Section 2
Scenario 4

Working in a team

Meeting the Team for the First Time

Your boss is telling you that for your next project you will have to work with some of your colleagues. It is the day that you meet the project team for the first time, and you arrive at the office the meeting takes place. You open the door, and 5 colleagues are looking at you. One of them welcomes you to the room and invites you inside.

How do you approach the rest of your colleagues in the room?

Greet them and quickly move to your seat, keeping yourself silent.

Greet them and immediately start presenting your skills, experience and the value you can add to the team.

Present yourself to the group and let the others do the same, so you can get to know each other.

Role Acquisition

It is time for you and your work partners to decide on the different roles each one of you will have during the development of the project. The project manager, after presenting the project, asks each one of you about your experience and the part you are feeling more competent to work at in order to facilitate task allocation.

Now that you saw the different parts of the project’s development, what do you think is the part you could add a significant value in?

Working in this company, I have proven that I am able to deal with every task allocated to me, so I do not have a specific preference.

Given my experience and the tasks I have completed in the past, I can assist you in the second part of the project’s development.

The second part of the project’s development seems like the one I could bring the most value in. However, I am open to hear my coworkers’ opinions and inputs, and I would be glad to collaborate with them in any part, if that can maximise our effort’s impact.

Pressure about the Deadlines

You have started working on the project; however, it is almost impossible to prepare everything before the deadline that was set. It has been a stressful week, and you have worked a lot, but you are stuck in a specific part and do not know how to move on. Your group members are approaching you to ask you about how the work is going and when will the materials be ready.

How is the work going? Do you think you will have everything ready in time?

I’m currently working on it. But please, stop distracting me, I need to focus on my work.

It’s stressful, but at least I’m making progress. I don’t think I’ll have everything ready before the deadline, though.

It’s a lot of work, and I’m not sure whether I’ll meet the deadline. I’m having some troubles with this part of the project. Do you have any idea how I could move on?

Conflicts between the Group Members

Two members of your team have a strong disagreement about the project’s development. This has stalled the project’s progress and has had a negative impact on the whole team’s cooperation. One of them approaches you and tells you their side of the story and asks you to take a position.

I am so mad with that man! He never listens to my ideas, and it is obvious that his propositions are not even good! Don’t you agree that I am on the right here?

Definitely! You are more experienced than him and he should be the one following your orders!

I don’t know, actually. I haven’t heard anything about your disagreement.

I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t talk like this behind his back. I think that you should talk to him and try to solve the situation. If you want, we can have a meeting all together about this.

Indifference of Other Team Members

You have observed that one of the group members is not doing a lot of work at and is letting you alone do all the work. One day you meet him in the office, and he approaches you to talk to you about this.

I know that I have not been able to do a lot of work these past few days, however, I am stuck at a certain part of the project. I don’t have any motivation to work on this anymore.

Don’t worry! I’ll do all the work for you!

We could try asking for an extension of the deadline! This way, you will have more time to work on this more calmly.

Would you mind showing me the part you’re having trouble with? Maybe I could help you. Also, do not feel bad about it, we can ask for an extension of the deadline so that it is less stressful for you!

Decision-Making Progress

It is time to take some important decisions regarding the format of the produced materials of your project. There are some features that not everyone likes, so this has postponed the outputs’ launch. Your project manager is asking you about how you think the situation should be solved.

In your opinion, what is the best method to reach a final decision?

You should be the one choosing for the group, you’re the project manager after all!

I think we should vote on the different ideas and go with the one that receives most of the votes.

How about having a meeting in which we can present our different ideas and give our feedback? This way we can reach a consensus and produce a result that everyone will be happy with.

Fantastic work! You’ve shown a strong understanding of how to build and maintain professional relationships, and you’re well on your way to navigating the job market with confidence.

You’re doing well but can improve some of your approaches to networking and job searching. Keep practicing and don’t be afraid to reach out to others for support!

There’s plenty of potential in how you approach job searching and networking! By being a bit more proactive and exploring new strategies, you’ll discover great opportunities to connect with others. Keep practising and remember that each step forward is progress!

Section 2 Scenario 4

Working in a team

Section 2
Scenario 4