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Team-building Skills | 313

You Do Not Have to Be Best Friends to Make a Team
There is no question that the personal relationships we develop on our team
make a big difference in how we feel about our work and our workplace, as well
as our team. But, contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be best friends
to be an effective team. Best friends do not necessarily make a best team; best
team-mates make a best team. Being a best team-mate is all about thoughtful
behaviour. In a sense, it is about treating a team-mate as if, he or she were your
best friend. It does not include socializing outside of work, or sharing personal
feelings; what it does include is every kind of behaviour you can think of that
conveys respect.
Think about the ways you demonstrate respect for your best friend.
Do you offer help to your best friend when she needs it? Do you listen to
your best friend without prejudging his ideas or opinions? Are you sensitive
toward your best friend when he is experiencing personal problems? Do you
accept your best friend’s idiosyncrasies? Do you arrive on time for engage-
ments with your best friend when you know it will benefit her? Do you share
in your best friend’s excitement and praise when he has achieved something?
The answer can be ‘yes’ to all of the above questions. You can think of many
more ways in which you show respect to your best friends. That is what it
takes to be a best team-mate.

Being a Valuable Team Member
Taking responsibility is a key criterion towards being a valuable team member.
Although the team leader is held accountable for establishing and monitoring
team performance measurements, all team members are responsible for their
team’s success. If your prior experience was as a member of a work group,
your contribution was to get your work done, your contribution as a team
member goes far beyond the work itself. The notes in this reading provide you
with advice about how you can interact with the people on your team more
productively and offer you tips on how you, as an individual team member,
can facilitate constructive team dynamics.
Your team meeting is your meeting and therefore it is your responsibility
to do whatever is called for to make it effective. Team meetings are not some-
thing that happen to you; they are something that you make happen. Your
team leader, as a participating member, has a piece of the action but he is not
solely responsible. If your team has established a role called ‘meeting facili-
tator’, the concerned person might take the lead in reserving the meeting
room, distributing the advance agenda, or similar tasks, but he is not totally
responsible. Every single team member is responsible.
This is a drastic change in role definition for most team members and
for team leaders as well. As a team member you can no longer afford to sit
back and be an attendee, spectator, or complainer. You must be a full-time

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