Introduction

Hi everyone, I’m Yi Jing from Voice In. This video is the third in the series of our Solo-to-Team S2T Beta Programme). It is recommended for you to watch and participate in this video with your teammates side-by-side, if that’s not possible, reach out to them and share what you have gathered here. Let’s dive right into it!

In today’s video, we will explore the support network available in a team setting and answer the question ‘Who is available?’

Let’s start by defining the term team effort, if you haven’t noticed by now, check out the first two videos of this mini series and testify our love for good simple definitions. Team effort is defined as something done by a group of people by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. It’s simple but not good enough, not good enough to capture all the depth to team effort, so we added a few more of our ideas. Team effort is when an individual is willing to set aside their personal agendas and work with others in one focussed direction to achieve a common goal. It is also when an individual comes to realisation that there is an alternative to doing things on their own, that you could work alongside others.

Roles of Teammate?

So we have settled that it’s a group of people working, but what does each individual do? Every team differs in their needs and purpose of existence, job roles and responsibilities blur when everyone is new or attentive to work towards a deadline. No matter where or what, if in doubt, try out the following.

1. Show up and be there.
2. Stick together, know that it’s no longer you but us against the world.
3. Don’t assume based on your first impression and get to know each other.
4. Finally, picture this progress tracker in your mind. There may be bumps and chaos when it comes to teamwork but with that initial phase behind, progress is faster - more work can be done in the same timeframe if you were to take on the same challenge yourself.

The 2 types of team member

Following on this, we would like to share with you the two types of team members we have identified. We call them the ‘Known’ and the ‘Still-Learning’. The ‘Knowns’ are individuals who are more experienced with their skillset and better-informed with insights. The ‘Still-Learning’ as the name implies are learners on the road to become the ‘Knowns’. No one stays as a ‘Known’ or ‘Still-Learning’ on all things so don’t get caught in the names. In an ideal world, the ‘Knowns’ have honed the skill to offer help and step up to support and complete unfinished tasks while the ‘Still-Learnings’ ask for help and shares the workload. This support network grows in cycle so reach out or accept, people are nicer than they are in your mind.

Who else to go to?

Beyond your teammates, who else is available? Reach out to your professors or supervisors and let them know. Other alternatives? Share your story with the VI community, we may not have magic to dissipate all the challenges but we’re here to listen and offer suggestions.