In our National Office, each staff member has a very specific professional job and area of responsibility. For example, one person lays out the next Choral Journal; another person helps choral industry members utilize the various ways ACDA connects with directors; another keeps ACDA’s information systems running; another focuses on the integrity of the editorial work and content of Choral Journal; another works with Division and National Presidents to plan conferences and conduct elections; another develops our archives and educational holdings and creates ways to distribute this wealth if information to our membership; another manages membership recruitment and renewal; another does accounting work for divisions and states, while another accountant focuses on the national ACDA operations, audits, and issues related to human resources. Of course, there are many more duties that take place, but this list gives you a good idea of the divergent areas of focus that go on every day in our work.
While being the only person responsible for the focus of each of the above areas, routinely, each staff member has to collaborate with other staff to get their work done. How do we collaborate, particularly with the ever-present concern for getting one’s own work done, and with the very real human concern of judgment and/or competition?
Here is how we have learned to do it: once a month, we cook together. We collectively determine a menu, then we shop, gather, mix, marinate, stir, cut, chop, pour, slice, bake, broil, grill, and then eat together. The actual process takes less time than going out to a restaurant.
There was a time we would go out together, but we found that we didn’t talk much, and we also found that not everyone was as thrilled as another when we left the restaurant. Then, we started bringing food in, and once a month, we collaborated on a meal. Without saying a word or turning the experience into a seminar, we began working just as efficiently in our staff business collaborations.
What have I learned about how to get a group to collaborate through this process? Four fundamental unification mechanisms have come into play that translate now into our corporate work at collaboration:
- First, we create a unifying goal (we agree on the meal);
- Second, we incite a common value of teamwork as we take a roll [editorial note: misspelled originally, but left as "roll", not "role", due to how tasty bread is with our meal…((thanks, Liz!))], but also assist others while staying sharp on our primary area of responsibility;
- Third, we speak the language of collaboration (“Let me watch that for you”, “Let me help”, “I’ll clean that up; your hands are full”.
- Fourth, we enjoy and marvel at what we have created, while simultaneously eating it, and also talking about anything we enjoy talking about as we eat.
The Strategy is solid:
- Identify or Create a Unifying Goal
- Incite a common value of teamwork
- Continually speak the language of collaboration
- Enjoy and celebrate your results together
Liz Garnett says