An important part of being a good team member is to be respectful of your team mates. Here are some tips for working with others.
Listen to all the team members. Everyone can have a good idea. Maybe yours is best, but the team won't know that until all the ideas have been considered. Listen carefully to everyone's ideas and be ready to pick the best one, even if it isn't yours.
Example: Johnny thinks the group should choose his idea of cutting pictures out of magazines. Seth's idea is to use the digital cameras to take pictures. After talking it out, the group decides that it would be quicker to use the digital cameras. Johnny accepts that idea and helps take the pictures.
Respect all the team members' ideas. Don't make judgments about other people's ideas like: "That's silly." or "No, I hate that idea." If you think someone's idea won't work, just say so and explain why.
Example: Johnny suggests cutting pictures out of magazines for the poster. Seth thinks it would be better to take pictures. Seth says, "I don't think we have time to find the right pictures and cut them out. If we took our own pictures, we could make them exactly the way we want."
Put your personal feelings to the side. Even best friends disagree sometimes. And you won't always be best friends with everyone on your team. Good team members put their personal problems aside. If everyone is focused on the problem or project, you won't notice the things that bother you. Solving the problem or completing a good project is more important than your fight with a team member.
Example: Susan and Jodi are angry with each other over something that happened on the bus this morning and they are not speaking to each other. During the team meeting, they listen to each other and Jodi chooses Susan's idea because it is the best idea. At lunch they don't sit together so they don't have to talk to each other.
Agree to Disagree. Sometimes you will never be able to change someone's opinion. Saying, "I agree to disagree." lets the other person know that you realize the two of you will never see eye-to-eye on this topic and you are not going to spend any more of the team's time on the discussion.
Example: Johnny thinks a picture of animals would be better for the poster than a picture of people. He realizes this is an opinion and chooses not to keep arguing about it. He agrees to go with what the group thinks is best.
Solve small problems yourself. People have little habits that sometimes distract others. Ignore it if you can. If the person is trying to get attention, then don't give it to them and if they can't help it, there's nothing you can do about it anyway. If everyone focuses on the problem or project, you won't notice as much. If you just can't ignore it, talk to the person yourself. Don't let a small problem keep your team from getting work done.
Example: Seth has a really hard time sitting still and he taps his foot. The foot-tapping makes the table move a little bit. Susan and Johnny don't notice the movement. Jodi is distracted by the table moving. She puts her hands in her lap instead of leaning on the table. Now she isn't being bothered by the movement and she can go back to concentrating on solving the problem.
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