As I think of my future career in Advertising and Public Relations, I think about what my day-to-day life may look like.
It could consist of team-based projects that involve working from of an advertising or design firm. The owner possibly would have set a norm, of hours that was expected for everyone to be at the office, say 8-6 pm with weekly team meetings, but flexibility for working from home. This doesn’t include hours put into at home “off the clock” collaboration through email and delivering materials through the cloud.
My career path may look different, if the company is only cloud based. I would make my own hours and working exclusively from home, conference calls, cloud collaboration and Google+ meetings, forwarding my finished project to the cloud, for the project director and copy writer to examine. Both scenarios will be a reflection of my work ethic, seeking good teamwork and communication skills. But what is teamwork and will it look different in the future?
According to Maria Bagshaw author of Is There No “I” in “Teamwork”?
Teamwork=collaboration + cooperation + compromise.
She emphasized that the overall message of this was formula was RESPECT.
“Each person on the team should contribute to the project to the best of his/her ability. Each individual should have a part for which they are responsible as an INDIVIDUAL, with an eye to collaboration, cooperation, and compromise. Each person should be held to a standard of how his/her part is accomplished and achieved. “(2013, Bagshaw)
Bagshaw spoke further about how a team thrives with open communication, respect, and trust. This would be true no matter where someone would be working as a team. If it was in a physical location, or in the cloud.
“Being responsible for your own feelings and keeping them in check for the good of the goal is combining “I-ness” with a teamwork approach.” (2013, Bagshaw)
After reading this article it made me think about my own feelings on teamwork and how I work best within a team. It also made me think back to my childhood, and how as small child we were encouraged to share, work as a team and to “Team Building Exercises”. Then as we get into high school the emphasis is put into individual work. You are not encouraged not collaborate amongst your peers because you “ will not working in groups in college”. It has been some time since I was in high school but I think it is important to start the group collaboration in High School so then as the student prepares for college, they will have developed the necessary communication skills, self confidence and respect for others that is necessary when working in a group. Since being at GVSU I have particapted in many groups, there are pro’s and cons’ s to both. But the best thing group work is the Google Drive. We add everything onto Google drive, edit and collaborate and give feed back.
I recently came across an article write by Wesley Robison from PSFK and his interview with Industrial Color, the creators of LightTable ,Matt Glueckert and Albert Song about working seamlessly with digital technology and global teamwork.
Matt Glueckert spoke about the structure of the workday and how everyone is trying to work between the old and new of analog and digital. He continues to talk about the LightTable, and all that it would offer someone who would like to have a hands approach with a project.
“Creatives tend to be very tactile learners, people who like to be hands on. I know, for me, that’s how I’ve been since I was young. I just needed to have my hands on my camera or to touch things. “(2013, Glueckert)
Albert Song describes the LightTable: “If you’ve ever seen a traditional light table. That’s what people are used to. They want a stack of images. They want a stack of slides and transparencies. They want to work with them in a really physical way” (2013, Song)
If you would like to see a picture and find out more information about the LightTable and creating a seamless global teamwork at http://www.psfk.com/2013/02/tools-seamless-teamwork.html.
I know being hands on learner and this would change the way I was able to see and do things with-in the Advertising and Public Relations profession and for many other professions.This shows how greatly technology is changing and I am interested to see where it takes my life and my future career. With the idea in mind that there is always more than just an“ I” and that there is also a “Team” with in my future career path.
Bagshaw, M. (2013, March 01). Is There No “I” in “Teamwork”?. Retrieved from http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/03/opinion/backtalk/is-there-no-i-in-teamwork-backtalk/
Robison, W. (2013, February 03). What are the tools to create seamless global teamwork?. Retrieved from http://www.psfk.com/2013/02/tools-seamless-teamwork.html
Rachael Crevier 