June 3, 2025 • 16 mins
Coming off a lot of work, putting on a fundraising event, this week I'm reflecting on the importance of teamwork. I'm exploring how communication, relationship-building, and humor create stronger workplace connections and better outcomes despite the challenges faced by only children.
• Working on a major fundraising event t
• Recognizing that no single person, regardless of work ethic or perfectionism, can accomplish everything alone
• Building team rapport through intentional communication and relationship development
• Using humor to break down defenses and create comfortable collaboration environments
• Adapting communication styles for different personality types
• Understanding that only children may need to develop teamwork skills more deliberately
• Feeling part of a team leads to being a happier, more productive employee
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tracy (00:00):
I've been a better employee, I've been a happier
employee and I've given more tomy job in those instances.
Welcome to the Only ChildDiaries podcast.
I'm your host, Tracy Wallace.
Have you ever felt like youdidn't receive the how-to
brochure on life, that youdidn't get enough guidance about
(00:24):
major life issues?
So did I.
You don't have to be an onlychild to feel this way.
In my podcast, we'll exploresome of the best ways to better
navigate adulting, while doingso with humor and light.
Welcome everyone to the OnlyChild Diaries podcast.
(00:53):
Today, I'm going to talk aboutteamwork.
It's a very important concept.
Whether you are working workingor part of a family, I guess,
or part of any group.
Really, teamwork is integral tothe success of any group of
people that are working togethertowards a common goal.
(01:16):
Now, this last week, I wasworking on the well.
It wasn't just this last week.
It was working on the well.
It wasn't just this last week,it was the last Well, two or
three months especially, I'vebeen working on an event, a
(01:38):
fundraising event that tookplace this last week, and a
fundraising event and if you'rea regular listener, you know
that I've talked about this onand off through the course of my
discussions with you.
A fundraising event is a lot ofwork, but in the scope of things
(01:59):
with an organization, afundraising event is important
because it helps diversify yourfunding sources so that you're
able to bring in new donors oryou're able to cultivate the
donors that you already have.
So, even though events areusually very, very heavy on the
(02:25):
hours in relationship to thereturn on investment, they are
important for several reasonsand you get that face-to-face
commitment, that face-to-faceinteraction with your donors,
which is very important.
I also found myself at variouspoints, especially in the last
(02:47):
two weeks, ready to pull my hairout.
I worked a lot of hours.
My job is usually 30 hours aweek.
I was definitely working 40hours a week, but really the
last two weeks it was closer to50 hours a week, because there's
(03:08):
just too much to do, too muchto finish, and I'm the kind of
person you could call me anoverachiever.
And what does that mean?
Well, that means that I reallytake a lot of time and effort to
make sure that everything issmooth, everything is right and
(03:32):
everything is.
You know, I'm very detailed, soI want to make sure that
everything is perfect.
But when you do an event, afundraising event.
You know that not everythingcan be perfect.
There's going to be glitches,but my goal is always to make it
as perfect as I possibly can.
(03:55):
So I work a lot.
I put a lot of time and effortinto things that you know.
Hopefully it shows I'm notgoing to say what we raised, but
we almost beat the all timerecord.
Um, this was the fourth annual.
There was one event before this, um, that was the 50th
(04:16):
anniversary celebration, andthat was the highest grossing so
far.
This is not anywhere close tothe events that I used to do in
my last job, my last position.
We successfulness to come, sostarting to put these things in
(04:52):
place, but what I realized isthe teamwork is really an
integral part of the eventputting on the event.
Because, because nobody is ableto put, no matter how super
human you are, no matter howmuch you work, how many hours
you put in and how much of aperfectionist you are like me,
(05:16):
there's no way that one personcould do everything themselves.
It's just it's not possible.
And even if it's a small event,you just it's not possible.
So I did work within a team,but I started to think today
about how this organizationhandles and how teamwork
(05:43):
manifests itself within thisorganization and how I've been
trying to increase the level ofteamwork that I feel and that I
see, at least in my small scope,my small little subset of the
world in this organization.
