How To be Cooperative

Working together is an art form. Sharing skills, talents and, above all, learning to compromise is essential when working with groups of people. Be a team player by cooperating with group members. Improve personal and professional relationships and open the door for productive group interactions.

Step 1

Meet with the group, committee or board to define a corporate goal. Define your final outcome. Create an action plan to accomplish agreed upon goals. Write down the plan in small achievable increments.

Step 2

Set a date to reach each milestone with corresponding meeting to come together. Remind team members to shelve their own interests in favor of the collective goal.

Step 3

Understand the need to compromise on some issues. Decide what crucial components must be present in the final plan. Focus your energy on the assigned outcome, if an argument arises.

Step 4

Assess the perspectives of the group with an open mind. Resist being biased towards your own ideas and methods. Appreciate that differences exist between you and your group members. Value the differences and incorporated a variety of ideas into the joint project.

Step 5

Learn to transform multiple ideas into one. The spirit of cooperation involves many people coming together to contribute their expertise to one common goal. Take the lead in asking people to choose the most important aspect of their perspective and contribute it to the whole.

Step 6

Discuss ideas, not personalities. When being cooperative, it's important to respect the other people in room. Stop the members when accusations go beyond the scope of the work.