“Ability to gel well in a team” & “Ability to establish congenial relationship with colleagues” are the two important qualities of a candidate which are being tested by any prospective employer. This clearly highlights the importance of each individual’s qualities in building a successful team. Characteristics of an individual will impact not only his performance but also the team’s performance.
I would like my colleague to have positive attitude, which helps him to think positively and to come up with good solution to any problem. Nowadays, we are working under tight guidelines & on complex projects which mandate us to take help from other people. A good coworker is someone who extends his hand to help others whenever required.
Completing his task on time is an important virtue of any good team member. It is especially true when other’s work is dependent on that of his. A good co-worker, keeping others in mind, will always try to complete his task as early as possible.
Appreciating other’s work is the best way to motivate him. A good colleague will always identify the best efforts put in by his co-worker and will surely appreciate him.
Knowledge sharing is very important for any team to perform well. A good colleague is someone who always shows willingness to impart the knowledge to his team members, share his ideas with rest of the team.
Effective communication is required to keep everyone on the same page. Any changes made to the existing plan should be communicated effectively. As per my personal observation ineffective communication among team members affects the team’s performance. Your friend is planning to move to your city. What do you think he would like and dislike in your city. Good colleague participates actively in team meetings, project discussions and passes the outcome of the meeting to all those who missed it.
To sum up, innovativeness, hardworking, punctuality, cheerfulness are some of the characteristics that I look for in my colleague. Team is nothing but a group of individuals. If all individuals have the above mentioned characteristics then that team will be second to none.
TOEFL listening lectures: A university lecture by a professor of History (2)