Great Fundraising Organizations, by Alan Clayton. Book cover.

The most successful team I've ever been part of

I’ve been completing application forms for volunteer opportunities and aside from the fact that they are very long, it struck me that they are almost indistinguishable from job application forms.  It appears charities are becomming fussier about who they will accept as volunteers; and I think this is a good thing.  But that’s for another blog.  What I liked were the thought-provoking questions around successful teams and team dynamcis.


My favourite question asked what was the most successful team I have been part of, why it was successful and what role did I play?  I started to draft an answer around clarity of responsibilities, shared goals, not operating in silos, respect for team members etc. but struggled to think of a professional example that genuinely had all these qualities.

Then I had a bit of a Eureka moment.

Without doubt the most successful team I am, or have ever been part of, is my marriage.  This has nothing to do with my professional life (although a great home life certainly makes work easier) but I was initially shocked at just how many of the same management theory principles apply:

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Great Fundraising Organizations, by Alan Clayton. Buy now.

Funny (or is it?) how management theory and professional perceived wisdom can mirror my personal life so much.  What do you think?  What could your work teams learn from your associations and relationships outside of work?

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