Learn From Others - Tips For Successful Work Teams

I’ve been thinking deeply over the last few weeks about team work. Why? I have my own reasons, but the biggest reason is that I have become very adept at recognizing a team-oriented person by the way he or she acts and speaks.

You might wonder why I bother with this. It’s because I’m a team-oriented person who believes that working with a great team is very crucial to any company’s success. Further, working in teams can help all the team members personally because they can learn from others and, at the same time, share their own knowledge.

I must admit that many years ago I thought that I was the smartest guy in the world. Thinking about it today causes me to laugh out loud at my former self.
A few years ago I was a young man with big dreams. Today I see the things differently; today I have the passion to learn from very smart and special people.
I can summarize and say that my experiences in the workplace have taught me that collaboration is required for success.
Everyday I meet many people who say to me things like, “you are a cleverer guy than I am,” or, “I don’t have the ability to [fill your ability] like you.” Hearing these statements causes me to feel bad–really bad. The knowledge that some people do not believe in themselves and do not know how to leverage their special abilities inspired me to write this article.
I try very hard in every meeting to find the special ability of each team member so I can connect those special abilities to one specific goal.
Today I go into every conversation fully aware that I am not the smartest person  in the room.
Usually, there is at least one person in the room who knows more than I do about some particular facet of the topic of conversation. I believe that every human is an expert in something and if this person is an expert on the current topic of conversation, he or she is the smartest person in the room at that particular time. Moreover, I try very hard to know my partners’ and friends’ abilities before meeting them so I can identify the smartest person in the room and listen to him or her from the first second to the last.
So here are my tips for listening and learning from every conversation:

• Know your partners – know their pros and cons. Learn from their pros and help them with their cons. It’s a win-win situation for you and for them.
• Listen – people love to talk, but, more than that, they love to be heard. Listen to your partners until they have finished speaking and then think deeply about your response. Remember that every word from your mouth is creating the next sentence.
• Learn – everyone has something to offer you. Learn to listen and remember that it’s all the small things that make the big difference.
• Write – write your thoughts from and reactions to this conversation. Call it a meeting summarization or whatever you want, but spend some time on this process.

photo by tomsaint