Welcome Class of 2025! And congratulations on making it one step closer to your career goals. Soon, you will be making memories that will last a lifetime.
Although my first year of pharmacy school was implemented remotely, teamwork was still an essential part of the program as students were required to work in groups throughout the school year. This has allowed me to learn quite a few things on how to become a reliable team member so that the group can achieve an optimal outcome in the end. Keep on reading to find out what tips and advice I have on how to become an ideal team player.
- Communicate with your team
- Without a doubt, communication is the key to effective teamwork. With remote learning, communication was more important than ever. Our group made sure to meet up at least once for almost every assignment so that we could go over the answers and discuss any questions we have. We also tried our best to inform other teammates of changes and updates so that everyone was on the same page and there were no surprises.
- Be an active team member
- Sharing opinions and thoughts can sometimes be difficult, especially when you just get to know your teammates. Everyone adapts at a different pace and therefore, it is understandable if one feels uncomfortable at first. However, it is important to realize that an open discussion will not only help the group members to be more engaged, but it will also evoke critical thinking which can help not only you but your team members to learn and retain the knowledge better. Therefore, try your best to come to group meetings prepared and ready to discuss so that progression can be made.
- Being an active team player also means to take initiative. I know procrastination is something that we have all committed at some point in our lives. However, with the amount of coursework and commitments that you will face in graduate school, procrastination is the last thing you would want to do. Try to be the first person to create that group google doc, the first one to start on the assignment or the first one to set up group meetings. It will definitely save you from being in stressful situations the night before the assignment is due.
- Demonstrate responsibility and reliability
- When working in groups, everyone will have their own tasks and it is important to be a team member who gets the work done and delivers a good performance so that other group members can count on you.
- Share the workload
- As you may have expected, the workload you face in graduate school will be heavy and there might be times where you will feel overwhelmed. Furthermore, unexpected events can always come up and throw off one’s schedule. If one of your teammates ever goes through this, be supportive and try to share the workload with them.
- Treat others with respect
- There will be times that group members don’t get along and changing teammates is not an option because you won’t get to pick and choose your colleagues when you step into a working world. Hence, it is important to acknowledge everyone’s differences, treat each other in a professional manner, and communicate constructively if problems arise. If you have tried everything within your capability and that still does not solve the problem, it would then be wise to bring awareness to someone with a higher authority.
Stay hydrated and I hope to see you around on campus in the Fall.