Collaboration, collegiality, cooperation, pulling together, equality and empowerment. Teamwork encompasses all this and many more and is an integral part of our lives, especially for families, working relationships and politics.
In most instances teamwork is for the common good and allows individuals with a shared goal to work together in a supportive and proactive way in order to find solutions and pathways for the goal to reach its satisfactory conclusion.
Yesterday I chaired a meeting for a young person who will soon be transitioning to the secondary sector. The needs of this young person are profound and complex and in order to achieve a successful outcome the team around this particular child must work collaboratively and cooperatively to ensure a smooth and sustainable transition. The team in this instance involves parents, educational psychologists, learning disability nurse, school nurse, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, teachers, support staff, nutritionists and psychiatrists.
The wider team includes all teaching staff, janitors and taxi drivers, any hospital staff on duty if illness strikes and of course siblings, grandparents and other relatives.
The love that is given to this one young person is truly unconditional. And why would it not be when they are so vulnerable, within a busy, often chaotic and sometimes meaningless set of societal principles.
Teamwork starts in the home and should spread far and wide to encompass harmony, helpfulness, partnership and alliance. We all belong to a neighbourhood – some larger than others and therefore we have a collective responsibility to make our environment just a wee bit better every day.
This morning a photo I tweeted of the sun rising over the Bass Rock stimulated 14 responses of which I am truly humble. To think that such a simple action such as taking a photo on my smart phone and being able to share it within minutes gave me a sense of belonging to something busy and proactive.
Today has been a good day and the impact of my contribution to teamwork will have far reaching consequences as I made important aesthetic decisions about our new communication provision. Decisions that can only be activated because of the team of architects and planners I have been collaborating with. Exciting times are just around the corner.
Teamwork – a poem
I see you every day in your hoodie and your jeans
something like uniform that fits in with your peers
the need to rebel to belong and conform
no matter the tutting, or cause for concern.
You’re stuck in a rut of what’s right and what’s wrong
so easy to play to the crowd, but you walk away alone.
A teacher grabs your interest you get lost in time
of heroes and zeros and so much in between
but jeers and taunts wake you out of your reverie
you yearn for peace to work out truths and beliefs
yet pull up your hood scowl and turn away
tune out tune in wonder and shrug it off.
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