Being a good team player is even more important when we’re removed from our office teammates and in close quarters with our housemates. But teamwork does not always come naturally to employees and homebound families, who are collaborating now more than ever. The first step to becoming a better collaborator? Becoming a better team player in these five easy steps.

1. Communication

Effective communication with the team, whether teammates or housemates, is critical! It’s how we present ideas, provide feedback, and accomplish goals, even if the goal is getting the kids to bed before midnight. Empathy is particularly important to communication, because being a good team player means understanding someone’s feelings and using that knowledge to communicate better. Empathy does not mean using what the other person says as a springboard to your own story; you want to acknowledge their challenge and say, “I understand that must be very difficult.”

2. Feedback

It can be difficult to strike a balance between positive and negative, especially when providing feedback. A knee-jerk reaction can make us express our concerns in a destructive way. To give the best feedback—even when tensions run high—try saying something positive, then stating the concerns, then following up with something positive, sandwiching the negative between the positive.

3. Organization

Disorganization can be confused with disinterest or disrespect—not the best message! When meeting with other members of your work team, take a few moments to prepare in advance, making sure you have all the notes and tools you need. A meeting agenda will help keep things on track. (Nobody wants to sit through a check-in meeting where fifty team members say “I’m OK,” in turn.)

4. Deliverables

Stuff happens, but that’s no excuse for hanging someone out to dry. Renegotiate your commitments when you need to, and talk with everyone involved if you need to change a deliverables date, so you can keep your word without totally flaking. Be someone your team can count on!

5. Disagreements

The best teams include different ideas and methodologies, which can lead to disagreements now and then. The questions, concerns, and challenges of disagreements can lead to some of the best work! Just remember that a great team player does it all respectfully; you’re all working toward the same goal.

In conclusion

Whether we’re part of a work team, a sports team, a family, or a social circle, we all have to work on teams. Hopefully these tips will remind us how to play nice with others when it doesn’t come so easily. It only takes one dedicated team player to inspire their teammates to greatness!