TEAM SPIRIT

From time to time, it’s very likely that we find ourselves working with a set of people with common goals as ours. This could be at work or in informal settings such as our residential environments. So, you see, it’s important that we learn to be enthusiastic team players. While a team could be a group of people working on a rural community water project, it could be you and your siblings planning a birthday party for your mom, or it could even be a small group of old course mates planning a reunion.

Are you a team player?
For a start, do your best to answer the following questions (using yes/no) and keep in mind the number of yeses you have. You do not have to share this with anyone ;).

1) Do you find it easy to communicate with others amicably?
2) Are you reliable (can everyone trust you when you say you’ll do something)?
3) Are you always positive about tasks ahead?
4) Are you flexible (are you willing to change your orientation on a subject matter if need be)?
5) Are you willing to accept criticism?
6) Are you supportive?
7) Do you share your knowledge willingly?
8) Are you tolerant?

TEAMS AND TEAM SPIRIT
Simply put, a team is a group of individuals working together to achieve a common goal.
Team spirit is the feeling of pride and loyalty that exists among the members of a team. It is a positive attitude and sense of belonging a member possesses that simply makes them want their team to excel.

Why are teams necessary?
They are because nobody knows it all and honestly, the best way to get the best results on a task or project is to pull from a variety of strengths and expertise.
Source: “trust me”

In a team, you may either be leading or following a leader. Either ways, you must play your part.
Here are some general tips to take note of:

1) Communicate: Learn to pass your message across in the way you intend to. Be honest. Always let your teammates know what is going on. If you are facing difficulties, ask for help. If you cannot meet up with a deadline, speak up on time instead of “ghosting” so that you do not drag the team back!
2) Be punctual: Always be on time. Let your 8 am be 8 am. It’s unfashionable to be the one everyone always waits for.
3) Be respectful: Treat everyone else the way you would like to be treated. Always use your words wisely for you cannot take back something you said.
4) Be humble: Remember it’s impossible for you to know it all. Do not look down on people. Most importantly, do not be credit thirsty. For instance, when something works out, do not go about announcing how it wouldn’t have been possible without your input.
5) Be willing to take corrections and accept criticism: We may hate to see it but we’re not always right. When your errors are pointed out, do take it as an opportunity to learn and do better.
6) Avoid backbiting and slandering other teammates: This may sound funny but gossiping gradually leads to formation of mini groups within a team and this impedes progress. If you have an issue with a team member, speak to them about it instead of wasting all that time making them look bad in front of others.
7) Pull your weight: If you’re on a team, be sure that you’re contributing positively. Play your part.

In addition, a team lead should:
8) Take charge: That’s why you are team lead. Basically, imagine you’re the captain of a ship. You do not want that ship to sink!
9) Be flexible and open minded: There are many ways to arrive at good results and it doesn’t always have to go your way. You should be ready to listen and sieve through the ideas from others.
10) Tell people WHAT to do not HOW to do it: Avoid micromanaging people (i.e., monitoring them every second of the day). Funny thing is it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get the job done faster.
11) Lead by example: Sounds cliché but yes, people tend to watch your actions more than they listen to your words. Imagine preaching punctuality but you always come late. Eventually, everyone stops taking you seriously.
12) Delegate. Delegate. Delegate: If you like to be in control always, you may fall for the “oh I’ll just do it myself” trap but isn’t that taking on too much? Why not put reliable people in charge of tasks and hold those people accountable?

Finally, please remember that you may not know it all but you definitely have something valuable to add!

If it bothers you so much, why do you do it?

Living in this era of COVID-19 and its associated lockdown, it is clear that the negative effects of the pandemic are endless but we are not here to talk about this. As the days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into months, almost everything we’ve always known as the “norm” has been replaced by an online version. Interestingly, online courses existed before now but for some reason they seem to annoy us so much these days. In my opinion, it is probably because we can no longer make the usual “I don’t have enough time” excuse to put off taking or completing these courses.

