Give some examples of teamwork is one of the greatest questions you can be asked in an interview. There is so much scope in this question to show off a whole host of desirable traits to your potential boss. You don’t need to use professional examples; you can offer experiences you may have had with friends, family or even a sport or hobby! What your prospective employer is looking to find out here is how open you are to discussion of ideas, and how well you can interact with others. A great kind of example to give here would be an example where you had an idea you wanted to run with, but in the end went with someone else’s for the benefit of the team, or where a member of your team had a personal goal they couldn’t attain, so you all worked together to achieve it. Here are a few examples.
Example Answers
#1
“I used to be a football coach for a small local team, having had to stop playing myself due to an injury. We had an important match one weekend and one of the players was unwell and unable to attend. Faced with the decision to forfeit the match we decided that I could play in his place for the benefit of the team. I was mostly ‘carried’ by my team mates but we managed to win the match”
#2
“I used to work in a pub where we had to think of entertainment options for quieter nights. I had thought about hiring a band to come in and play on a Wednesday, and then other members of the bar staff suggested that instead we all showed our own talents off to the customers instead. So we went with that idea and put on a kind of variety show. The customers loved it, we all had such fun, it bonded us all more as a team and it saved the bar money.”
#3
“Once a group of friends and I were walking through a wooded area on a pleasure walk. We became aware of someone calling for help, and following the shouts came across a young boy who had fallen down a ravine. None of us had signal on our phones and the young boy was obviously injured. My friend who was trained in first aid was helped down to the boy by using my jacket to lower him to a suitable distance where he could safely drop down, whilst I and another friend raced through the woods in opposite directions to raise assistance. When I was far enough out of the woods I managed to get signal on my phone and called the fire brigade, and they arrived at the entrance my friend had ran towards so he guided them to the ravine.”
The main point to make is that you are easy to get along with, muck in, and will listen to others ideas.
#4
"In high school, I enjoyed playing soccer and performing with the marching band. Each required a different kind of team play, but the overall goal of learning to be a member of a group was invaluable. I continued to grow as team member while on my sorority’s debate team and through my advanced marketing class where we had numerous team assignments.
In my last postion, I was part of a software implementation team. We all worked together to plan and manage the implementation schedule, to provide customer training, and ensure a smooth transition for our customers. Our team always completed our projects ahead of schedule with very positive reviews from our clients. "
Good luck.
I faced a tight situation at my workplace as you get colleagues who try to over smart you. Please tell me how to tackle such situation and not affect the teamwork.
this thread definetely helped me a lot!
is this information still correct for asda interviews?
Yes, any example of teamwork is good for any job type.
In all of my previous jobs, teamwork has played a big role in my job description. When I worked at burger king, we had alot of new employees starting on one Saturday afternoon, Saturday was our busiest day working there. So before hand, all the regular employees got together and came up with a plan, of who would work on each section (one making up the burgers, one making up the fries, one doing the drinks and 2-3 people taking orders) we each took a new employee with us, to the section we was working on and showed them what they needed to do. This made our work day run efficiently and smoothly, without having the new members of staff looking like lost sheep.
There are many examples you can give to answer this question. You’ll be surprised what actually counts as teamwork. If you have needed to catch a stray dog (as an example) then its likely you enlisted the help of others, maybe someone to stop the traffic, someone to block off exits, another person to run and find a dog lead – this in itself is teamwork.
Also, thought of more examples for people. Do you help in church? are you a member of the choir? do you serve the coffee at the end with some others? Are you part of the welcoming, or do you help with the children, all of these are also examples of teamwork, although they may not appear to be at first glance
Team work is considered important to the vast majority of employers. Demonstrating that you can work as part of a team doesn’t only apply to scenarios when a job physically needs two or more people to complete a task. It can come down to fundamentals such as getting on with those around you.
Many companies will consider teamwork a core attribute and will expect all prospective employees to understand its value. In almost all interviews a teamwork based question will turn up, so it is important not to underestimate its important. For example, a job working on the tills in Asda will mean staff rotation at the checkout. i.e. One employee will not be the sole operator of a single checkout, staff will rotate as required. With regards to the question, having to hand-over the checkout to the next member of staff means, as courtesy as well as anything else, you should ensure that the work area is clean and make sure any defects with the equipment are communicated to the next member of staff if they haven’t been repaired. Although these two members of staff have not been working in the same place at the same time this is still considered team work. This should be kept in mind when answering team work questions. However, if asked “give some examples of teamwork”, think about the question. It is designed to test your understanding of the term team work. Whilst you should make sure your answer is applicable to the company hopefully hiring you, there is some scope to use examples in a wider field. The answer to the question will therefore need to be tailored to the job you have applied for.
Here is a possible answer to consider:
great examples, thank you.
As a Mum I always find that rallying round my family and planning trips that everyone will enjoy, getting everyone involved with the chores etc would be teamwork. However, I wonder if family examples would be frowned upon by interviewers, especially ones that don’t have their own children. It may also immediately tell them you have children and this could be off putting if they think that your family might be a distraction to your work. What does everyone else think?