Fly Like the Geese: Teamwork
I am the In-Service Manager of the Community Outreach Program. COP provides non-profits with customized training done by training professionals who are members of our local ASTD Chapter. www.astdgoldengate.org/cop
At our recent annual planning meeting, the entire COP Core Team agreed that they wanted to be cross-trained in every one of the Core Team functions. Outreach learns Program Management. Volunteer Management learns Treasurer. Wow! That’s teamwork! That wonderful commitment will allow the COP team to Fly Like the Geese. If you don’t know the story of the flight of geese, enjoy this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo6vWP9I5JA
The flight of geese are a great example of teamwork:
They travel together so they can use the “lifting” power of the bird ahead.
Geese take turns at the point of the V-formation because being in the lead is hard work. They take turns doing the hard jobs.
Geese work closely together so they use less energy.
There’s drag and resistance when trying to go it alone.
They honk from behind to encourage the lead goose to keep up their speed. That honk gives them extra spirit.
If one goose needs to fall out of formation, a pair of geese leaves the flock to help and protect the goose that is down. And when the goose is ready to fly again, they will either catch up to their flock or join another.
Cross-training means that Core Team members will work closely together so we use less energy. We can help each other when the workload gets heavy or step in when someone leaves for vacation or work demands.
At COP’s annual planning meeting: Bruce Gross, Christy Vaile, Jason Lai, Kris Schaeffer, Paul Anjeski, Paddy Vinnakota, Sherri Horan, Diane Richwine, Randi DuBois
If you want to build a strong team, have them learn each other’s jobs. Imagine what cross-training could do for your team.
They appreciate the challenges of the other jobs.
They learn how to lighten the load of others.
They replace someone who needs to reduce their workload.
They learn leadership and to encourage the leadership of others.
They make better decisions because they understand the impact on the entire process, not only on a single job.
Together they are nimble and flexible to meet outside demands because they could muster their resources to meet the common goal.
If you’d like to build a team that has ownership, responsibility and camaraderie, get them to Fly Like the Geese. This commitment to the broad view will help them grow, enjoy their work, and build a better process. Honk. Honk.