Making a Positive Impact
How do you think working in collaboration will make a positive impact on your connections?
It always helps to take a step back from the situation and see where others are coming from. Showing empathy to others is a great way for them to feel understood and share that same respect to you and your ideas.
We have live animals in our care. We are making a major policy change in the way we care for the animals and to add more enrichment in their lives. My department has been responsible for their care but needed support and help from other departments to bring in staff from other departments to help. I met with those department heads to see if they would commit their staff to facilitate the changes. Once we had consensus among ourselves, we went up the corporate ladder to get the approvals. It was interesting to read the principles and see how we worked together according to the principles without the realization we had done this! It brought together managers who had not seen eye-to-eye on many topics but I marveled at how they worked together to achieve this goal.
The positive impact is that people can set aside personal attitudes when necessary and truly connect to achieve great things.
All points of view should be considered. Collaboration makes for good communication. Two heads are better than one.
I believe that if we all work together and work not solely within our department we can learn from each other and gain greater knowledge of how to grow as a cooperation.
Samantha, That is correct! Great perspective! Choosing to turn that positive attitude on is so important! Keep it up.
Dr. Jean Norris
I am one that believes in having a good attitude show even if I am having a ruff day! I know that I wna tto make a positive impact on our students and having a good attitude is one of the things that helps me to achieve that!
Chelsea,
That's an excellent approach! What happens in those situations when you have to move fast and can't collaborate?
Dr. Jean Norris
I always seek advice from other reps. Also they seek advice from me. We all have our own ways of doing things and its nice to see and try it from a different prospective
Excellent awareness, Julie. It is so important for staff members to work together cohesively as it does impact your students.
Dr. Jean Norris
I have seen that when staff members work in collaboration, more tasks are completed, the balance is more stable, and staff morale is high. Students witnessing staff members working together are more likely to show respect and create less havoc. I have also seen the effects when staff members are not working as a team. Little gets done but staff members think other staff members should be doing this or that and morale is very low. Students pick up on this and use it to their advantage. Staff members must be and stay on the same page and talk through any conflicts and resolve situations immediately.
I think that the positive impact of working in collaboration will allow for a greater pool of positive ideas. Some people are better at problem solving. This is because they are open to change and not stuck in a rut. Each of the decision making collaborators need to be open to change. It will not work if they can't be flexible.
That's great Elizabeth! What can you specifically do to create a collaborative environment at your institution?
Dr. Jean Norris
Working together with others in our office will help admissions in the sense that we will have a better understanding as to what each department does.
Great point Katherine, positive interpersonal relationships can impact our personal attitude and success. What can you do to encourage collaboration at with your team?
Dr. Jean Norris
The interpersonal relationships that you form at work are key to your job. If you get along harmoniously with your coworkers, these positive interpersonal relationships will fuel your work achievement and success.
Very nice. You might find that your approach is contagious and you might see others picking up on it too. :)
Dr. Jean Norris
Keeping team members informed in meetings, having campus quarterly meetings and when making groups to plan events, outreach activities (etc) involve employees from different departments.
Excellent observation Bobbi! A happy team will typically go above and beyond for each other which can lead to being more collaborative. How can you create an environment of collaboration at your campus/school?
Dr. Jean Norris
I think it will allow people to feel like they are, at least, being heard. It may also make them feel valued which will help build trust and strong relationships. In Admissions, strong relationships with co-workers and employees can mean a happy and successful team who want to go above and beyond for eachother.
