The Goal is More Important than the Role – Teamwork and Success!

Chamber Corner: August 8, 2011

By Scott Formo

           

            Not too long ago I was asked the question, “What exactly does the Chamber do?” Anyone who knows me knows that I have a difficult time keeping answers (written or spoken) short, but in short, the answer to that question is “A little bit of everything that goes on in the community is more than likely somehow linked to the Chamber in some fashion.”

            When you look at everything that the Chamber is involved in: Communication, Business, Retail & Tourism Marketing & Promotion, Business Recruitment & Retention, Economic Development, Planning, Event Coordination, and a whole bunch of TEAMWORK! When people don’t know who to call, it’s usually the Chamber or City Offices that get the first calls! From our office, through our Board of Directors, with the assistance of local area businesses, civic and service organizations, staff, and volunteer efforts – we do a lot within Pope County and the surrounding areas and serve as a proud member of several local area TEAMS.

            Like us here at the Chamber, there are many other individuals within our communities that work with at least one, sometimes many, organizations or volunteer efforts outside of their regular jobs and family life. It’s because of these types of people that many things within our community get done, many times without the proper credit.

It’s people like this who learned at a young age that “Giving Back” to your community and “Being an Active Member of the Community” makes a huge difference. Whether it’s serving on a Board of Directors, Volunteering for one specific event, helping a neighbor, volunteering for multiple events and/or organizations, etc., every single person plays their role in reaching a common goal, all of which makes this area such a wonderful place to live in.

            A great example of the type of teamwork and volunteerism is shown every time there is an event in the area. Whether it’s Waterama, Kids Day, Community Suppers, Heritage Days, the Pope County Fair, the Carson & Barnes Circus (which is this week, Wednesday at the Pope County Fair Grounds), the Starbuck Dragon Boat Festival (which is also this weekend) or projects such as the planters and trees that recently were purchased and put in place downtown Glenwood, it all takes teamwork to make it happen. More times than not, we may tend to take this for granted just because it is a part of our everyday life and we don’t always take the time to stop and say “Thanks” to all of the people that make things happen.

Not all groups are teams, but all teams are groups. The difference between a team and a group is that a team is interdependent for overall performance and a group only qualifies as a team only if its members focus on helping one another accomplish the same objectives. In today’s changing business environment, teams are emerging as a requirement for business success also and therefore everyone should constantly work towards helping groups become more effective teams.

It’s becoming more obvious that people are noticing the progress, teamwork, and volunteerism with our local area events, festivals, beautification, planning, and most importantly during emergency situations. I would like to first say “Thank You” to all those volunteers who helped out during the “crisis” times and extend that “Thank You” to everyone who took the time to appreciate the work that was being done. If you take one thing from this article, remember that “As the Challenges Escalate, the Need for TEAMWORK Elevates.”

I have learned over the years that one of the most valuable single factors which contribute to high levels of excellence and quality is team building and an individual’s ability to work with others. This involves high levels of cooperation, communication, persuasion, negotiations, compromises (when they make sense or are needed in order to move ahead as we saw with the recent Government shut-downs), and most importantly (at least in my eyes) – making others feel they are an important part of a team – no matter what their role!

Don’t ever be afraid to ask “What can I do” or think that any contribution is too small, because it all makes a difference! That became clear when I was getting my haircut and heard the stylist mention that after the storms, her 13-year old son was looking to help out and was discouraged a little when he couldn’t help out as much as he would have liked, but I can tell you that when he worked at the Senior Center to help make sandwiches for the sheltered, powerless, elderly, volunteers, and others – his contributions made a huge difference to many people in the area. That role was one that many found to be very important and he can now proudly say, “I helped by volunteering and made a difference to someone!”

I can say that I too am proud when I see today’s youth taking an active interest in “Giving Back” to the Community and hope that others in the area (young and old) can take that as an example and help out from time to time throughout the year and regular events, during emergencies, or at the very least remember to say “Thank You” to those that are able to help out and put the little inconveniences and frustrations aside by not focusing so much on the “here and now” and more focus on the “Big Picture” that we sometimes take for granted!

In times such as this past week when the devastating storms came through the area and you take a look at the overall big picture, I was out and about working in the community along with hundreds of others that worked from dusk to dawn over a span of a couple of days to get power restored throughout most of Pope County, opened up roadways, began cutting trees, removing boats, pontoons, and docks from the lakeshores, etc. As I was out working, I know that it was music to my ears when someone would simply say, “Thank you for your work” and I would venture to guess that every other person out there would say the same thing.

There is always going to be times of frustration and wanting immediate results, but with most of the County affected, I personally think that progress was made at tremendous speed and although there is a lot still left to do, we will continue to work together because that’s just we do it here in Pope County! Thanks again for great TEAMWORK and keep up the great TEAMWORK in our Community. That is something that we are always grateful for having!

Until next week…. Enjoy the short time we have left of summer and school is right around the corner! Thanks for reading and I welcome comments, questions, and/or suggestions for what the Chamber can be doing in the community. You might be surprised, because we might already be doing it!