allow this person to integrate into a team effectively and result in greater productivity overall.
03) How do you think teamwork could help a company or business?
Teamwork helps a business by creating more productivity than the individual team members can manage on their own in isolation. Teamwork is also a way to break down projects into more manageable chunks that can be worked on in parallel. Finally teamwork creates a redundancy that allows for a more robust work architecture.
04) Describe a teamwork / team-building exercise or event you’ve been through at your work, school, or during training.
The classic team building exercise is the backwards fall. You stand, with your eyes closed, and fall backwards. You have to trust in the others entirely to keep you from smashing your head against the ground.
05) Explain at least 1 thing you’ve learned from a team-building exercise and how it has helped you.
Team building exercises have taught me how to trust in my teammates’ abilities. I don’t have to always looking over their shoulders, or planning contingencies in case they fail. I can just get my part of the project done without worrying that they won’t get their part done.
06) Think back to a team-building exercise you did NOT enjoy. What do you feel could have been improved and why?
I did not enjoy the fall, the exercise I just described above. It feels contrived and artificial. It also has nothing to do with the industry I’m working in. I honestly don’t know how it could be improved though.
07) Describe what you like most about team-building efforts and training.
I like the fact that team-building efforts and training gets me out of the daily grind. Even though it’s still work, it’s an opportunity to kick back and do something different for a bit. Even this sort of change of pace can help keep up morale.
08) What are a few things you like least about team-building efforts and why?
I’m not actually a very team-oriented type of person. I can function effectively in a team, but I don’t go out of my way to do it. I just don’t enjoy team-building efforts in general because for the most part I feel that they’re really something management imposes on us in order to feel good about themselves.
09) When learning about team-building, would you rather read about it, listen to a trainer, watch training videos, or physically participate in an event? Describe why you feel that way.
I would rather listen to a trainer. That way I can get the time off during work without having to actually participate in anything. I can be multitasking on my iPhone while the trainer talks.
10) Pretend you are asked to give a quick team-building presentation at work. What are your first couple of steps to get prepared?
The first couple steps are to google and figure out exactly what I need to talk about in such a presentation. I need to find out key topics and see if I can find already-existing powerpoint presentations to take advantage of. I also need to look for recommended exercises.
11) In your opinion, what type or personality of person do you think could benefit most from team-building efforts?
Everyone can benefit from team-building efforts to some degree. Some people will respond better to it than others. Ultimately though, I don’t think they’re tremendously helpful to actual teamwork. It’s more useful to develop that skill while actually engaged on the job.
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