“Teamwork is, at its most basic level, the ability to put aside personal preferences and take into consideration the ideas of others. Teamwork is about working well with others and using that to get a different perspective to help further the goals of the group. Being a team player helps all members of the group to improve and succeed, not just one individual.”
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?
HR Generalist
2) What is your direct supervisor’s official job / position title?
HR Director
3) What industry do you work in?
Public Service (library district)
4) How many years have you been in your current industry and job?
7
5) What are 3 to 5 of your most important skills, specialties, or areas of expertise?
Employee relations, payroll, government regulations
Interviewee Responses
01) Describe (in your own words) what you think ‘teamwork’ means.
Teamwork is, at its most basic level, the ability to put aside personal preferences and take into consideration the ideas of others. Teamwork is about working well with others and using that to get a different perspective to help further the goals of the group. Being a team player helps all members of the group to improve and succeed, not just one individual.
02) Think about a person you feel needs team-building training. How do you think this training would help him/her?
Completing team-building training would not just help the individual, but would help her whole team. All members of a team/group must be able to work together in a cohesive manner or the entire teams performance can suffer. By helping one difficult individual learn how to “work well with others” it also gives them a better opportunity for success in all aspects of their future life, not just the current team/group environment.
03) How do you think teamwork could help a company or business?
If all members of a group work together in a cohesive manner, the goals of the department will have an easier time of being met, thus helping the goals of the company to be met. When teamwork works the way it is supposed to a company will also have happier employees, less things to complain about. The members of the team that work together well, will be happy to continue working together which means that there is less stress on the employees, saving the company in time off paid out.
04) Describe a teamwork / team-building exercise or event you’ve been through at your work, school, or during training.
I recently attended a team building class on how to accept change and how the different people can help the others process the change that happened in the work place. It gave some very good tools about communication, understanding the signs of stress, confusion and worry that come with change and how to help your team mates adjust to these changes. It is helpful to have a connection to a team/group of people in your workplace that you can speak to and feel safe discussing ideas.
05) Explain at least 1 thing you’ve learned from a team-building exercise and how it has helped you.
One of the most important things I learned at a team building training was how to interact with different personality types. Some people prefer if the group has a defined leader, some people prefer that the group is all on an equal field. Being able to discern the different types gives the entire group the ability to take different ideas into account and not put off someones importance in the team because they may feel slighted.
06) Think back to a team-building exercise you did NOT enjoy. What do you feel could have been improved and why?
I hate the trust team building exercises. I am perfectly happy to work in a group of people, but I do not want to have to depend on that person to catch me as I fall backwards, or to hold the rope as I climb a rock wall. I much prefer the interactions aspect of the exercises, as opposed to the trust aspect. However, that is just my personal preference, and does not mean it is wrong or right.
07) Describe what you like most about team-building efforts and training.
My favorite part of team building efforts is usually the opportunity to work with and meet people that I do not have daily associations with. I enjoying seeing the different types of people and the different perspectives that they bring to the efforts. It also means that when I am in the office, walking around the building I can greet those people by name, and this helps with a feeling of connection to the larger group.
08) What are a few things you like least about team-building efforts and why?
Sometimes teambuilding efforts can seem or feel forced. There are times when taking a group of people, who do not work well together, to a team building exercise does not have the desired outcome. When the exercises seem forced, there will not be a productive effort between the team members to work well together. Those types of situations call for more 1 on 1 or 1 on 2 team building trainings, as opposed to group team building efforts.
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 prefer teambuilding exercised. Physically participating in a team building exercise gets people out of their comfort zones and makes them more vulnerable. When they are more vulnerable, they are usually more willing to accept the assistance or input of other members of the team.
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 step in preparing a team building presentation is a good icebreaker. When a group starts of interacting and laughing together it sets the stage for success with employees absorbing the information to being conveyed. Once that is done, putting people in groups that they do not normally work with, help them to be prepared to utilize the teamwork skills they will learn.
11) In your opinion, what type or personality of person do you think could benefit most from team-building efforts?
Many type A personalities have a hard time with teamwork. They have definite opinions and do not convey ideas and thoughts in a manner that is gentle enough for some of the other personality types. That is not to say that all or only Type A personalities need training, only that this is a group many can benefit from.
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