(06:04):
So I wanted to talk about thattoday because I think it's
important and I think it'ssomething that nobody I mean
nobody's ever talked to me about.
It's something that I came upwith all by myself and it's just
something that I've observedwithin different situations.
(06:29):
Right, and the difference thatit makes.
So teamwork, I think, is veryimportant.
Now, this organization islarger than any nonprofit that
I've ever worked with, besideswhen I worked at USC.
Of course, that's a differentanimal, that is a nonprofit, but
(06:52):
it's huge.
It's a huge university,university.
But in terms of the staff ofthis nonprofit there's different
locations and there's no waythat I'm going to get to know
everybody or work with everybody.
There's different departmentsand that's just not the thing.
(07:12):
But within the people that Icould see every day if I went
into the office Because, again,I work remote and when you work
remote I think it's a little bitharder to feel like part of a
team, at least in my immediatedepartment, which is fundraising
or development.
(07:32):
I do feel part of the team.
I feel like we have a commongoal, obviously, and I feel like
we communicate.
And what I realized is thatteamwork, a lot of teamwork, is
communication, because whenyou're in a situation where you
(07:52):
don't feel like there's teamwork, often you think about it
there's teamwork.
Often you think about itthere's no communication.
Right, the two do go hand inhand, teamwork and communication
.
But I started thinking aboutways that I've tried to build
(08:16):
rapport and a team spirit withthe people that I encounter when
I do go into the office, andthey're not necessarily in my
quote unquote department, butthere's still people that I'm
going to interact withoccasionally, or when I do an
event, or when I do an event orwhen I do other things within
(08:37):
the scope of my job.
So I started thinking aboutthat today.
So let's talk about it.
So communication is one.
I think that building the team,sometimes you have to look at
the corporate culture of theorganization, right, and how is
(09:00):
that set up?
And I think it's harder whenyou come into an organization
and you're the new kid, right?
Unless somebody takes you undertheir wing and kind of shows
you the ropes and tells you howthings work, and if somebody
tells you how they work, youhave to figure and hope that
(09:28):
they're right about the thingsthat they tell you.
That's pretty important, buthaving somebody kind of show you
the ropes and help you along inthat regard does really help.
But I think part of it is alsothat you have to make your own
(09:52):
way, and some of the things thatI've done to kind of make my
own way is to realize, first ofall, that I'm coming in and I'm
changing things, changing theway things are done, at least in
my area of responsibility, andthat's going to cause some
ruffled feathers and that'sgoing to cause some problems,
and that's just how it is.
(10:14):
And you have to be patient withpeople and you have to
communicate again, communicatehow and what you're doing Right
To make people feel morecomfortable, okay.
You also have to take the timeto remember that these are
(10:36):
people Right.
And so, just like you know howI preach about fundraising and
success in fundraising, I alwaystalk about build a relationship
.
You know, don't just go out andask, don't just meet somebody
and ask them right away forsomething Like you wouldn't go
(10:56):
on a date and ask them to marryyou right away.
You just you don't meetsomebody and ask them for a big
gift right away.
You build a relationship.
And ask them for a big giftright away, you build a
relationship.
So when you're trying to buildteamwork I think a lot of the
time it's the same thing youshould try to build a
relationship with that personyou know, in an appropriate way,
(11:19):
in a work way, not necessarilya very personal way.
Don't get into personal stuff,but build a relationship.
Find some commonality, findsomething that you can
compliment the person on rightWhether it's, you know, maybe,
(11:41):
the shirt they're wearing or theway they do their job and ask
them about how they got intothis job, how they feel about
the job, what they think are thechallenges of the job, and that
will endear you to them.
They'll probably be easier todeal with.
(12:05):
One thing that I think is veryimportant in trying to build a
relationship and to try to builda sense of camaraderie and
teamwork is humor.
I try to use humor wheneverpossible because I think it
makes people feel comfortablewith me a little bit more.
(12:27):
It kind of breaks down thedefenses, if there are any, and
it gives me a sense of how bestto communicate with them.
And if I try to use humor withsomebody and they don't laugh,
well then I know I have to try adifferent route and it's going
(12:50):
to be a little bit more of achallenge.
