How to Become a Dream Team Mate
If you want to be happier, more fulfilled in life, less stressed out, and more successful in your career, then be someone who is easy to work with! Improving your relationships with your teammates, or better still, becoming a dream teammate, will help you achieve all those goals and then some.
Here are really simple ways to make a positive impression with your teammates that will help you garner more respect and admiration while building a more inspiring, positive workplace:
1. Be sweet by having candy readily available. Several studies (albeit, all conducted by candy companies) suggest that having a candy dish on your desk makes you more likable, more attractive and more likely to hear interesting news and gossip!
2. Add a humorous quote to the bottom of your e-mail signature file and change it every day, or at least every week, so people look forward to seeing what the new quote is.
3. Change your voice mail daily to let people know your whereabouts on any given day and to announce what fun theme day it is (you can find them on my website at www.humoratwork.com) It only takes a minute, but it sends a great message about being service-oriented and it’s a simple way to add some fun to someone’s day.
4. Ask colleagues for input. It shows that you respect their judgment and that you value them. Plus, you might just get an awesome idea that will make you and the entire team look even better than you already do. And some studies even suggest that simply asking for input on a regular basis helps increase the odds of getting a promotion and raises your assessment in any form of peer review.
5. Treat your teammates like your customers and always ask them if there’s anything more you could do for them.
6. Keep a box of thank-you cards at your desk and actually use the suckers! A simple, hand-written thank-you note goes an especially long way these days. (As an added bonus, thanking people has been shown to be one of the most effective ways of boosting your own level of happiness).
7. Mind the basics: There’s a reason so many people grumble about a lack of manners these days, so be consistently nice and don’t be a jerk! Say please and thank-you, ask about their day and their family and don’t leave Blue Stilton cheese fermenting in the fridge for a week.
8. Smile. Not in a creepy, Joker-esque, “I’m about to snap” kind of way, but in a sincere way that lets people know you’re happy to see them and happy to be there. Smiling triggers mirror neurons in other people’s brains that might just help make them like you a tad more than they did before.
9. Look for opportunities to “go the extra inch” consistently when you interact with colleagues, and look for those opportunities when you have the chance to “go the extra mile” and do something truly memorable for them when someone desperately needs a hand. It will never go unnoticed.
10. Practice premeditated acts of kindness. Surprising people with small gestures of kindness is too important to leave to random chance, so plan for it on a regular basis.
11. Take a page from the world of improv theater and apply the improv rule: It’s not about making you look good, it’s about asking what you can do to make the rest of your cast look awesome. (And the awesome thing is, the more you do this, the better you actually do end up looking.)
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr is one of the most in-demand keynote speakers in Canada. He is a very funny motivational speaker and international business speaker who helps his clients succeed by leveraging “the humor advantage” for extraordinary, outrageous results! www.MikeKerr.com
