Working in a GOOD team

Most of us have to  work to earn a living. Very few of us have the luxury of not having to toil for several hours a day, to earn money to make ends meet and enjoy life with what is leftover.  Working with a group of people is part of life for the majority of us. If you enjoy your job, this makes going to work that much more bearable but on the whole it’s the people around you that can make or break your work day.

I believe I am lucky enough to work with a really good team of people, and it was confirmed the other day when it was just one of THOSE days. Due to it being the cold and flu season, we were short of staff by about 5 team members, it was busier than normal and it was hard just to keep up the pace to get everything done before the end of the day.

In these situations it’s easy to have a meltdown. Pressure makes most people crack and make mistakes. We often expect our leaders and managers to be immune to pressure, and not feel the strain, or at least, not let it show. A great team knows when their leader is struggling and can step up to help make the workday a bit more bearable.  

This is exactly what my work team did last week. It was a tough day and rather than crumble under the pressure, everyone just worked a little bit harder.  Each team member helped each other out, undertook tasks without instruction, used initiative and even stayed back late after their shift had ended to help late staff get everything finished on time.

Some days at work are good, some are OK, some are horrible! A horrible day is that much more bearable when you have a supportive team.

Maybe next time you are struggling with work and just ready to crumble, look to your team. They might surprise you and flourish given the opportunity to help when you are having a tough day. Whether you are an executive or a junior, if a colleague is struggling, don’t simply ignore them and only focus on your workload. Help each other out to get the job done and you can both go home happy; and nurture a true team culture in the workplace.