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One of the unexpected skills I’ve been learning this semester is how to be a better team member. In one particular class, we work in groups of seven to produce new public diplomacy initiatives every week, and it’s a challenge to coordinate schedules and take everyone’s thoughts and ideas into consideration. To make it even more uncomfortable, the professor changes the group members every 4 weeks. So, just as we’ve worked out the kinks and hit our stride, we are broken up and forced back into conflict resolution mode. Of course this is intentional, and it’s a brilliant idea. I haven’t practiced being a team member since middle school. Do you remember assigning group roles to everyone: chair, assistant chair, recorder and reporter? As a grad student, and in the work place, it’s tempting to silo oneself. Certainly, it can seem faster to get work done when the details aren’t open for discussion, but this attitude is not sustainable in a public diplomacy environment that thrives on one’s ability to communicate a message. It seems like few things at DoS are created in vacuums, so now is my chance to figure out what works and what still needs work.
