Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Art of Working Together by Angelica


On a mild day in the middle of November, students at NYISE have allot to say about what it takes to "work as a team". From basketball to friendship, students shared how we can work together for the success of the entire group.

We began by warming up to the idea of working together by getting on our feet and "doing something" together - we built a human machine with each individual student stepping into the center of the circle with a sound and movement. Each student took turns adding onto the one before with a complimentary sound and movement until we were all participating as individual mechanisms of the larger machine. By beginning to work together in this playful way, the ideas of what it takes to collaborate began to form in our minds.

We separated into smaller groups for discussion, and "listening" and "participating" topped the lists of what it takes to work together. These two things are not as easy as saying them, but require diligent care and attention to when working as a team.

"A successful team requires a team effort!" and all students recognized that taking responsibilities for our actions, bother the positive and the negative ones, are essential to true collaboration. Our individual behavior in a team can come in different shapes and sizes, sometimes we are helpful, respectful, supportive and friendly. Other times we might be frustrated, annoyed, and overwhelmed. The reality is that we are all human, and the only way to get through both the good and the tougher collaborations is to keep listening with an open mind, put in your part with your best effort, and see where the combined efforts of all members involved will take all of the participants as a group.

The honesty which was present in all students regarding how hard it actually is to work together was humbling and illuminating. We all agreed that "practice" is what it takes to make sure we are ALL as successful as we can be TOGETHER.
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Angelica Pinna-Perez, RDT, LMSW

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