Top 8 Teamwork Skills for Your Resume (With Examples & Tips)

Table of Contents

Rating

Teamwork skills are the soft skills you need to work well with others to achieve a common goal.

Possessing a strong set of teamwork skills makes you an effective team member and can help you advance into leadership roles. Because of this, employers are always looking for candidates with good teamwork skills, so you should include them when writing a resume for a collaborative role.

Below are some essential examples of teamwork skills that you can highlight on your resume to set yourself apart from the competition.

1. Respect

Respect is a vital characteristic of any healthy team, and provides a strong basis for productive collaboration. Being respectful of your peers helps build relationships and a sense of trust.

Creating an environment of mutual respect allows team members to openly express themselves and confidently share new ideas.

While “respect” is not really a quality you list on your resume, think about how you’ve demonstrated respect for others in the workplace in the past, and use some examples in your work experience section.

Example of how a content writer highlights how they show respect

Work closely with subject matter experts, honoring their feedback and incorporating revisions with attention to tone, voice, and audience sensitivity across 30+ published articles

2. Communication

Your communication skills determine how effectively you can express yourself and how well you understand others, both of which can greatly impact your ability to work on a team.

The ability to communicate clearly is a critical interpersonal skill that will serve you well in the workplace.

Here are several communication-related teamwork skills to highlight on your resume:

Active listening – being part of a team means listening to others. Active listening allows you to fully understand what your peers are saying, which will make them feel respected and help form a clear idea of the team’s vision as a whole.
Verbal communication – the ability to speak clearly with your peers will help you to build connections with them as well as communicate your ideas effectively.
Digital communication – with so much collaboration taking place online, it’s more important than ever to communicate constructively over digital platforms, whether it’s email or Slack.
Responsiveness – responding to colleagues in a timely fashion is not only respectful, but demonstrates that you’re a good team player by ensuring others can proceed with their work.

Example of how a math teacher emphasizes strong communication skills

Simplified complex math concepts using visual aids and real-life examples, fostering clear communication with students and boosting overall class comprehension by 25%

If you have experience using communication tools, such as Slack or GoToMeeting, you can list these as hard skills on your resume.

3. Collaboration

The ability to collaborate is useful in any position that involves group projects or working with other departments. If you work in an industry that often requires close collaboration, such as design or marketing, then it’s particularly important to demonstrate your skills by showcasing previous collaborative projects.

Use “collaborate” as an action verb in your resume work experience section to let employers know you have experienced working with others to complete projects.

If there are any collaboration tools that you have experience with, you should list those on your resume. Here are some examples:

Example of how a software developer shows collaboration skills in their work experience section

Worked closely with front-end developers, product managers, and QA testers in an Agile environment to deliver a feature-rich app update two weeks ahead of schedule

4. Cooperation

Unlike collaboration, which involves working together to achieve a shared goal, cooperation is about working together to achieve individual goals that align with the overall team objective.

Employers know that workers who are good at cooperating with others will help strengthen their team and boost productivity.

Demonstrate your ability to cooperate by listing group projects on your resume or including times when you had to cooperate with departments outside your own, and what you achieved in the process.

Example of how a call center representative shows cooperation in their work experience section

Partnered with team members during high call volume periods to resolve customer issues more efficiently, reducing average wait times by 15% during peak hours

5. Coordination

When every team member has a different task, it can be challenging to keep track of what’s going on. Coordinating a team’s workflow is a skill that ensures efficiency and smooth operation, which is what makes it so valuable to employers.

Coordinating effectively with others often requires some organizational skills, and sometimes even technical skills like using specific productivity software. Here are some examples of skills that can help demonstrate your ability to coordinate:

Scheduling
Prioritizing
Time management skills
Project planning
Asana
Trello

Example of how an event coordinator discusses coordination skills in an interview

“In my last role, I coordinated a multi-day conference by aligning schedules between speakers, vendors, and volunteers. I created a shared timeline and updated it daily, ensuring everyone was informed and the event ran smoothly.”

6. Idea exchange

Idea exchange isn’t just for people in creative industries.

If you’re working as part of a team, idea exchange is a great way to solve problems and develop creative solutions. Exchanging ideas can drive a team forward and lead to innovation (which employers love).

A team that’s growing, adapting, and developing innovative solutions is a successful team.

