How do you do working in a team?

[Dionysos]

(I was ordered to do this in the Discord chat and so I am doing what I am told ).


Are you good with team working?

What conditions do you think are needed to make teams run more smoothly and productively?

What annoys you about badly organised teams? What makes a badly organised team?


Answer however you like!

Discuss!

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With FFF's Timber Maniacs magazine team, I think communication has been quite important. Not only have we been able to communicate freely to fix issues or relay our concerns to each other, but we've also learned from each other's experiences and can better appreciate each other's roles (for example the knock-on effects of making late changes to text after design work has already been started).

 

[Six]

Yeah, I think I do pretty well in teams. I think usually I'm better at the supportive team player role, though.

Annoyances would be lack of effort and just obvious lack of interest. Communication is super important as well.

 

[Linnaete]

You want a good, functioning team to get anything done on time without it turning into a bloodbath at the end where every member is determined to never find themselves in a group with any of their former colleagues ever again?

Communication cannot be overstated. Poor communication negatively drags the entire project down. It bottlenecks the execution process, because if one team member is playing reticent or is just too unbearably slow to reply or forward over the delegated parts they were given, the project has to hit a buffer, especially if the next stage is heavily reliant on a team member currently on radio silence. Poor communication is a nightmare for project management in general, because suddenly you can't properly rely on the previously agreed milestones as vital hard reference points anymore to clearly signpost where in the completion stage you're at relative to the final deadline. A lack of communication generally signals a team that is not gelling or coordinated, which is generally something not even the most shy of team members would want. For example, you wouldn't want poor Mitsuki to vainly attempt to contact another team member all weekend to tell them she needs to receive their section of the magazine for her to edit only to finally receive a response at 1am just hours before the deadline!

Effective teams are composed of people who not only communicate to each other, but are prepared to interject and raise suggestions for improvement if need be. Be a proactive team player, essentially. If you know someone else is struggling to juggle demands, perhaps you can explore ways to help that person handle their chunk without outright doing all the work for them. If you sense the team's methods are severely lacking and could use a serious kick up the bum, raise these suggestions loud and clear to them. Talk to them about what the problems are, what your proposed solution(s) is/are and whether everyone will be on board to go along with your revised plans. If there is time, have a good sit-around meeting to comprehensively go over all this. At least one team member has to keep discussions focused on what they want to achieve. Also, feedback is important. Team members where appropriate shouldn't feel afraid to give informal constructive feedback to each other. A good team is comprised of people who help each other after all, not just an awkward bunch of individuals who hate each other's guts.

Don't be that rubbish team member who feels they can do the bare minimum and expect to be entirely passive from start to end. And don't be the person who simply does not give a shit. If you're not invested in the group and the project and nor does it seem like you can be successfully talked into being genuinely motivated, you're flat out not a productive member of the team and a hindrance. I've been in situations when a team member simply stopped showing up, which was a detriment to a complicated business presentation I was a party to. Worse, though he promised he would show up on the day of the presentation, he never did. He made excuses afterwards, but it didn't matter then, because the presentation was old news and we had already learnt valuable lessons from that slight stumble.

There's more I can say, but I think I've laid out enough for one post. I always aspire to do the best I can in group settings to help foster an effective work atmosphere and vibe. If I do encounter situations where communication is dire and/or someone isn't putting in their effort, I will pipe up to say something. No more staying passive and quiet about it when the problem is staring at me in the face.

 

[Miko]

I like to think that I'm a good support member in team projects, though I would much rather do a project alone when given the chance. I can lead when necessary but I'm much better at just doing my assigned task and helping out on the side. I'm not exactly a people-person, however when I'm in familiar surroundings and with familiar people I'm much more communicative and engaging - Funny, even! However It's always my goal to not be 'that' person. You know the one.

Seriously, though! The people who have 0% effort invested and just want to write their name on the project, what's with that? I've been very fortunate in not having to work in many group/team settings with complete strangers. I think most of the time you get one of those people in your randomly-selected groups and it just leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth. As if I needed another reason to not want to communicate with strangers I think the majority of Linnaete's post highlights that nicely!

I will say that I am very grateful to the people who are good at taking charge & reaching out to others. You people don't get enough credit, and I know it's irritating & stressful when you get a crap team member(s) who would rather sleep in than show up to get some work done. I appreciate when anyone checks in, it really gives us shy people an open door chance to talk as well. I'm a much better worker now... but younger me (and sometimes present me!) really needed a lot of reaching out just to get a conversation started.

Anyway, I'm sure the subject is also just as important. It's hard to work when the work is dry and boring. I can understand in this instance where I could potentially be an annoying team member... as I tend to work better in panic-induced deadlines on dry subject matter. I have to say though, I do my best work that way!


So in short: I'm not the last person you'd choose to be on your team... but I'm definitely not the first.