Stoa Digest #20: Making a Team Work

Realise your dreams by working in a team, effectively!

Oct 25, 2021

From the Editorial Desk

Dear Fellows of Cohort 4,
Over the last few weeks, your seniors and fresh graduates of our second cohort have welcomed you in to the sacred space that is Stoa.
From here on out, it is up to you to carry that flame forward not only to fellows of your own cohort, but also future ones.

Your journey at Stoa School enables you growing into your best self. As well as learning to lead & be an efficient team member.

As you have learned by now, we have fellows of varied ages, industry expertise, ethnicity & beliefs.

So it is very important for you, to understand your team on a personal level & work together skillfully to make the best of your time with us.

Why do we expect you to work in a team?

It enables you to innovate & iterate quicker.
Allows you to achieve higher productivity.
Helps easily identify weaknesses & contribute your strengths.
Solve problems with unique solutions.

I hope this helps you understand the motive behind having you in teams.

Let’s define

What makes a team successful or powerful?

Equal opportunity of communication.
A team can only succeed if everyone is heard & well tended to. An efficient team shifts leadership & allows each member to showcase their skill & expertise.
Ask yourself:
- Do I get equal time to convey my perspective or ideas to the team?
- Am I overstepping & cutting off someone when they talk?
- Do I convey my inconveniences timely and politely?
If you have answered negatively then please, we recommend you to communicate & participate actively.
Understand nonverbal communication.
Successful teams comprise of members who are skilled at empathizing & understanding tone of voice, expression & other non-verbal communication.
Again Ask yourself:
- Do I look for nonverbal cues from my team members?
- Have I ever felt or understood a situation from my team member’s tone or expression?
- Do I empathize & welcome others to share what they truly feel?
If you lack the ability to understand nonverbal communication, we recommend you read “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman, (or check out the summary here) & actively look for nonverbal cues from your team members.

Teams where everyone gets an equal chance to communicate & members show respect by listening & paying attention to each other, develop a psychologically safe atmosphere.

This leads to a successful team regardless of how talented, young, old, experienced or different, the team members might be.

We assume our purpose of teaming you up is clear & you understand how your team can lead you to achieve greater heights & in turn, help you reap the maximum from your cohort at Stoa School.

Here are some guidelines or recommendations on how you can become a better team member:

Learn Respect
- Learn to respect yourself, your work & your role.
  Likewise learn to respect your team members, their work & their roles regardless of their age, experience, or expertise.
Learn to appreciate
- Appreciate & give credit when due without discrimination.
  Positivity leads to growth & productivity.
Realize that everyone is unique & has a varied purpose.
- If you like to do things a certain way, you can share how you do those things, but you cannot expect everyone will follow. Recognize no one is alike. Let your members fulfill their roles. Remember not everyone is a performer or a problem solver.
Learn to give & receive constructive criticism.
- Honest communication is key. Don’t take criticism personally & certainly do not let your ego step in. A good way to offer constructive criticism is to first appreciate the efforts & then humbly offer suggestions or improvements.
Work in unity to overcome weaknesses.
- First, identify your strengths & polish them. Then convey your weaknesses & take up roles that you can contribute best. Hence avoid slowing down the team.
Learn to lead by example.
- Demonstrate your best input & output. Let your work ethic & behavior be your most ideal. Inspire others & help each other through it.

Make sure you introspect & implement these pointers to improve yourself & your team. Also, accept challenges, generation gaps, disagreements & move ahead.

We hope that these also help our alumns in their fields of work, even though I’m sure they have been through similar learning curves.

Because every moment is a fresh beginning.

Thank you!

Meetups!

Birthday Parttaaayy! 🥳 🎂

25th - Prithvi Shanbhag

26th - Srijit Sikdar

30th - Gaurisha Gupta

Community Buzz 🐝

Recently we’ve been seeing a lot of Discord messages be “mis-slotted” - if you’re having doubts about where a message goes(in terms of Discord channels), please do look at last week’s edition of the Digest to clarify your doubts!

If you proceed to still be confused, feel free to reach out to Sonali, Shelton or Nicaia on Discord, we’re all happy to help!

Best Discord messages this week: