“Teamwork means that everyone supports each other. A group can generally work better than a bunch of people working independently. If everyone is working toward the same common goal, then they are displaying teamwork.”
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?
Sandwich Artist
2) What is your direct supervisor’s official job / position title?
Assistant Manager
3) What industry do you work in?
Food Service
4) How many years have you been in your current industry and job?
2
5) What are 3 to 5 of your most important skills, specialties, or areas of expertise?
Good communication skills, good analytical abilities, patience, sandwich making
Interviewee Responses
01) Describe (in your own words) what you think ‘teamwork’ means.
Teamwork means that everyone supports each other. A group can generally work better than a bunch of people working independently. If everyone is working toward the same common goal, then they are displaying teamwork.
02) Think about a person you feel needs team-building training. How do you think this training would help him/her?
My co-worker, a man named Mark, is a very introverted person. Team-building training could help him come out of his shell. It could also show him how it’s okay to trust others.
03) How do you think teamwork could help a company or business?
A company has a singular goal. That goal is almost always better achieve when everyone is working for a team. Without a collectivist philosophy, some employees might get into conflicts with each other.
04) Describe a teamwork / team-building exercise or event you’ve been through at your work, school, or during training.
About a month ago, I attended a team-building seminar with my co-workers. They had us socializing with each other. I got to know all sorts of stuff about my co-workers that I had never asked before. This seminar, by the way, was a mandatory part of ongoing job training.
05) Explain at least 1 thing you’ve learned from a team-building exercise and how it has helped you.
I’ve learned that it’s okay to delegate. Even if you don’t completely trust someone to perform a task effectively, learning from mistakes is always a good thing. It’s better to mess up something small then wait until something big gets messed up. Communication at the early stage of any task is key. I learned this from the seminar. We had to work together to get through an obstacle course, and I had to trust other people to do their part.
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 delay associated with effective communication. I wish that speed and efficiency of communication had been properly emphasized. In a serious task, too many people joked around.
07) Describe what you like most about team-building efforts and training.
I like how it brings everyone together. Normally, people gossip about each other. Team-building emphasizes similarities over differences.
08) What are a few things you like least about team-building efforts and why?
I don’t like how it’s so forced. Many of my co-workers didn’t take it seriously, precisely because it was so official. A more casual atmosphere would have gone over better.
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 think that physical participation is important. It’s too easy to learn the theory behind something without learning how to put it in practice. Team-building is an inherently social activity. You have to do it with your teammates.
10) Pretend you are asked to give a quick team-building presentation at work. What are your first couple of steps to get prepared?
I would prepare a short speech about the most important aspects of team-building. I would put particular emphasis on trust and delegation. I’d practice my speech in the mirror a few times before the presentation. I would try to think of the answers to any questions that might be asked.
11) In your opinion, what type or personality of person do you think could benefit most from team-building efforts?
Extroverted people seem to thrive on team-building activities, but I think that extremely introverted people benefit the most from them. Even if they’re not the star of the show, they still learn the most relative to everyone else. Any kind of communication is much better than no communication.
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