Managers work hard to build productive workplace teams. Doing so can take patience, understanding, time, and collaboration. However, nothing is accomplished without execution. The most important step in building a superior team is finding the right talent.
Today, managers and company leaders must look beyond potential job candidates’ resumes. They should also delve deeper and look for intrinsic qualities that define the right individual for the position. For example, managers can be more confident about hiring a candidate if they have the right blend of experience and education and are also team players.
What Makes Someone a Great Team Player?
When communicating with potential job candidates for your company and your team, you should look for the following six intrinsic characteristics:
- Curiosity – Curious individuals typically look for opportunities to challenge themselves. Doing so can produce great results. Therefore, managers should ask more questions and use powers of observation to cultivate an environment that “sees things differently.”
- Authenticity – While many people act like a professional at their place of business, it is nice to see a more human side, too. With that in mind, an individual who exudes authenticity can be a solid asset to your team.
- Appreciation – Great team players know that they are not indispensable or irreplaceable. Therefore, they will often move forward with other people’s ideas instead of their own.
- Conflict resolution skills – People typically react differently to conflict. A great team player will often see both viewpoints and display good listening skills and objectivity. They will also seek compromise when both sides have validity. If a conflict persists, effective team players usually try to work through it rather than resist.
- Humility – Strong team players also realize that only the humble can be led and that a humble person is easier to coach. Therefore, these individuals perform tasks without concern for who is right but for what is right to achieve the company’s objectives.
- Flexibility – Deadlines and requirements can change quickly in a business environment. So, it is critical that team members are flexible and can shift focus with little or no warning. Once an action is in progress, a great team player knows it makes sense to move forward and not fall back on past processes that are no longer working. Therefore, flexible team members can produce excellent results.
Are You Seeking (More) Great Team Members?
If you want a winning team, you must find individuals who possess certain qualities. You should seek out these attributes during the interview process before offering the individual a job. It can take time to locate the right candidate(s) for your company’s needs. But when you find a great team player who provides evidence of the above characteristics, it can be well worth the time and effort.