Maybe the person doesn't havethat same sense of humor that I
do, maybe they're a little bitmore literal, and that's always
a challenge for me.
When people are literal, I makea joke and they'll say what do
you mean by that?
It's like, oh, okay, well,never mind, I'm sure that you've
(13:16):
all met people like that.
Just, I wasn't trying to beliteral, just figuratively,
right, figuratively, I'm justsaying so, okay, it's
challenging, sometimes it'schallenging.
And just remember that you'renot always going to be able to
(13:39):
crack everyone at first.
You're going to have to get toknow them and they're going to
have to get to know you.
And sometimes you have to go alittle bit out of your way to
show that you're there to helpthem in their job.
You're there to be a teammember on their side, right?
You're not just looking forsomebody to help bolster you and
(14:02):
bolster your jobresponsibilities.
That you're there to help themand pitch in and be a yes, team
player.
It's very important.
I think that when I've felt likeI'm a member of the team, I've
been a better employee, I'vebeen a happier employee and I've
(14:26):
given more to my job in thoseinstances than when I feel like
I'm not a member of the team.
I mean, it's the same thing.
It's very, it's very, importantto remember all these lessons.
So I'm wondering how do youbuild teamwork?
(14:48):
How important is teamwork inthe things that you do every day
?
And I think that teamwork,really to an only child, is
something that we have to reallythink about.
(15:09):
It has to really right.
It's hard to resonate.
It's not something that maybecomes naturally to us because we
didn't grow up being a memberof a team, right, siblings?
(15:29):
Or maybe we didn't feel like amember of the team, maybe we
felt like we were a loner andmaybe you didn't feel like a
member of the team at school, ormaybe you didn't consider
yourself a team with yourparents or whoever right.
It's something that is moreforeign to us as only children,
(15:51):
but I think it's an importantskill to have.
If we don't have it, it's animportant skill to learn.
So that's what I've got for youtoday.
Next week, we'll tackle anothertopic together.
I hope you'll join me If youlike this episode, please follow
(16:11):
the Only Child Diaries podcaston Apple Podcasts or other
platforms you might listen onand consider rating Only Child
Diaries and writing a review.
It helps others to find us.
Please share it with a friendyou think might like it as well.
Visit my Instagram page OnlyChild Diaries or Facebook Only
(16:34):
Child Diaries Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
I'm Tracy Wallace and these arethe Only Child Diaries.
I've been a better employee, I've been a happier
employee and I've given more tomy job in those instances.
Welcome to the Only ChildDiaries podcast.
I'm your host, Tracy Wallace.
Have you ever felt like youdidn't receive the how-to
brochure on life, that youdidn't get enough guidance about
(00:24):
major life issues?
So did I.
You don't have to be an onlychild to feel this way.
In my podcast, we'll exploresome of the best ways to better
navigate adulting, while doingso with humor and light.
Welcome everyone to the OnlyChild Diaries podcast.
(00:53):
Today, I'm going to talk aboutteamwork.
It's a very important concept.
Whether you are working workingor part of a family, I guess,
or part of any group.
Really, teamwork is integral tothe success of any group of
people that are working togethertowards a common goal.
(01:16):
Now, this last week, I wasworking on the well.
It wasn't just this last week.
It was working on the well.
It wasn't just this last week,it was the last Well, two or
three months especially, I'vebeen working on an event, a
(01:38):
fundraising event that tookplace this last week, and a
fundraising event and if you'rea regular listener, you know
that I've talked about this onand off through the course of my
discussions with you.
A fundraising event is a lot ofwork, but in the scope of things
(01:59):
with an organization, afundraising event is important
because it helps diversify yourfunding sources so that you're
able to bring in new donors oryou're able to cultivate the
donors that you already have.
So, even though events areusually very, very heavy on the
(02:25):
hours in relationship to thereturn on investment, they are
important for several reasonsand you get that face-to-face
commitment, that face-to-faceinteraction with your donors,
which is very important.
I also found myself at variouspoints, especially in the last
(02:47):
two weeks, ready to pull my hairout.
I worked a lot of hours.
