Winner, loser, or just need an umbrella?

There are three things you can do in a baseball game. You can win, or you can lose, or it can rain. Casey Stengel

Let’s talk about the teams in our life.

Are you a good team player?

Do you feel comfortable with your team?

How often do you smile during your work day?

Do you enjoy working with your team members?

Do you celebrate any milestones?Success?

Do you work together in perfect harmony?

Do you have a nickname that was created by your team members? :)

Can you share your personal feelings with the team?

Do you bake carrot cakes for no reason?

I can answer YES to all of these questions (and the remark about the cake is also true:).

Nobody taught me to be a good team player -i think this skill I got from my childhood.

When I was a 7-year-old girl I spent almost all my free time in my yard with tons of co-walkers (yes, i create new words from time to time:) and friends. We had some different plays where we would be divided into teams. Usually I knew who was the better player and grabbed that person immediately to my team. I remember that Nastya was a good jumper, Dima - good runner, Lesya could play with a ball better than I….. And there were times when we won.

Sports teams are perfect examples of how many players working together can achieve much more than one player who is acting alone. For example, you may not be the best goal scorer, but you're great at moving the ball forward. You know that if you pass that ball to the person who can score, the team has a better chance of winning. Everyone on the team plays a different role, according to their strengths – and by helping and encouraging one another along the way, you can make some inspiring things happen.

Off the sports pitch and back in the workplace, we hear the term "good team player" a lot. But what does this really mean in a business context? What do leaders want from their team members, and how can you make a more significant contribution to your team?

I read about various kinds of classifications for group roles and how to identify who is who there (for ex. Benne and Sheats' Group Roles and Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile).

Some people are helpful and supportive, some people just want to get the job done, and some cause disagreement within the team. It’s not news that if you take advantage of a group's collective energy and creativity, the team can accomplish much more in less time.

But to be honest - has anybody worked within a perfect team that was built according to these “model” recipes? It is what it is — usually we join a team or just start a new project together with people that came on board or moved from other projects. Did anybody think about a “great combination of human resources” ?

My latest project (and the best one) started with the words “You will be part of a new team and an interesting project but for now we can show you only your team leader and one developer. Good luck”. 3 months we lived without a Product manager, two months without UX, almost 1 year with a “free for this task only” designer and 2,5 developers (because all that time we were hiring and teaching new members).

Do you think that anybody cared at that moment about the perfect formula for the right mix of people?

I don’t think so. BUT! I have an amazing team - this is true! If you will ask me how - i have some tips.

What I have from my experience as a team player for 4 years:

• Share information within your team.

it’s very important. No matter what type of information it can be (besides gossip). One day it can help someone make an important decision.

• Keep a positive attitude. It helps each other to stay focused and productive as well.

• Support other people on your team.

• Be positive and help others as much as you can (which could mean going to get them coffee or a box of croissants).

• Do your best to be in the same boat with team-members.

• Do events outside of the office - create memories for your team.

• Celebrate your milestones!

I cannot be like my grandma right now - with plenty of advice - but I have still gained knowledge from my experience.

We can win together, we can lose together, but we prefer to have a huge umbrella for rainy days.

P.S. This story is devoted to BDay of our team member Omri G. Happy Birthday, Omri!