Doing tasks vs having time to network
Yes, completing the tasks at hand is important, but I think if we would schedule time to network with other people that do our same job we would actually be freeing up time, as we would get great ideas from others and not have to spend the time creating everything by ourselves.
I agree with what you said however we have to make sure we keep the chatting on the topic and not about weekend adventures. I have seen this so to set goals we need to focus on our tasks we set.
I agree. I think internal networking is extremely important for instructors. It's easy to get caught up in your own classes, and to become overwhelmed with class preparation, administrative tasks, and maintaining student attention. We can always learn from other instructors. Whether sharing tips for handling specific students, tips for presenting specific topics, recommendations for guest speakers, or simply providing a listening ear .... we can all learn from each other. Some of the most profitable moments of faculty meetings and in-service trainings involve unstructured discussion between faculty members.
I think if you had regularly scheduled networking meetings with your coworkers, then you wouldn't need to defend anything. Also, a visitor wouldn't be at that type of a meeting and you wouldn't have to worry about "how it looked" to anyone.
Once while at work, a criticism surfaced from a visitor that we workers were spending too much time chatting and should have used the time productively.
I can see how that might look from the outside, but our team was involved in many vital decisions, and I defend our time together as necessary for building the trust and support that made us able to function as a team. I really do believe it is important to network. In my current setting, one important job perk is the relationships among instructors. Without that, I believe we would flounder, personally and professoinally.