Exchanging ideas with your teammates can be a powerful tool for finding new paths to success. Here are some skills to demonstrate on your resume that show you’re great at exchanging ideas on a team:

Creativity
Curiosity
Brainstorming
Experimenting
Questioning
Inspiration

Example of how a UX designer highlights idea exchange in their work experience section

Participated in weekly design sprints and brainstorming sessions with cross-functional teams, contributing user feedback insights that led to a 20% improvement in app usability

7. Negotiation

When multiple people are involved in a project, different perspectives and opinions will inevitably emerge. How a team handles these differences determines its ability to move beyond them.

Even on the most cooperative teams, a disagreement is likely to arise at some point. Negotiation is a respectful way to acknowledge each party’s stance and find a way to integrate them so that everyone is satisfied.

Employers want to hire negotiators who can help solve internal conflicts effectively, so highlighting strong negotiation skills on your resume will help you stand out from other candidates.

Example of how a procurement specialist highlights negotiation in their work experience section

Negotiated contracts with suppliers to secure favorable pricing and terms, resulting in a 12% cost reduction across key product lines while maintaining strong vendor relationships.

8. Leadership

Many teamwork strengths are also qualities that make a great leader. Leadership skills require the ability to manage a team and inspire team members.

Here are some examples of teamwork skills that show employers you have what it takes to lead other people:

Delegation – entrusting team members with tasks that match their individual skill level and work pace helps a team to operate effectively.
Problem solving – the ability to take responsibility and initiative to solve problems is a key leadership skill.
Conflict resolution – leading others means managing a group dynamic. You should be equipped to mediate and diffuse an issue when it arises.

If you can demonstrate these teamwork skills on your resume, you’ll convince employers that you’re well suited for a leadership role.

Example of how a shift supervisor highlights leadership in their resume objective

Motivated retail shift supervisor with 3+ years of experience leading diverse teams in high-volume environments. Committed to fostering a supportive work culture, driving sales goals, and mentoring new employees to reach their potential.

How to put teamwork skills on your resume

If you want to demonstrate your teamwork skills to employers, you need to know the right way to include them in your resume.

1. Pinpoint specific teamwork skills most relevant to the position

When including teamwork skills on your resume, you should consider the position you’re applying for and what skills will be most relevant.

The easiest way to figure this out is by looking at the job description.

For example, look at this job ad for a candidate with graphic design skills, with relevant teamwork-related skills underlined in blue:

Example of teamwork skills listed in a job ad.

By picking specific teamwork skills from the job listing and including these on your resume, you’ll grab a hiring manager’s attention by letting them know that you have the exact qualifications they’re looking for in a candidate.

If you don’t have a particular job in mind, but you know what position or industry you’re going for, it can be helpful to look up relevant job listings to see what skills are mentioned most often and target these on your resume.

2. Mention teamwork in your resume objective

Your resume objective tells the story of your resume, summing up your achievements and goals in 3-4 sentences. You want to make that section count, so be sure to mention your teamwork skills like this social media manager’s objective does:

Results-driven Social Media Manager with 4+ years of experience developing engaging content and growing brand communities. Seeking to contribute my creative strategies and collaborative mindset to a dynamic marketing team. Known for working cross-functionally with design, copy, and analytics teams to drive audience engagement and campaign success.

3. Showcase teamwork in your work experience section

When it comes to showcasing soft skills, it’s always more effective to provide examples of them in your work experience section. Doing this allows you to put the skill in the context of an achievement, making it much more compelling.

For example, if you want to show employers that you’re a team player on your resume, demonstrate it in a work experience bullet point, like this:

Coordinated with members of marketing and PR teams to generate innovative brand design ideas before collaborating with design team to create and edit illustrations, graphics, and brand content

In this point, the candidate provides a good example of them working in a team. Even though they don’t use the term “team player”, the skill is evident based on their ability to work with multiple teams and across departments.

Including key teamwork skills such as coordinating and collaborating also highlights the candidate’s ability to be a valuable team player.

Demonstrating your skills through examples makes a much stronger impression on employers and helps you avoid listing overused buzzwords on your resume like “team player.”

If you want to include some teamwork hard skills, like a communication tool or project management tool, you should simply list these in your skills section.

Additional skills for your resume

Here are more skills to add to your resume to showcase your abilities to employers.

Leora Joy Jones

Career Expert & Content Writer

Leora Joy Jones is a multidisciplinary creative who writes career content for job seekers. She is passionate about empowering people to invest in personal development. From recent graduates to career changers to DIY freelancers, she aims to cheerlead her readers to make informed choices. Born in the USA and raised in South Africa, Leora now lives and works in Taiwan. She has a BFA in Fine Arts, an MA in Art Curation, and over 10 years experience writing and editing words on many topics. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

View Leora's Profile