A. Do you agree that it is possible to make the best decision only in a team? Is it always so?

B. Read the article and comment on the title.

None of us is as smart as all of us

A good team player has the key to success. Being the smartest, being the brightest, being the hardest: all of these attributes that worked so well in business for many years, now will not help you to make a good career. The most important thing today is to be a good team player, to share your knowledge and skills with others and not to compete with them but to compete together against the commercial ‘enemy’.

It’s not always easy to be a good team member and compromise your own views for the good of the company. You must believe in the power of the team and try to find your place within it. You must be honest both with yourself and with your team members. There can even be conflicts within the team but if this process is controlled it can do the company good. Research into high-performing teams shows that each member cares for the development of his team mates. This is key to the success of a team.

Over 70% of a manager’s time is spent in some form of group activity, often in meetings with others. Little time is spent in one-to-one discussions. On the whole group’s performance is more important than individual tasks. The most effective teams are able to solve difficult problems more easily than one person can. However, all teams must be managed by a capable person who understands that every team is unique and dynamic. Teams have their own patterns of behaviour and culture.

It is good to remember that despite culture most team members have similar aims in life such as happiness and health, success, love etc.

Adapted from Benjarong Magazine, Thailand

C. Answer these questions.

1. What traits of character could a person have to make a good career in the past?

2. What is important nowadays to get a promotion?

3. Must one compete in a team?

4. What is necessary to do to be a good team player?

5. What can most effective teams solve?

6. What do most team members have besides culture within a team?