Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/a-manner-of-speaking/5013304/
It's quite the sight to behold the well-oiled team in action. Teamwork is touted as THE way people should work together to the point that we sometimes accept the appearance of it for the real thing. But in teamwork, as in everything, there are tests that only the strong survive.To watch as people work comfortably and efficiently together- enjoying each other, the children, the project, the day - fills me with hope and expectation. For the team, anything, even everything, is possible.
Two programs I recently visited function on the strength of their teams. At Countryside Montessori in Kirkland, Washington, it is the partnership between directors Trie Smith and Christine Simonson that strikes me. When they talk about each other and their history and plans, it is impossible to imagine one without the other. At the Illinois State University Child Care Center in Normal, Illinois, it is the core staff - Scott Brouette, Barb Gallick, Lisa Lee, and Pam Morbitzer - together with director Karen Stephens who make up the team.
Because Roger and I have lived and worked in partnership, I continue to be committed to and fascinated by teams. Why do some work and others not? What holds them together? ...