Teams


Well it’s a time for a change from Christmas Card Gate.
The cottage looks like the Wreck Of The Hesperus and I’m getting things ship shape again, with cards being wrapped up and put away, clothes washed and floors scrubbed clean
I’m also sorting out my Christmas gifts one of which is a lovely Lino cut of a wood, a gift from my twin sister. 
I’ve taken down a framed award I received on behalf of a ward team I once ran and swapped it for the linocut. 
I’m in the process of finding a place for the award and have been left musing about all of the teams I have been a part of over the years


Each team I have worked with has possessed it’s own strengths and weaknesses.
Of course this is governed in part by the type of leadership employed for and by each one and the mutual support systems set up between the individual members.

The massive Intensive Care Team was perhaps the most structured, technically astute and cohesive team whereas the  psychiatric ward team, by nature of the work was more lateral thinking, humorous and anarchic. 
I am conceited enough to think of the spinal injury team I once lead was one of the happiest but it was certainly the most eclectic given it’s teaching hospital status, speciality and situation in the melting pot that is Sheffield in South Yorkshire. 
Sheffield nurses, in my experience are much more vocal and militant than any others I have worked alongside.
Not a bad trait I think.
The hospice nurses in general  have a pace all of their own and remind me of the African nurses I have had the pleasure of working alongside with in Yorkshire . 
Nurses that glided but were never hurried

Teams run well where support and respect is mutual, management is fair, evident and consistent and humour is encouraged.  

A mixture of sexes, ages and lifestyles help too




55 comments:

  1. Don't forget when you played in that rugby union team as a hooker.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I so wish I could have played rugby in school

      Delete
  2. That is a beautiful picture.
    Your sister has good taste !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. It’s pleasing and quite striking the more you look at it

      Delete
  4. A beautiful picture.

    Being part of, or heading a good team is really rewarding isn't it. Leading lots of teams of volunteer workers has been some of the highlights of my life. Knowing that you are helping them as much as they are helping others is something so very special. And seeing younger members of a team learning from their elders and gaining in confidence with interaction with the older folk is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leading volunteers is the trickiest of jobs I think, much harder than managing a paid team

      Delete
  5. That's a great picture.

    I applaud front line healthcare workers!! And yes, a good team is essential!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ve working in less effective teams too , badly led ones

      Delete
  6. A lovely, calming lino print, which will fit into your cottage perfectly. When a team "clicks" it is so rewarding, and when that team is involved in any caring situation, even more so. You are not conceited at all. Justly proud, I'd say. xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And a little conceited lol

      Delete
    2. Well, OK, I concede that one if you want! Still, nowt wrong with blowing your own trumpet once in a while. Oh, God - that could start the trolls off! xx

      Delete
    3. Lol, let’s hope not

      Delete
  7. How does your experience of the militant and the vocal fit into this post about wonderful teams? I can see the pulling together, working, happiness, fair share of work load shared by each etc but I don't see how the militant and vocal fits into the good team effort. Perhaps you just mean you all sang from the same hymn sheet. Your sentence beginning "I am conceited ... is followed a little further on by a but which suggests you may have missed out a not. Is this so or did you mean to use and instead of but?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wanted to underline that the Sheffield nurses were and are much more assertive and quick to fight for their rights than many others I’ve worked with elsewhere. Maybe militant wasn’t the right word but it sort of resonates with me living in South Yorkshire for so long.
      Not I meant to write “but”…, the but was used to lead away from my conceited view that my team was the happiest a sort of change the subject if that makes sense

      Delete
    2. Ah I see. I am not particularly a team person but I don't think that is a failing it is just fact, I prefer working alone. I did work for four years in a small team with the council and we all gelled together well which in my personal experience of not being a team person was unique and welcome and I enjoyed it but I was still often the odd one out in decision making! If I see a job advertised that says "must be a good team player" I am immediately put off applying. I get along well with people but I don't want to be in a team with them.

      Delete
    3. To me the phrase “team player” just means adaptable

      Delete
  8. On your last post you implied I was a troll and told me to "fuck off ".
    Several commentators felt any card was a positive gesture .Some of these people were on a limited budget .
    I made a polite comment saying the post could be misinterpreted.
    I am assuming this clarification will only result in more abuse .
    I am no troll .
    You were one of the first followers of my blog .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. I’m not discussing the previous post which was hijacked by at least one troll , pretending to be several new characters
      But my interpretation of your comment was that it was rude

      If you got caught up in the crossfire I’m sorry

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:08 pm

      This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    3. From now on, and this is nothing about being happy or not happy at being critiqued , I will not allow anon comments to stand. I maybe flawed but I am honest ,
      And I won’t now allow cowards to comment without giving their real name to stand up against a comment

      Delete
    4. Anonymous7:23 pm

      Most people who comment here do not use their real name, even though they give a "name". The vast majority. Never mind. Your blog. Your life. There is usually a reason for solitary lonliness if not sought.

