Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

The Work Environment

Throughout the course of my internship I learned firsthand how important the work environment is. Without a close-knit team it is nearly impossible to work efficiently and maximize success. As an athlete, I have acquired a strong understanding of what it means to be a team player. After completing my internship this summer, I was able to compile a list of attributes that are detrimental to the success of a team, whether sports or business.

Communication

Much like in baseball, if a fly ball is hit in the between left field and center field, and an outfielder does not properly claim the opportunity to catch it, the result will be a disaster with an angry coach. The business environment is much the same. Without communication nothing is in order.  Lack of communication prevents organization and ironically an “organization” lacking communication appears more as an entity of independent contractors.

Accountability 

Accountability has been a core value on every sports team I have been a part of. When you are part of a team, letting them down is your worst nightmare. This means you must own up to your mistakes when they are made, and you feel an obligation to get your job or project done when needed, for the better of the team. In the work environment, if you make a mistake and sweep it under the rug, the chances it will make its way back to you are very high. You will wish you did it right the first time when your boss rekindles the project to incorporate the next. No problem is ever not your problem, when you are part of a team.

Which leads to my next point:

Trust

When you are accountable your coworkers trust you, and a team player is trustworthy. If you are not trusted then the team will not communicate diligently to you. As a result the work environment is disproportionate and no one is on the same page. This results in lack of knowledge and awkward situations when one person gains knowledge of information you are expected to know.

Encouragement

We all have bad days. Sometimes bad days keep us from performing our best. Those are the days when a true teammate emerges and picks that person up. There is always opportunity for learning and growth in any experience no matter how negative. Sometimes we need our colleagues to remind us of this. On the other hand, a supervisor that acknowledges good behavior will mean more than one who shuts their door and separates his or herself from administration. Positive reinforcement not only shapes children, adults enjoy credit and rewards too!!

Collaboration

One person cannot do all the work. No matter how experienced that person may be, they are not Superman. Juggling more than you can handle will only result in the accomplishment of a nervous breakdown.

Team players know that We >Me. Companies that flourish understand that the root of an organization is its people. A team-oriented organization will increase output quality. Successful organizations realize that five team players are far more advantageous than ten brains lacking the ability to collaborate and help the team before helping themselves.