Teamwork & Collaboration Skills

Behavioural indicators include:-

Building and Maintaining Relationships

• Give and receive feedback from peers or other team members in order to perform the task.
• Share credit for good ideas with others.
• Acknowledge others' skill, experience, creativity, and contributions.
• Listen to and acknowledge the feelings, concerns, opinions, and ideas of others.
• Expand on the ideas of a peer or team member.
• State personal opinions and areas of disagreement tactfully.
• Listen patiently to others in conflict situations.
• Define problems in a non-threatening manner.
• Support group decisions even if not in total agreement.

Achieving the task

• Give and seek input from others (in formulating plans for recommendations).
• Assist others in solving problems and achieving own goals.
• Share information, ideas, and suggestions.
• Ask for help in identifying and achieving goals and solving problems.
• Check for agreement, and gain commitment to shared goals.
• Notify others of changes or problems in a timely manner.
• Make procedural suggestions to encourage progress towards goals.
• Check for understanding.
• Negotiate to achieve a "win-win" outcome.

Do I Have These Skills?

You'll need to be able to prove to employers that you actually have the skills they want for the job. In applications and interviews they will ask 'competency questions' that begin with phrases such as 'tell me a time when ............. ' or 'give me an example of .............. ' Your answers are the evidence that you have what it takes.

To find out how well developed your skills are already you could try this simple exercise:

Rate yourself on each of the behaviours:

• 1 = I do this very well. I am consistent and successful in it
• 2 = I am good at this. With some practice I can make it perfect!
• 3 = I am getting better, but still need to work on this a bit more.
• 4 = I am not particularly good at this - yet!

Revisit this exercise several times through your years of study - you'll want to have as many skills as possible at 1 and 2 before you apply for graduate jobs.

And, think about all the life situations you've been in - university, work, leisure, travel, social - and identify incidents and examples from them that show that you have already used the skill.