Are you a team player?

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

I was on a phone interview for a job tonight and was asked if I preferred to work in a team setting or independently.

I know the answer is ALWAYS supposed to be "team work is always best," but I don't really get that.

What do you think? Is your company's model setup in teams of workers, or does everyone work independently? Do you like having a boss breathing down your neck to be sure you dot every i and cross every t?

I've worked both ways but always accomplish much bigger things when left alone to do them. I just wonder if I'm alone in that thought.

I remember not getting a job at Acxiom in Arkansas after not answering that question correctly. Their company model has (or had, it's been a lot of years) pods of people who work together doing the same job; work is assigned to the group and the group is held liable for the totality of the work. If there is a slacker on the team, the team is left to deal with the problem of the slacker.
It could be a substantial period of time before someone gets fired for not doing his/her part on the team...but in the meantime, the whole team suffers.

What do you think? Is this the way a business should work?

 

[RNMOM]

I too do my best work independently. This is why I always chose to work in surgery/ recovery and as an advice nurse. I never liked delegating to others. I have never felt it fair when the whole group gets chewed out for what is happening if one or two people are responsible. As for the group thing, that sounds like chemistry lab. Ugh. No thanks.

 

[Rudegrle]

Remember...

There is no "I" in team.

Are you a "do-er" or are you a "coach"?

How can you inspire others without outshining them?

One person can not do it all.

 

[mrsdon]

I am totally a team player
It does make me crazy though when we do have xlackers and the rest of us have to work harder

 

[PatsGirl]

No, I am not a good team player. I much prefer to work independently and take the credit for good work and the flack for not so good work. My experience has been that I am much more likely to accomplish tasks efficiently when working on my own.

 

[bballmom56]

Guess you can't answer "depends who's on the team", huh? I can work either way, but I guess they don't want to hear that either since that sounds wishy washy and not totally committed to either setup. Sheesh. Now my DH - that's easy - he definitely doesn't play well with others!

 

[KimR]

I much prefer to work by myself. I hate delegating work to others, I'm not good at mentoring or explaining things to others, and I hate having to rely on someone else to do something for my part to get done - the constant phone calls and emails requesting them to do it drive me up the wall. I'd rather just do it myself and be done with it.

Unfortunately, that's most of what my job is lately. Delegate, delegate, delegate. I really miss those days when I'd be given a project to do and I'd take it and run with it myself.

 

[teacups]

Team=takes twice as long

Depends on the team and the project of course...
one thing I've come to realize, team players do not like people who can get it done alone.
They'd rather have them on their team so they can get a little of the glory.

YACK. Dont enjoy those situations.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

The more independantly thinking minds that you have working on a problem, the better the resolution - as long as there is a clear team leader. I have no room one my staff for people who do not work well with others, but that doesn't mean that I don't have room for people who work well on their own. as long as you see the value in others' opinions/proposals, you can work well in a team. If you are one of those people that always thinks you are right, or that someone else's ideas are "stupid", you are not cut out for jobs that require real teamwork.

There is a great deal to be gained from teamwork that simply cannot be accomplished by even the brightest individual minds...

 

[Cool-Beans]

Remember...

There is no "I" in team.

"But there is a 'me' if you jumble it up." - Dr. House

Nope, not a team player. I'll help people who need help and I'll ask for it if I need it. But I don't like teams. I don't like meetings. And I hate doing things in groups.

In college, when my grade depended on it, I took charge of every group they made me be in and did all the work myself almost every time. If there happened to be someone else who was smart enough and wanted to participate, I'd work with them. But mostly there wasn't and nobody was screwing up my A, so I did it myself.

At work, I just let the rest of the group do what they want and eat my crackers or pretzels or whatever I brought to the meeting. Nothing of any importance is ever assigned to a group, anyway. If it is important, they'll put someone in charge.

"How can we prevent falls this month?" Seriously? How do we prevent falls every month? "Let's make a poster!" Yeah, that'll do it.

 

[Pin Wizard]

I can work as a team overall, but I like having my own tasks within it.

Our "former" boss wanted us to let others in this group take care of one particular thing. I let her know I wanted things to come back to me and I would finish that task. Good thing! I got them back after bugging my boss a few times for them. The other lady in my office let others "take care" of hers. Let's say they haven't been finished like they should have been, and she never got them back. Apparently, her things are "lost." Her comment was..."Never again!"

P.S. I'm also a "morning" person. I'm useless after lunch. You can send me to lunch at 2 or 3, and I'm productive right up to then. Must be a blood sugar thing after lunch.

 

[MM27]

I am not a team player at all. Hated working in groups in college, hated it in grad school and hate it now. If I do something on my own and mess up, I'll take the blame, but I don't want to take the blame for someone else messing up. In my own classroom I allow my students to work alone if they want when we are doing group activities. Some kids take me up on that offer every time we do something.

 

[C.Ann]

I much prefer working alone - and can accomplish three times as much as when I have to work with others who are disorganized; uninterested; only "putting in their hours"; etc..

 

[Rebelmom67]

I am a loner if given a choice, but my job dictates I be a "team player". I give it my all and no one would ever guess that I would like to choke half of the idiots on the team.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

And I really don't mind working with other people to accomplish a task that requires delegating...if everyone on the team has specific tasks and is given boundaries for completing the task.

I got burned by teamwork once. When I processed and closed mortgage loans, I was assigned one originator to work with--we were supposed to work as a team. In the beginning, it seemed to work well. But once, he changed an interest rate lock to a higher rate on a loan after I had the loan approved at a lower rate...and then he lied to the president of the company about when he made the change to cover his butt. He was perfectly willing to let me get fired for his failure to communicate the change to me.

The boss called me in to fire me...and he had me start packing my stuff...until I realized that the underwriter had proof of the fact that he changed the rate after approval. I proved what the originator did and when.

The boss later apologized to me, and I refused to work with that originator after that day. In response...that good ol' boy got promoted to VP. I got laid off a month later.

Teamwork. It only works when everyone is willing to do their share.