Goegraphical teams called clusters have been formed in Extension with varying success over the last 10-15 years. Comaford's article makes a compelling case for teams created by seeking out the right people.

Her first tip is to build teams of diverse talents/roles in the group. In Extension we've looked at Myers Briggs, Colors, TEAM, etc to understand each other and work better together. Comaford suggests seeking out people to serve a visionaries, leaders, implementers and infrastructure builders/supporters.

Some clusters may have these different personalities in their present employees but many do not. Talking to members of cluster that work, the people Comaford mentioned are present. Talking with members of clusters that struggle, there are personality types that are missing. Some groups either lack the vision or leadership types to carry the group forward. Other groups get going in full speed but can not sustain due to lack of structure.

Her second tip is to have values everyone will uphold and to call people on behavior that doesn't support those values. This second part has been a real challenge in Extension teams. We could really use training on how to appropriately call people on behavior and have "permission" to do so. Rather than talking to the person directly, many staff go to someone else which casues triangulation. This fragments the group and breaks the trust needed to function properly.

Comaford's third tip is to choose people wisely by getting out to know people and letting them know you. She looks for people who are smart, get results, show committment and who can learn to be a team player (if they are not already).

Her final tip is building an extended team such as our County Extension Committees. I thought her profile was interesting as she looked at diversity in this group especially as we can apply it to our committees. She stated an industry heavyweight, model customer, credibility booster and a savvy business person with great connections. She also advised to give each a functional role to keep them focused and to communicate monthly.

As I talked with a co-worker about the entrepeneurial efforts of Extension he shared concern that he was not in the educational business to be a salesperson with the inherit risks. By building our Extension Committees with the profile suggested by Comaford, we could tap their expertise and turn them into a more functional group. Presently, we look at past users of our programs and potential new areas but in Traverse County we haven't looked at committee members as business contacts and teachers for us in this new endevour.

-- Anonymous, December 15, 1998