Team work is an essential part of my current position. I work with Technical and non-technical groups of 3 universities province wide, several regional health authorities, and many vendors. I attend conference calls at least twice a week; on video conference at least once a week and many face to face meetings inter-site level. I have taken the following courses as a student which is helping me with my present work environment as an effective team member:
- Applied Human Relations
- Applied Group and Leadership Skills
- Human Resource Management
- Working as a member of a team (Professional Development)
- How to communicate well in a group environment (Professional Development)
- Conflict Resolution (Professional Development)
- Proper Business Etiquette (Professional Development)
All these educational and professional development courses helped me become an effective member of my current team. I have learned that when a person is faced with co-workers who don’t want to work, he/she ends up having to do work that others fail to complete. I also have learned the most important factor in team works which is knowing which position each person is within a team can help co-workers provide the work they are strong in. Having respect for everyone in your team is another valuable lesson I have learned. Sensitivity is also a must to become an effective team member. No one would want to work with someone that is rude and insensitive to everyone else in the office. Being able to display discipline and professionalism can provide imperative discussions that can help the work environment. This is especially true when dealing with multiple entities from across the province. As a result I find myself supporting an Audio/Video conference session and the very next minute I find myself applying a group policy on an Active Directory environment.
Team work in my life also expands to my educational background. In schools I enjoyed playing different games such as soccer, volleyball, and cricket. Each required a different kind of team play, but the overall goal of learning to be a member of a group was invaluable. While I was taking my International Diploma in Computer Information Systems from UK, I was part of a software development team for my class project. There were 5 team members including myself. We all worked together implemented all steps of business life cycle such as initiation, planning, execution and controlling, and closure.
I have learned some valuable knowledge which I carried forward with me at my current and previous positions where being a team player is a necessity of the workplace. This includes when a co-worker is away because of sickness I have to step up to fill as back up so that operations run smoothly. I may have to put my work on hold for that or have to multitask to accommodate those kind of requests. Working as a team member can also create conflicts. Being able to handle those conflicts are very crucial. Some of the conflicts may involve disagreements over turf (who should do what), disagreements over policy (how things should be done), conflict of personality and style. The courses I have taken when I was in school and also the courses I have taken through professional development have trained me to handle this kind of situation diplomatically. Each situation depends on the work place culture and the team members. Each situation is unique and requires unique work place diplomacy.