5 Steps to Being a Star Team Member

It’s relatively easy to find articles and training materials on building and leading effective teams. It is considerably more challenging to find content about being an effective team member. This short article provides a five-step approach to not only being an effective team member, but to being a star team member.

Step 1 – Communicate Constructively

The first step to being a star team member is effectively communicating with other members of the team. Every team member has valuable thoughts and ideas to contribute, and as a team member, you should step up and do so. However, you should do it in the most effective possible way – in a positive, confident, and respectful manner. Constructive team communication also requires effective listening – not just hearing what your fellow teammates have to say, but actually listening. You don’t have all of the best ideas. Your team members have important contributions to make. Listen to understand – not just to find an opening to make your own point.

Step 2 – Share Information and Experiences

Strong team members keep their colleagues in the loop. Sharing information and experiences prevents surprises. A fully informed team is a more effective team and star team members do their part to help ensure that the team is all working with the same information. Much of a team’s communication is informal. Take advantage of the many communication methods that are at your disposal to keep team members informed.

Examples include:

• Check in with a team member using internal social media channels
• A quick call to a colleague to ask for their opinion
• A short e-mail to co-worker to provide an update on your part of a project
• Stop by a team member’s office to see how things are going

Step 3 – Check Your Biases

Star team members understand that the best ideas and results tend not to come from individuals, but rather from a group of diverse, smart and hard-working team members. The challenge is that we all have biases that tend to get in the way. Check your implicit biases by honestly asking yourself whether you are discounting the idea of a team member because it’s a different idea than you would have come up with on your own. Perhaps Malcom Gladwell described it best, “all of us have implicit biases to some degree. This does not necessarily mean we will act in an inappropriate or discriminatory manner, only that our first “blink” sends us certain information. Acknowledging and understanding this implicit response and its value and role is critical to informed decision-making. . .” We all have these biases. The key is to be aware of them, challenge them, and keep them in check when you are working on a team.

Step 4 – Collaborate

The most effective team members collaborate with their colleagues. There are a number of reasons that collaboration leads to teams being more successful, but perhaps the most important is that collaboration builds trust within the team. Collaborating with others causes them to need to rely on you and to trust you to get your part of the project done. If you deliver your part and work with team members to help them get their part done, trust will begin to form. Numerous studies have identified trust as a key component to the success of teams. If you are leading the way in creating that trust by fostering collaboration among the team, you will be taking a big step towards becoming a star team member.

Step 5 – Commit to the Team’s Success

Many high performing individuals are hard-wired to focus on excelling as individuals. The leaders who tend to be most highly regarded are those who focus on the results and success of the teams of which they are a part.  John Wooden, college basketball player and coach who as head coach at UCLA, sums it up well. John won seven national championships in a row, no other team has yet to replicate his success. In his words, “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”