Coordinator - Sweet Adelines International

Chapter 1: Team Tools
Regional Management Team Handbook
4/13
• A = Act. Reply via phone, fax, or email to the request. If your schedule
will not allow you to act today, mark on your calendar the deadline for
the task, and note in which file the background information can be found.
• F = File.
• Keep a running record on a notepad of phone calls made and received. Date the
calls and briefly describe them. You’ll be amazed at how many times this record
will serve as a reference or jog your memory about some action that needs to be
taken.
• Keep a photocopy file handy for items to be copied; make copies weekly to
distribute or file.
• Pace yourself. Don’t let paperwork stack up and then look at it in a panic a month
later. Set aside a couple of hours per week to keep on top of your mail and reports.
Your Relationships
The kind of memory that your term as a regional coordinator will evoke in the years to
come depends more on how you do your job rather than what you do in the job. Your
relationships with the other leaders on your team as well as with your chorus and
international contacts can help or hinder your ability to do your job.
Relationships with Team Members
Finding team harmony takes time, but it is an important goal to pursue. If team members
are having trouble getting along, they will not come close to achieving their true potential
as a team. You can help group interaction by being positive, developing a sense of fair
play, showing respect for others’ opinions, and keeping a sense of humor.
One of the first steps you can take toward forming good relationships with your team
members is to become familiar with each coordinator’s job description. (See Matrix of
Responsibilities located in the Appendix section of this handbook.) It is essential that you
and your teammates define specific areas of responsibility early in your terms, while at
the same time acknowledging the overlap among your responsibilities. The key is mutual
understanding about who will do what. Once primary responsibilities are agreed upon
and understood, play your position. Learn what’s expected of you—duties, standards of
performance, time frames, and deadlines.
Teamwork, by definition, implies interdependence. Others on the team depend on you for
their success, their effectiveness. Because teamwork carries an element of risk, even in
the best of circumstances, it’s important to protect and nurture the trust level. If others can
count on you to be there and fulfill your responsibilities, the team will grow. If you are
careless about covering your assignments, teammates will have to abandon their duties to
bail you out, lowering their trust level in your abilities. When each member of the team
does what’s expected of her, the team achieves a coordinated effort.
Sometimes you will need to cover for teammates, since everyone needs a little help now
and then. Show grace by forgiving teammates who make a mistake, and share the spot
Team Tools • 1-35