A Read about fostering teamwork. Check (✔) the things that make a good team member or leader.

FOSTERING TEAMWORK

To "foster" means to help something develop over a period of time. Fostering teamwork means learning to work better as part of a team and/or helping other people work more effectively as a team.

Good team members work hard on the tasks they are responsible for and contribute ideas to help the team achieve its goals. They listen to other people's ideas and consider all contributions seriously. Some people naturally tend to be the dominant voices on a team, and that may cause less outgoing team members to feel that they are not as important as others. If only a few people present most of the ideas, the team may miss out on some good ideas. Good team members are not the ones who do the most work or offer the most ideas. They are the ones who listen carefully to everyone and make constructive comments. They support good ideas and react positively to the contributions of others. It also means that if they disagree with an idea or a proposal, they offer criticism in a positive way by pointing out areas of agreement before explaining areas of disagreement. They offer alternatives or solutions and not just criticism. Finally, good team members give help and support when other team members need it. People who do not want to share their knowledge with others are not "team players."

Good team leaders understand the strengths and weaknesses of each member on the team, and they assign roles and tasks that allow the members to use their skills and abilities. They also work with members, or have members work together, in ways that can help people improve in their weaker areas. These leaders also encourage everyone on the team to participate, and they don't allow the more talkative members to dominate meetings and conversations. Finally, good team leaders encourage cooperation not only among members of the team, but also with other teams or departments.

Fostering teamwork is very important in any profession where people have to work together. For example, many people think small business owners make all of the decisions in their companies and just tell everyone else what to do. In fact, business owners have to be both team leaders and team members. They are not afraid to share their knowledge with other people in the company because they know it will help people do their jobs better. They have to be good team leaders to encourage the people under them to contribute new and creative ideas, but they also have to be good team members. Successful business owners listen more than they talk in meetings. They give feedback on their team's ideas, but they don't try to tell people exactly what to do or how to do it.

Even jobs that are not usually considered team jobs involve some teamwork. For example, at a publisher, accountants have

to work with department managers to decide on budgets. Authors and editors have to work together as a team in order

to create the content of a book or a magazine. Then editors and designers have to work together to produce the book or

magazine in an attractive way. Every job in a company requires at least some amount of teamwork.

A good team member...

1 listens and responds in a positive and useful way to other team members' ideas.

2 offers to do more work than others on the team.

3 expresses disagreement in a positive way by emphasizing points of agreement and by making positive suggestions to find solutions.

4 presents his/her best ideas to the team leader or boss before the group meeting.

5 helps others when they need it.

6 shares his/her expertise and knowledge with others.

A good team leader ...


7 tells each member of the team exactly how to do his/her tasks.

8 asks team members to do things that reflect their strengths.

9 has team members who can help each other work together.

10 doesn't worry about what other teams or departments are doing.                                                
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