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Employability Skills: Connect and work with others

Connect and work with others

Teamwork is about building the work-related relationships needed to achieve outcomes and goals through team-based collaborations. It involves the ability to understand others and build rapport, and understanding the needs of others and the implicit social rules of context.

Visit the ECU CareerHub for more information, resources and support on how to improve your teamwork skills.

These focus areas describe the kinds of skills, knowledge and understandings that an individual should demonstrate to be able to interact with others:

Understand self

  • Recognise your own personal strengths and limits through self reflection
  • Identify and address areas of need by observing others and seeking feedback
  • Recognise your own responses and manage reactions to events and others
  • Seek expert advice and skills training where required

Build rapport

  • Build rapport with others 
  • Use non verbal behaviour effectively to put others at ease
  • Take into account cultural differences where appropriate
  • Acknowledge the needs and points of view of others

Cooperate and collaborate

  • Build and maintain effective working relationships 
  • Recognise and respond to the subtle and complex mix of factors at play in every interaction
  • Provide feedback to others in forms they can understand and use
  • Actively build formal and informal networks to include people/ communities with expert skills, knowledge, connections and decision making power

 

  • Watch LinkedIn Learning courses about collaboration and working with others.
  • Reflect on your experiences with interacting with others and how you connect and react in a team environment. For some guides and tips on reflection see Study Essentials - Reflective assignments 
  • Volunteer with a group, club or a local community organisation.
  • Join a sports team.
  • Volunteer in a Peer Mentor program.

References

Alexander, N. (2015). Negotiation strategy style skills. LexisNexis Butterworths. 

Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education and Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. (2013). Core skills for work developmental framework. https://www.dese.gov.au/download/6979/core-skills-work-developmental-framework/10899/document/pdf

SkillsYouNeed. (n.d.). What is negotiation? https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/negotiation.html

SkillsYouNeed. (n.d.). Emotional Intelligence. https://www.skillsyouneed.com/general/emotional-intelligence.html

Straus, D. (2002). How to make collaboration work: Powerful ways to build consensus, solve problems, and make decisions. Berrett-Koehler. https://ecu.on.worldcat.org/v2/oclc/243591752