It cannot be done in a day….a week, not even in a year.  The making of standards which drive any programme, any plan, any concept is a time-honoured investment which requires blood, sweat and TEARS (Time, Expertise, Access, Resources and Support).

I teach a group of Communication Arts and Technology students at UTech, Jamaica.  They are young (straight-out-of high-school young), vulnerable, light-headed, anxious.  We have to teach them to become professionals and to display professional behaviours.  We have to create for them, a basic set of standards which guides their behaviours and the behaviours of those to come.  So what did we do?  We made it a 50/50 project – class discussions,, interviews, discussions on what could and should be the norm of professional engagements.  We agreed, disagreed, argued, apologised, threw everything out, started over, pulled a few things back in, piloted, piloted and piloted.

The result?  Click the link below to view.

Professional Engagement – McKoy

So the literature tells us that within any team, there are bound to be challenges.  Fine, I get that.  Challenges which range from miscommunication, mistrust, personal clashes, personal agendas, power issues, conflicts regarding why and how it should be done and by whom.  I get that too, I really do.  But shouldn’t there be an “I” in team?

Should that “I” be the one to engage responsibly with the responsibilities assigned?  Should that “I” evaluate himself/herself and make the necessary vital contributions required of the team?  We seriously ought to reconsider the spelling, meaning and implications of having an “I” in team!

The group’s identity would be stronger and more clearly defined as each individual would have a clear sense of role and responsibility.  Decision making may be easier, conflicts may be more readily resolved, weight pulling may be less problematic and finger pointing less frequent.

Shouldn’t there be an “I” in team and shouldn’t that “I” contribute to the bigger group by being  initiative, intuitive, identifiable, imaginative, interested and interesting?  Shouldn’t that “I” be a part of a greater good by being inspirational  and impressive?

Shouldn’t there be an “I” in team?