Personal Reflections on Working in Teams

Working with others can be a magical, transformative and inspiring experience; it can help us reach heights that we would not be able to reach alone, and to constantly learn from one another, providing opportunities for growth and reflection. Much of our progress as human animals has come from our ability to work together, and the way we have shaped the world is evidence of this. But it can also be difficult to work in teams: we have to negotiate people’s feelings and perspectives, and forge relationships of trust and understanding. Teamwork is a complex plane to navigate and we no doubt all have different experiences of working with others: some of us may have enjoyed the process of connecting and working in teams, whilst others may have found it difficult to thrive in a team setting. We also all will have different levels of experience: whilst some of us may work in teams daily, others may not have done so since school.

Whatever your experience, these short activities are designed to help you connect with yourself, your previous experiences and your hopes for future teamwork.

• What does the word ‘team’ mean to you? Why?

• Think of a time when you felt comfortable working with others:

1. What was it that made you feel comfortable?
2. Was there anything about the situation that stood out to you?
3. What does this memory tell you about what you need when it comes to teamwork?

• Think of a time when you felt uncomfortable working with others:

1. What was it that made you feel uncomfortable?
2. Was there anything about the situation that stood out to you?
3. What does this memory tell you about what you need when it comes to teamwork?
4. How has this memory impacted your perception of teams and teamwork?

• Think about a behaviour that you find difficult to deal with in others:

1. Why do you think you find that behaviour difficult?
2. Have you had any past experiences connected to people showing such behaviour?
3. What do you think you can do to better understand such behaviour?

• Think about a behaviour that you exhibit that others may find difficult to deal with.

1. Why might they find it difficult to deal with such behaviour?
2. What can you do to check such behaviour?
3. How might people let you know that they find it difficult?

• Imagine that you are working with others to create a dream team:

1. What values do you think should help guide the team?
2. What do you want this team to know about you? How will you share this?
3. If you had to choose three adjectives to capture your dream team, what would they be?
4. Draw an image which represents this dream team.