How to Work Well with Others

Office spaces are now more collaborative than ever. If you struggle to work well with others, and prefer working alone, read these tips to sharpen your skills on being collaborative.

Welcome to Corporate America 2020: where your coworkers are now your “team”, working cross-functionally is the norm, and working together is an overall big deal. The concept of working with others seems simple enough but do you really work well with others? Or do you only engage in collaboration because you have to? If you fall in the latter category, this blog post is for you. If you don’t fall into that category, but still have questions about how to work well with others, this post is for you too!

Get The Look!

Be an active listener

This one is VERY important and something I try to check myself on often. Being an active listener means not just waiting for your turn to respond, but truly hearing people out. As a Comm major in college, I learned that listening is just as important in communication as speaking. Make sure you’re really listening to the people you’re working with. You’ll be able to give a more comprehensive response when you fully listen, and they’ll appreciate that.

Do your part to contribute

Remember how much we all dreaded group projects in high school and college? Do you also remember that person who never came to the group meetings, did little to no work and almost bombed the presentation? Yeah, don’t be that person. Group projects in that stage of life scarred many of us when it came to teamwork in the office. No one wants to have to overcompensate for a person who won’t contribute to the group. Volunteer to take on part of a project you feel you’d do well in and own it. Taking ownership shows your team that you’re committed to the advancement of the group.

Keep an open mind

Everyone thinks their idea is the best idea. Part of working well with others is keeping an open mind when someone presents an idea that’s different from yours. This is also why having a diverse workplace is important. Working with a diverse group exposes us with people who think differently, have different backgrounds and offer a fresh perspective. Be open to receiving these ideas and don’t be upset if the group chooses another person’s idea over your own. When you hear their idea and see it in action, you’re likely to learn something that you can use in the future. Keeping an open mind works for everyone in group so you all feel comfortable sharing your ideas.

Show appreciation

A little appreciation goes a long way. I noticed this when I started having managers that made sure to thank me for my hard work. It made me feel good to know they noticed I was putting a lot of time and effort into a project. You can show your appreciation in many ways, small or large. A verbal, sincere “thank you” is a small gesture that could brighten someone’s day. If you’re managing a team project and everyone has put in long hours for weeks on end, treating everyone to lunch or ordering breakfast is a great way to show appreciation. People like to know that they’re valued and when you show your appreciation they’ll want to work with you again.

Support teammates

If you notice someone struggling or not quite grasping a concept, lend a helping hand. Some have a tendencies to leave their colleagues in the dust but that is not how you work well with others. None of us start off as experts in our field. We all needed training and support along the way. This is not to say you should abandon your work to help someone else, but if you have the time you should lend a hand. Supporting others on your team not only shows that you work well with others, but it helps the team progress. You also get the opportunity to help someone sharpen their skills and feel less overwhelmed.

Did you learn something from this post? Do you have more tips to add on how to work well with others? Let us know down in the comments!