Fast Company Article for April 1999 "Total Teamwork" by Paul Roberts, page 149.

Total teamwork is a work approach we can all learn from.

The Mayo Clinic uses a total teamwork approach with it's physicians, nurses, and residents. They work together and decide what is right for each patient.

The article tells of the esperiences of Dr Lynn Hartmann, an oncologist on the 12th floor of the Mayo Clinic. The article followed him with two of his patients and how a decision was arrived at for these patients.

The article also tells about Mayo's scheduling and how the clinic is careful with that so the patients can flow quickly through the clinic.

My family has had several experiences at the Mayo Clinic. I quess I never really understood the business angle of Mayo. There always seems to be lots of teams, lot of interaction, and lots of actvity. Now I can see that that is what it takes to get a job done.

In working with the University of Minnesota Extension Service, a team approach is often used. People in each office work as a team. People in each cluster work together to get questions answered, research completed, and programs planned.

As an Nutrition Education Assistant we work as a close team. I feel our cluster is really lucky to have the NEAs and we work together really well. We find that everyone has a strong area and that really helps the team to cover a broad area. I took this article to an NEA meeting. We brought up several points as to how many times we work as a team, why we work as a team, and what are the benefits of a team. We came up with that we can get more done and do it faster. We also can rely on each others strenghts.

Total teamwork is essential in getting things done.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 1999