A few days ago I wrote a little note to someone about success being when we as a team, at the end of a shift, can look at each other and say, 'Good shift, thank you!' I said something about working together to make things go the way they're supposed to go and how nice it is when everything does go smooth as silk (paraphrasing here).
What I didn't say is that the stronger success, the more meaningful thank-you, and the deeper sense of teamwork doesn't come during those smooth-as-silk shifts.
That stronger, more meaningful, teamwork shows itself during the rough shifts.
It shows up when the whole team is worn to a frazzle, inches away from burnout, working short (again), half a dozen sundowners are hitting their stride, supper is a mess, everyone has to go to the bathroom at the same time, and nobody wants to go to bed.
We know we've got a good team when everyone's still smiling - through it all - and at the end of the shift we can grin at each other and say, 'That was rough going for a while there but we did it! Good shift, thank you, see you tomorrow!' And come back to do it again, and again, and again ... together ...
Making it through even the 'easy' shifts isn't always easy, but making it through the rough ones is always rough. That's when a team finds out what they're made of, and that's when true success comes. That's when being able to function as a cohesive team really matters.
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