6 Key Ways to Integrate into an Existing Work Team

Whether you're pursuing an accelerated health care training program for a forward-facing, extroverted profession like medical assisting or have your sights set on something a little more secluded such a medical laboratory technician, working as a member of a cross-collaborative team is inevitable.

Most often, in an entry-level position, you'll be asked to integrate into an existing team structure with a specific rhythm.

Here are a few tips to get you started on the right foot

Common Purpose and Common Goal

Be sure to be part of the team that works toward a common goal. Without a goal, there is no collaborative team. These are great questions to ask in an interview.

Discuss why the team exists, allow each team member to talk about commitment, create posters that portray the team as one unit and use a common purpose to lead the team's actions. This way, you'll all be working together to achieve the goal.

Trust

Think back to your time during your accelerated health care training program, you went quickly from viewing your classmates as strangers, to friends to family. Right?

Getting to know your team is one of the quickest ways to build trust. You can also develop trust by being upfront, eliminating conflicts of interests, giving team members the benefit of the doubt and avoid gossiping behind each other's back.

Appreciate Diversity

Keep in mind that your team members come from all walks of life and have different perspectives. Take the time to learn as much as you can from your team members and evaluate new ideas based on merit.

Balance the Team's Focus

Sometimes, people forget why they are a team. Be aware of the team's group dynamics and relationships. Praise individual efforts and hold team celebrations for achieving results. These strategies will keep that balance.

Communicate Effectively and Openly

Try to understand all angles and seek to clear up any misunderstandings quickly. Take responsibility for being heard and accurately understood.

Clarify Roles

Having each team member know their roles and responsibilities yields clarification. Each team member knows what's expected of them. Achieve this by reviewing roles frequently, clarifying responsibilities when action planning and find ways to help each other.

"The core benefit of collaboration is the ability to share knowledge and expertise quickly and easily," Elliot Gordon, a writer at WeSpire, suggests, "This sharing leads to better products and innovations, which in turn drives better profitability, employee engagement, and employee satisfaction."

Collaborative team environments don't just happen. It takes effort on behalf of each team member. It needs to be built.

By implementing these tips, you can put your accelerated health care training program to work for you by easily and seamlessly integrating yourself into a new health care environment.