Team Is Paramount:

In staff meeting on Thursday we were discussing what our next Thematic Goal should be for LifePoint Church.  There were seven of us in the room.  The discussion ranged far and wide, but when we were done, I think many of us were surprised at where we ended up.  And... I think it was because we were working together and there was more than one of us.  Here are a list of things I think happen when a team works on a project together.  These are in no particular order.

• People have time to think while others are speaking: Those that spoke were expanding what others had observed after a time of silence.  One "breakthrough" was how we plan our work and then in turn plan our year.  From an outsider looking in that may have been an easy one, but it was an eureka for us. It came after a time of silence one of our team members was experiencing.  She was thinking about a comment made several minutes earlier and was working it over in her mind.  When it came out it was an eureka for us all. 
• At best when we work alone our ideas are half finished: Even the best of us can take an idea only so far.  After that we need help with implications, action steps and resources for the idea.  I have found myself meeting with someone over lunch talking about a great idea.  We get just so far with it and I'll say, "We need to get four or five people in a room and flesh this thing out and make it work."  Working together makes those germs of ideas realities.
• We all need affirmation: When we share ideas I have found that 90% of the time people at least think the idea is worth considering.  You see heads nodding in agreement and smiles on faces.  It really does something for you to see the responses of your colleagues.
• You can't carry it through to conclusion alone:  When we came to some conclusions in our meeting it was obvious that everyone around the room needed to help.  No one was going to be left out.  That's a lot better and efficient than coming up with an idea and then having to sell your team/colleagues on the idea.

Okay, so those are three reasons why I think working together on a team is better than working alone.  I'm sure there are more.  As I think of them, I'll post them here.

Thanks for reading ...  What do you think?

Blessings,

Dave