Gradually, these uncompleted online courses start to cause a nagging feeling at the back of our minds. It is worse if you follow motivational speakers on social media platforms. The lockdown is depressing enough as it is, and sometimes you go online hoping to find one or two hilarious posts you can drown yourself in. You find them effortlessly and you start laughing but the next minute, you scroll down and you’re hit with “Have you finished that online course?” and then you get irritated again.

Undeniably, completing an online course amidst all these uncertainties is difficult. There is no guarantee that you’d even be alive long enough to make use of it. This is why you need to ask yourself honestly: If it bothers me so much, why do I do it? Why are you taking that online course? Is it because it is free? Is it really helpful to you? Is it beneficial to your career development? Do you even have any interests in that field? Are you taking it just because you want say that you took an online course too?

It’s okay if you do not like the answers to these questions. I do not like them too. If the answers annoy you, it is probably because you’re taking that course for all the wrong reasons. That’s okay. I’m on that table too.

Stop. Wait a minute. I do not want you to leave here with the wrong message.

By all means, please take online courses but only because they are of use to you. Avoid information overload just because the source of information is “free”. So the next you see “join this free masterclass on… ” or “udemy is offering a 100 % discount on the following courses”, you should sign up for that course because you need it and not just because it’s free.

On a final note, these are confusing times for everyone. Even the World Health Organisation says the world is in an uncharted territory. There’s absolutely no need to put undue pressure on yourself.

Breathe.

Burning Bridges…… Or Not

I’ve always been in support of burning bridges, my most popular conclusions on the topic being “Well, not everyone can be in your life” “You really don’t have to put up with that person” “I will never set foot in that place again” “I can never need your help”. At the moment, I am no longer sure of my stance on the matter. I will blame this on an interesting incident that happened a few months back, while I was on duty in the Large Animal Clinic.

This Ouda ram (let’s call him Rammie) had come in the Friday before with “bottle jaw” so I knew I had a severe helminthosis (Worm Infestation) case on my hands. It was the first time I was faced with a bottle jaw case so I was really excited about it. I’d treated Rammie but he was still weak and was kept on board for closer observation.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon. I’d gone to the pen around 12 noon to bring the ram out – Recall I said that he was weak so he wasn’t tethered. I had a little free time on my hands so I decided to check on my colleagues in the small animal clinic – I really should have minded my business. Around 2 pm, I went back to my duty post but Rammie wasn’t where I left him. I wasn’t very bothered because I was sure he would be around. After about 15 minutes, I became worried and I started searching. I looked everywhere but Rammie was nowhere to be found. I alerted the other doctors on call and we all searched thoroughly but he still was nowhere to be found. This continued till around 4 pm and I was sweating profusely. What was I going to tell Rammie’s owner??? What was I going to tell the Director??? Would I get a query??? How much did an adult ram go for???

Suddenly, out of the blues, I heard “Is this not the ram we are looking for?” I ran to the direction of the voice. Lo and behold, Rammie was lying in a gutter at the back of the hospital complex. Ugh. In my opinion, he was just tired of being poked by the evil doctor. To my delight however, he was fine.

Now the best part of this story is that the person who found him was one of the hospital casual staff I had sworn to never greet again because she had disrespected me so much and had spoken to me so condescendingly for most of my stay in the hospital. If you are a petite female doctor practicing anywhere in Southwestern Nigeria, you may be able to relate. I never expected her to lift a finger to help me. I was pleasantly surprised and I could feel every hard feeling I had towards her melt away.

-Just kidding. Did you really think one act would make me forget everything ???

Let’s not lose focus. If you’re reading this, I do not want you to be like me.

Mind your business. Uche, face your work oh.
If you can, do not burn bridges with people. On ne sait jamais. You never know.

P.S – This is not a picture of Rammie but I thought you should meet another friend of mine.