The nature of teams may be changing as more people work remotely, but the fact is, companies are always looking for people on their teams who can work well with others. This is why collaboration, the ability to work with others to make collective decisions and achieve common goals, has always been a critical skill for success. Still, I’m sure you’ve encountered people who don’t play well with other people. Collaboration is an obvious skill for success, but it doesn’t seem to always be an easy skill to master.

But what makes a person a good collaborator? In my experience, a good collaborator is someone who:

· Active listener

Generous donation of time, knowledge, experience and encouragement

Adaptable and flexible

・Excellent communicator

Trustworthy and trustworthy (and trustworthy for that matter)

-Positive and polite

Invested to achieve common goals

· We welcome your feedback

So if you want to be a better collaborator, the above attributes are a good place to start. Here are 10 easy ways to practice these attributes.

1. When the other person is speaking, focus on what the other person is saying instead of constructing your own answer in your head. This will help you better understand their point of view and make them feel heard. To ensure this, be sure to eliminate distractions. This mainly means not looking at your phone while other people are talking.

2. Spend your time and talents volunteering. If you don’t have many opportunities to collaborate, look for opportunities yourself. Offer to participate in work projects (big or small). Register with committees within your organization as well as industry associations. Become a volunteer and mentor. Some of the best learning opportunities come from outside your everyday responsibilities.

3. Find your own mentor. If you admire someone else’s collaboration skills, ask them if you’d like to guide them. This could be as casual as having coffee once a month.

4. Cultivate adaptability. When you’re part of a team, you’re working with people with different personalities, approaches, and experiences. So you can’t expect everyone to follow the exact same process and do things the same way (your way).Let people accomplish tasks as long as the desired end result is clear their the way. You may even learn something and find a better way to do things for yourself.

5. Communicate openly and clearly. In particular, be open about what others need in order to collaborate successfully. In turn, ask what they need from you. Also, ask people about their communication preferences and use the right channels for the right people. (This is especially important for remote teams.) Some people prefer email. Some people like to jump on the phone or video call. Instant He reacts well to messages and emojis, while others stop reacting as soon as he sees a yellow smiley face.

6. Shoot the breeze. To build and maintain trust, make time for more informal conversations. If you work remotely, why not ask your boss if your team can have an Instant Her Messaging or Chat Her channel for informal chats only.

7. You deliver on your promises, whether it’s completing tasks by required deadlines or adapting to other people’s preferred modes of communication. (In other words, don’t send her an instant girlfriend message just because it’s easier if you know she’ll call you back.)

8. Stop complaining. Resist the urge to complain, as it will bring everyone down and distract you from your common purpose. And try not to get caught up in that spiral while others indulge in negative thoughts (it’s so tempting to join a good old morning session). If something goes wrong with your plan, or if you don’t like how the company is doing things, tackle the problem head-on.

9. Leave your ego at the door. Great collaborators value teams achieving common goals over individual roles in achieving them. Be honest with yourself, are you really prioritizing your team’s success over your own personal assessment?

10. See the feedback for what it is, an opportunity to learn, not a defensive one. Be open about asking for feedback (both good and bad) from your teammates, actively listening to what they have to say, and thinking about how you can learn and do better next time. If you find it difficult to respond to negative feedback at this time, acknowledge it and ask for time to digest it. (“I really appreciate it. Thank you. You made me think a lot.”) It’s not easy to give someone negative feedback, so thank them don’t forget