Whats Your Team Player Style?

Dal Sohal, MA
Student Learning Commons

TEAM PLAYER
Brainstorm words and phrases that describe a team player
Parker Team Player
So What Does it Mean?

What is it?
A tool developed by Glenn Parker, to help you
identify the communication style you most often
apply to team work. The results can help you identify
ways to increase your effectiveness in a team.


About the Parker Team Player survey
There is no way to psych out the survey;
your first impression is probably the best
answer.
Go through the survey rapidly
You cant fail the survey or even get a bad
score
You get to keep the booklet after the
workshop!
Now

Take the survey
Understanding Your PTPS Scores
Your highest score total in the last row is
considered your Primary Team Player Style.
The range of scores is 18 72.
A score in the high 50s or low 60s means you
are clearly committed to that style.
If your lowest score, Least Active Team Player
Style, is in the low 30s or high 20s, you
probably clash with a team member for whom
its their primary style.
4 Team Player Styles
Contributor is task oriented
Collaborator is goal directed
Communicator is process focused
Challenger questions the goals and processes
of the team
Parker Team Player
So What Does it Mean?
_____________________________________________________________________________
What is the best style?
There is no right or best style. All four styles
can be effective under the right circumstances
In fact, the most effective team players are able to
use the strengths of ALL styles, as required by the
team
Each of us has the capacity to be effective team
player

Contributor task oriented
__________________________________________________________________________

Gets team to focus on short-term tasks.

Likes detailed plan of action tactical

Provides data and information likes to analyze and study
before moving ahead

Likes to share knowledge and skills often good at training
others

Expects others to share their high expectations of quality work

Dependable and timely


Collaborator goal oriented
__________________________________________________________________________

Gets team to focus on overall mission, vision and long
term outcomes

Helpful in early stages of group formation, when the
team needs to become clear about its overall
purpose

Helps team understand how its mission fits into the
larger strategy of an organization

Willing to pitch in and do what it takes to reach the
teams goal






Communicator process focused
______________________________________________________________________________
Cares about how people work and communicate together
with each other

Often good facilitators & consensus builders; encourage
participation and inclusion, resolve conflict

Often bring a sense of humour and help foster a positive team
climate

Ensures team members get recognition: likely to plan social
activities and celebrations

Challenger questions goals and processes
___________________________________________________________________________
Questions what the team is doing and how it is
working on its tasks, willing to disagree with the
leader

Asks tough questions

Pushes the team to be more creative and innovative

Suggests the team take some risks

In your Primary Team Player Style Group
_____________________________________________________________________________


Think about a time when your team style
helped your group. Share the example with
others of your same team style.
Parker Team Player Styles

PROBLEMS
Occur when team players take their strengths to excess or
become intolerant of members with other styles
When you get ineffective
What does the Contributor do that makes
him or her ineffective?
What happens when a Collaborator goes into
overdrive?
What are some weaknesses of the
Communicator?
What are some of the ineffective behaviours
of the Challenger?
Contributor task oriented
__________________________________________________________________________
Can get too focused on detail and forget the
overall purpose of the team

Can impose too much data on the team; can
over analyze a problem, dismissing proposed
solutions as not good enough

Can spend too much time working on
unhelpful or useless tasks
Collaborator goal directed
_________________________________________________________________________________
Can be so visionary that they overlook practical
implementation and important details

Can be so focused on future, they overlook the work
that needs to be done now

Can fail to include others in the development of the
teams purpose
Communicator process focused
______________________________________________________________________________
Can focus so much on ensuring people get along and
enjoy themselves that they lose sight of groups
purpose and goals

Can forget that we dont form teams for people to
get along, we form them to accomplish a task, and
sometimes constructive conflict can generate good
results

Can avoid conflict to excess
Challenger questions goals and processes
___________________________________________________________________________
Can push too far, argue long after consensus has
been reached

Can lose their effectiveness, because people stop
listening to them as they appear in constant
opposition to the teams efforts

Can sometimes pick a fight, just because they enjoy
disagreement, not because they truly disagree with
the groups decisions.
An Ef f ec t i ve Team
I ncl udes Al l Four St yl es
Contributor
Communicator Challenger
Collaborator
Anal yze Your Team
1. Look for style overload
2. One style is missing
Anal yzi ng Your Team
Name/Style Contributor Collaborator Communicator Challenger
Ben 50 42 49 39
Emily 48 40 48 44
Vince 49 43 42 46
Jan 59 46 30 45
Lynn 49 42 46 43
Helene 44 55 36 45
Develop a Plan (p. 18)
___________________________________________________________________________
My main strengths as a team player

My strengths show up on the job in the following
ways

My potential for becoming an ineffective team player
show up on the job in the following ways

I can become a more effective team player by doing
the following