[Music] while collaboration is more than just working together the skills involved in successful teamwork are important to successful collaboration it's important to be a good team player every organizations success relies on effective teams and modern teams are often made up of a diverse mix of individuals and circumstances they may be cross-functional or multidisciplinary they may be co-located or collaborate remotely they may be made up of familiar co-workers or complete strangers there may be cultural or language barriers to overcome in order to work together successfully but regardless of the team situation the basic principles of being a good team member apply in almost everything you read about being a good team member there are the same lists of basic qualities such as being honest fair respectful reliable responsible and a good communicator but there's more to being an outstanding team member qualities that don't always get the proper attention a good work team member shows genuine commitment there's a tangible difference between someone who shows up to work on a team and someone who is genuinely committed to the team's goals if you're committed you're in the office when needed and you make sure that your seat time is worth it by contributing as much as possible while you're there the best team members get involved it does not serve you well to just sit quietly and do your work in a silo don't stay in the shadows instead get involved with your team if you don't know something find out by asking team members questions strong team players come to their teammates prepared with their questions and ideas clearly thought through solid team members need to be transparent sharing opinions and ideas is important as long as they don't actually belong to someone else you don't have to take credit for everything in fact giving credit for ideas you're sharing earns you respect and Trust as an outstanding team worker you must be ready to help even if it's not in your job description be generous with pointers or tips to help your team members for example if a member is experiencing frustration when using a new technology that you're experienced with offer your help and share what you know along those lines successful team members work to be problem solvers not problem makers help resolve problems even if they aren't directly yours if a teammate is stuck with a problem she's working on take the initiative and try to solve it or at least help this earns you respect and is sure to come back at you someday in a positive way when you have a problem in the future it may be you on the receiving end especially if people remember how you've given of your time before and as a good teammate recognize and acknowledge when you're wrong the point is to work hard and be good at what you do not try to be right all the time being stubborn is not a quality of a good team player team members respect you when you admit you're wrong or when you back off an idea when it's clear it's not the right path if you strongly believe that your team is making a mistake you can usually find a way to come back to the issue when the time is right and if it happens that you were correct accept it gracefully these of course are hardly the only characteristics of good team members but they provide a solid starting point for successful collaboration they are a blueprint for beginning the work of successfully working together with others