Choosing your Team

Let's talk about what makes a team shall we - 

A team by definition (courtesy of the dictionary;-) :

 is a group of individuals working together to achieve their goal.

As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, "[a] team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to information, resources, and skills and who seek to combine their efforts to achieve a common goal".^[1]

^...through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Naresh Jain (2009) claims:

To be frank then - just having a group of people doesn't make you a team.  In thoughts of you and your concussion recovery, simply having a bunch people working on their own thing in your life, doesn't make them a team. 

A team needs to come together, to communicate, to collaborate all with the common goal of moving you forward in your recovery!  And in case you weren't aware ~ YOU are an integral player on this team. 

I shared in an earlier post how I felt the community you surround yourself is a game changer for your journey.  I stand by that, 100%, but your team is also a part of your community.  And so, ensuring you have the right team by your side, in your corner, on your sidelines, front and center ...... is equally important. 

How do you know if you have a good team? How do you know that everyone is playing nice in the sandbox?

Well - in addition to seeing what I say in the video above ;-),  here are a few other questions you can ask yourself:

1) Who are my team players ?  

2) What is the part each member is playing in the big picture?
Think of it like a sports team and ask what position each of your "team members" plays and how do they contribute to the overall goal? 

 Lets take a soccer team (For all the soccer players out there I apologize if I get this wrong...... I played fastball growing up and then did west coast swing dancing so I may mix some things up here..... )

Goalie:  The goalie's job is to keep the ball out of your own teams net and when they block the ball they redirect it back to their own player 

Defense: The defensemen is the last level of defence before the net - their job is to do everything they can to keep the ball ahead of them and towards the other end of the field 

Midfield:  This athlete needs to be flexible as their role is dynamic in the game switching between offence and defence.  They help defenders keep the ball down the field, they pass the ball forward or if the opportunity arises they can score on the opposing net. 

You can see that each position on the soccer team (and this is only 3) has a roll to play towards the BIGGER PICTURE.  For this soccer team the immediate goal is to win the game, a bigger goal might be winning a total number of games to make it play-offs.   If one position stopped communicating with the other it would make things more challenging to reach their shared goal - not impossible, but challenging. 

Now take this to your health care team - who is there? and what is their role?  Can you break that down for me?   If you can FANTASTIC - I would love if you commented and shared it below, or put it on your instagram and tagged me @natasha.wilch in it.  This is an area that so many in our community struggle with and if we can see some amazing examples that are working for people out there lets celebrate it! 

If you CANT do this task - then maybe it's time to sit down with each of your health care practitioners and have this conversation with them!  There is never a better time like the present to regroup, reconnect and realign. 

3) Do I feel listened to and respected? 

This is important! Do you feel like when you go into your appointment your sharing what's gone well, what hasn't gone well, where your struggling that your practitioner is HEARING you? Or are then smiling and nodding but you get the sense that they didn't really take in an iota of what you said?  You need to know your concerns are being met and you need to know that, again, you are on the same page. 

4) Are they open to collaborative care? 

Concussion Rehab is not a tick box, do this then do that, move onto the next thing sort of rehab.  Your brain is a network and each system contributes to another.  There are times that you are working with a physical therapist for whiplash, but you also have additional concussion symptoms, and your dealing significantly with PTSD from the incident as well.  One person can not help you with all of that!  So in this scenario (which is not uncommon at all) you may be working with a PT for the musculoskeletal aspects of the whiplash, another practitioner for the concussion issues and then a registered clinical counsellor or psychologist on the PTSD.  

Do each of the practitioners know about the other?  Are they all working towards a shared goal that YOU, the key player in this team, has shared is important?  If required - are they willing to speak with one another, email? And do they show each other respect! 

It's important to remember that each team member comes with their own unique strengths and weaknesses.  It's utilizing each other strengths, being humble and recognizing our weaknesses, that allow us to come together to have a better outcome than if we worked solo.  One person's strength may be another's weakness - and so the person who is weak will not only have their own strengths but learn from those around them.  That's the beautiful part of it! 

If you have a great team ~ a team that is on the same page, that communicates, that collaborates, that shares a vision, and that works together - you are in a good place.