Teamwork

Although most of you have your own jobs and work more or less independently, during the next five minutes I want to talk about teamwork.

At first, asking those of you who work alone to work with the rest of us may sound strange—but it isn’t really. All I’m asking is that you consider the rest of us as you work.

We all know working together means lending a hand when asked—or even when you’re not asked, if you can see that someone needs one. Most everyone does these things already.
So I’d like to talk about other ways we can work together—ways that may not come to mind as readily. For instance, consider maintenance. When you draw special equipment or borrow a tool from a neighbor, you return it (especially if you have signed for it). But, if something is wrong with the equipment or tool, do you turn it in for repair? If the head of a hammer comes loose while you are using it, do you return it to the tool crib for a replacement?
Next, let’s think about housekeeping. In the lunchroom, you toss your sandwich wrapper and apple core in the garbage can before leaving. In the washroom, you put towels in the waste bin without a second thought.

But how about your work area? Do you keep it cleaned up so others can step in and start where you leave off without having to spend precious time trying to find things?

Look at it this way: If you are in a jam and need a quick assist, will the person you ask be able to hand you a hammer in a hurry, or will it take five minutes to find one? You know how this sort of thing can go. You ask for help; the person you ask can’t find what you want. You get angry; your friend gets angry. Then you have to start all over.

There are other points to this housekeeping business, too. It should go without saying that if you make a mess, you clean it up. But suppose someone else goes by and accidentally leaves a grease smear next to where you’re working. You don’t notice until the worker is out of earshot.

Who’s to clean it up? You can’t leave your station to get the worker who dropped the grease to come back. If the grease isn’t cleaned up, someone (maybe even you) might slip on it. So take 30 seconds, and wipe it up.

There are lots of other ways we can work together—anything from a friendly "Hey, your shoe is untied" to offering an extra pair of hands when a heavy load needs moving.

But often, the help you give other people is indirect and sometimes not noticed. For instance, a "wet paint" sign is taken for granted as long as you can see it. But if it’s not posted, or is removed before the paint is dry. … You get the idea.

Here are a few points to remember:

In summary, working together covers a lot of things: good manners, a good rapport among us, and the sort of decent, everyday behavior that makes this a good place to work.