IT outsourcing greatly contributed to an obscure world interlinked by complex interpersonal relationships. And since we spend the majority of our time on the job, being a colleague is a job that has to be taken seriously.

Being a colleague isn’t too straightforward. Being a colleague at the pandemic is even tougher. However, it’s a role that warrants our attention, because studies show that we spend over 75% a day talking to our colleagues, even for people working in development, such as automotive software, enterprise solutions, IoT, or life sciences software.

Peers in the ideal team

Being a colleague is relative to being a part of a team. And great teams are made of great colleagues. But how can you build the best team?

Project Aristotle

In the quest for building the best team, Google created the now famous Project Aristotle, which based on the information identified the main ingredients of the perfect group. So, is it individual potential? Is it professionalism? Is it leadership kind?

Well, it turns out, the best ingredient to a perfect team is the group standard.

A New York Times article explained the battle of the study team to discover the pattern that links high performing teams at Google.

Nevertheless, they were able to identify two behaviours that are essential facets of psychological safety.

Psychological safety

The first aspect high-performing teams have in common is they talk approximately the same amount of time taking turns when it comes to conversations. And that is a repetitive behaviour that becomes a standard. By contrast, they also have observed that if a minority of individuals from the group take more speaking time, the collective intelligence of the group declines.

The next facet high-performing teams have in common is intuition. More specifically, the typical social sensitivity. The ability to comprehend the way that your colleague is feeling based on subtle nonverbal expressions.

It’s necessary to add that there are other factors also, like clearly defined aims, but feeling secure in a team is the best factor for the success of the group.

Be better at being a colleague

Ideally, as soon as your team is better performing, your individual results are also better. Plus, what good teams bring to our lives is purpose and confidence.

Purpose and impact, that’s strongly associated with confidence would be the most important motivating factors for contemporary employees. Especially for people working in software. So, it’s apparent that being a part of such a group has fulfilling benefits.

While the standard of a group isn’t in our power, we do have an important contribution. You may simply be more receptive, less judgmental, and more genuinely inviting while having fun. These will make you a better colleague, which will raise the overall group performance.

A lesson for management

However well-intentioned you as an individual are, norms form depending on the majority. Leadership is truly in charge as they are accountable for the people they recruit.

The notion that aggressive workers bring the business forward is dead. The truth is that establishing a positive work culture is what drives productivity, and this is a lesson that many organizations are learning the hard way in such a fast-paced world.

Three simple things to remember to be an incredible colleague

So tomorrow when you’re fortunate enough to go to work try to recall just these 3 simple things and you can institute a more positive work culture.

• Be patient with your teammates
• Be genuine
• And share meaningfully

Since work is consuming a lot of our lives, being a colleague is among the main relationship roles. It affects your fulfilment and whole happiness. That’s the reason it’s essential to attempt to always be a better colleague.