You’ve heard a coach say: There ain’t no “I” in team! And that’s true enough. But, there is a “me.” (You take the m from the end and the e from the second position… oh, never mind.)
At Atlassian, we believe good teams are made up of individuals with distinct strengths that collectively drive teamwork forward. This diversity of talent, experience, and background is what gives a team the ability to be truly great.
To build on this concept, we created an infographic for you that’s loaded with teamwork tips. It illustrates some of the things you can do as a teammate – whether you’re an individual contributor or a manager – to make your team strong.
#1 contributor to workplace happiness is the sense of belonging in a team.
Make time for deep work
For example, sometimes you have to unplug from the team and get to work on your projects. Maybe turn off your wifi, turn on your do-not-disturb settings, slap on the headphones, and dive in. That’s actually called deep work, and it’s an important component of teamwork.
But carving out dedicated time to work is harder than you may think. And it’s super important. Here’s why:
On average, workers spend:
- 11 minutes working before getting distracted
- 3 minutes on something before switching tasks
- 26 minutes before returning to a task, post-distraction
Creating opportunities for focused, sustained work means you’ll not only be more on your game but, perhaps even more important, you’ll be a stronger contributor to your team.
Be careful of time-sucks
Being a good teammate means making time to respond thoroughly to the documents and questions teammates send your way… but not too much time. Email and meetings serve a purpose, but they shouldn’t keep you from doing your more focused work.
Still, to be an excellent teammate, when you attend meetings you should come prepared and remain present mentally.
73% of workers do other tasks during meetings.
The first 30 minutes of a meeting shouldn’t be wasted catching everyone up on details the presenter shared around beforehand. Sound familiar? Bad teammate. No biscuit.
But we know. You’re busy. Work is busy. There’s so much to do, and so many things begging for your attention. Your inbox pings. Your chat room bongs. Your phone buzzes. Calgon take you away!
We also know you want to be a good teammate. We know you believe in your team. And that’s why we created this infographic. It’s loaded with tips that’ll help you bring your personal best to the team table.
Check out these examples of teamwork tips from the infographic:
- Close your laptop – people with devices in front of them in a meeting make 50% more mistakes.
- Designate “email windows” – check email 3x daily to alleviate stress and maximize productivity.
- YOU time – block off calendar time for deep work, and protect it.
For more helpful teamwork tips, check out the infographic!