I was recently thinking about how people learn the fundamentals of teamwork and how to deal with the challenges of working on a team. I don't think working with a team comes naturally to most people, even though most of us actually prefer to work with others. Most college courses don't expose you to working on a team -- with the exception of small groups in science lab courses or in programming classes. I organized a team for one of my Public Relations classes, but by the end, it had become more of a burden than a benefit.

When you get to your first real “grown-up” job, it's likely that you'll be working on larger teams and you'll have to develop team-working skills very quickly. Your ability to work in a team tends to come up in every job interview, primarily because employers recognize what an important skill it is. A friend of mine told me about his first-day experience as a software engineer in a meeting: "People just looked around the room and had no idea of how to interact with each other."

I thought about theater class and the opportunities I had to figure out the good and bad parts of teams, and I realized how much I had learned about the elements of good teamwork:

• People have different skills; recognize them and use them appropriately – Delegation is so important. People are different and have different talents. We each have varied life experiences that make us better at one thing more than another. Use it!
• You may have skills you didn't think you had – Or had skills you thought you were good at and then realized you didn't – as it was in my case. Many times in our skits or our plays, we couldn't fill a role with someone who had actual experience with that part. But after researching your character and learning more about what makes them tick, you realize you have more in common with your character than you thought you did.
• The people off stage are as important as the people on stage – Amen! It takes a truly cocky actor to believe that they could go it alone without the help of the off-stage crew. And although it is true that it takes a lot of courage and bravery to stand in front of the crowd, it takes just as much courage to be the stagehand that everyone is relying on to keep the show going.
• Deadlines matter – It's not really about waiting to reach the point of the “perfect performance”, but realizing when the audience shuffles into the hall, you just have to work with what you've got. If you've ever missed a deadline in another class, please raise your hand. Hmm. That looks like everyone. But I assure you, there is nothing like a theater deadline. People are paying you to entertain them, and it could all hinge on that one line you failed to memorize.

College is the time of our lives to learn the skills that will help us succeed in our futures. Whether it be theater, art, music, dance, sports, etc. learning to work as a team is just as important as the facts and digits we learn in the classroom. Except let's be honest, theater is way more fun!