      Delete
    5. I think I feel sad for people that hide behind anonymity
      Very sad

      Delete
    6. Would you prefer they invent fake non-de-plumes like almost everyone here? What difference would that make?

      Delete
    7. I would prefer if you didn’t bother to come at all…pseudonym or not. It strikes me just coming ….visiting in order to criticise and nothing else, shows a flaw in your personality

      Really you must do something more productive with your time

      Delete
    8. AdamAnon7:41 pm

      When I used to comment regularly over a year ago, with a name given, the vast majority of my comments were supportive or in agreement; then with the occasional most minor contrary viewpoint I got completely uneccesarily told to fuck off a couple of times, which rather took me aback, so I fucked off, as I will again. My only incentive today was to maybe get you to look inwards a bit, as it might help you. Fucking off...

      Delete
    9. I don’t need your help to be self aware
      I have that box already ticked

      The effort you show in correcting me, pointing out my wrong doings, or underling motivations and meanings that you have no authority or proper insight to comment on smacks of obsession.
      I think you and I have said enough.
      This conversation is closed

      Delete
    10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    11. Lol no , I have the last word

      Delete
    12. I hate it when people assume they know everything about people who comment on blogs. I wouldn't dream of not using my real name; I don't see the point in pretending to be someone else. So Anonymous at 7.23 your assumption of "most" is wrong.

      Jo in Auckland

      Delete
  9. I, like you, can get behind cleaning like mad and get the house ship shape, decorations lovely packed away, house cleaned and organized...a nice way to start the New Year off.

    Love and hugs John

    ReplyDelete
  10. I need to clean-but where to start-the 4 dogs have returned from a mud bath and so have I-
    I am quite sure there are people who cannot work in a team-when I helped invigilating during exam times some helpers had egos too large and they had an negative effect x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ve enjoyed licking the house into shape

      Delete
  11. Your concluding observations about teams are spot on!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m waiting to have comments that disagree

      Delete
  12. Barbara Anne3:29 pm

    Your gift from Janet is unique and perfect!
    I agree with you that it's all about who you work with as to whether the team works well together. The group of Emergency Room doctors and nurses I worked with for 5 years was nearly perfectly in sync and it was a pleasure to go to work.
    You should be proud of your achievements in leading some of the teams you worked with. That is no small thing. Applause!!

    Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sync is a good word , and is one I missed
      I totally agree

      Delete
  13. You need more wall space. There are a handful of people I have worked with over the years that stick in my memory, mostly good, a couple ironically bad (the college graduate who literally couldn't change a light bulb or complete a contract without errors.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poor managers are common everywhere
      The nhs doesn’t generally invest well in training managers either

      Delete
  14. I think that often the Peter Principle applies here John and in my own experience I have learned more about it since I retired from my profession and could look back objectively on the way things worked.

    I adore that Lino cut and although my walls are absolutely covered with original art I would seriously think of buying that I find it so beautiful. IAny idea where your sister bought it please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it was online. I will check and let you know

      Delete
  15. "Christmas Card Gate" -- LOL!

    I love the new linocut print of the forest!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know , the trolls were wetting their knickers and queuing up to berate me

      Delete
  16. That linoprint has got those silver birches nicely.

    It is good when a team just clicks together well, then it is really teamwork and much more is achieved by looking out not in

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My taste in art has changed drastically over the years

      Delete
  17. Love the print, it is very serene. Maybe your framed commendation could be hung upstairs in your office?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ps-I have a painting that I bought from a local lady who exhibits at our local village hall at our annual art exhibition-it's mounted similarly to yours but unfortunately the painting inside has slid down-it's of trees in a woodland with sunlight streaming from above-I love silver birch trees-they are a protector-I had a wooden chalet for many years and close to the window a beautiful silver birch tree-Nuthatches crept up the trunk and tree creepers crept down x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ps-correction tree creepers Never creep down a tree and a nuthatch will go up And down x(sorry)x

      Delete
    2. Wonderful lino cut. I don't usually do art but once in a blue moon I see something I would like to own. That lino cut is one of them. I love silver birches.

      Jo in Auckland

      Delete
  19. I find leadership style of management in most organizations dictates how people function within any group. I like the art that Janet bought for you. She has good taste.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I still remember your description of two lovely nurses who were sisters and who you worked with when starting your profession. They had a serene and reassuring manner and softly sang while working with really ill patients.

    ReplyDelete

I love all comments Except abusive ones from arseholes