My job is usually 30 hours aweek.
I was definitely working 40hours a week, but really the
last two weeks it was closer to50 hours a week, because there's
(03:08):
just too much to do, too muchto finish, and I'm the kind of
person you could call me anoverachiever.
And what does that mean?
Well, that means that I reallytake a lot of time and effort to
make sure that everything issmooth, everything is right and
(03:32):
everything is.
You know, I'm very detailed, soI want to make sure that
everything is perfect.
But when you do an event, afundraising event.
You know that not everythingcan be perfect.
There's going to be glitches,but my goal is always to make it
as perfect as I possibly can.
(03:55):
So I work a lot.
I put a lot of time and effortinto things that you know.
Hopefully it shows I'm notgoing to say what we raised, but
we almost beat the all timerecord.
Um, this was the fourth annual.
There was one event before this, um, that was the 50th
(04:16):
anniversary celebration, andthat was the highest grossing so
far.
This is not anywhere close tothe events that I used to do in
my last job, my last position.
We successfulness to come, sostarting to put these things in
(04:52):
place, but what I realized isthe teamwork is really an
integral part of the eventputting on the event.
Because, because nobody is ableto put, no matter how super
human you are, no matter howmuch you work, how many hours
you put in and how much of aperfectionist you are like me,
(05:16):
there's no way that one personcould do everything themselves.
It's just it's not possible.
And even if it's a small event,you just it's not possible.
So I did work within a team,but I started to think today
about how this organizationhandles and how teamwork
(05:43):
manifests itself within thisorganization and how I've been
trying to increase the level ofteamwork that I feel and that I
see, at least in my small scope,my small little subset of the
world in this organization.
(06:04):
So I wanted to talk about thattoday because I think it's
important and I think it'ssomething that nobody I mean
nobody's ever talked to me about.
It's something that I came upwith all by myself and it's just
something that I've observedwithin different situations.
(06:29):
Right, and the difference thatit makes.
So teamwork, I think, is veryimportant.
Now, this organization islarger than any nonprofit that
I've ever worked with, besideswhen I worked at USC.
Of course, that's a differentanimal, that is a nonprofit, but
(06:52):
it's huge.
It's a huge university,university.
But in terms of the staff ofthis nonprofit there's different
locations and there's no waythat I'm going to get to know
everybody or work with everybody.
There's different departmentsand that's just not the thing.
(07:12):
But within the people that Icould see every day if I went
into the office Because, again,I work remote and when you work
remote I think it's a little bitharder to feel like part of a
team, at least in my immediatedepartment, which is fundraising
or development.
(07:32):
I do feel part of the team.
I feel like we have a commongoal, obviously, and I feel like
we communicate.
And what I realized is thatteamwork, a lot of teamwork, is
communication, because whenyou're in a situation where you
(07:52):
don't feel like there's teamwork, often you think about it
there's teamwork.
Often you think about itthere's no communication.
Right, the two do go hand inhand, teamwork and communication
.
But I started thinking aboutways that I've tried to build
(08:16):
rapport and a team spirit withthe people that I encounter when
I do go into the office, andthey're not necessarily in my
quote unquote department, butthere's still people that I'm
going to interact withoccasionally, or when I do an
event, or when I do an event orwhen I do other things within
(08:37):
the scope of my job.
So I started thinking aboutthat today.
So let's talk about it.
So communication is one.
I think that building the team,sometimes you have to look at
the corporate culture of theorganization, right, and how is
(09:00):
that set up?
And I think it's harder whenyou come into an organization
and you're the new kid, right?
Unless somebody takes you undertheir wing and kind of shows
you the ropes and tells you howthings work, and if somebody
tells you how they work, youhave to figure and hope that
(09:28):
they're right about the thingsthat they tell you.
That's pretty important, buthaving somebody kind of show you
the ropes and help you along inthat regard does really help.
But I think part of it is alsothat you have to make your own
(09:52):
way, and some of the things thatI've done to kind of make my
own way is to realize, first ofall, that I'm coming in and I'm
changing things, changing theway things are done, at least in
my area of responsibility, andthat's going to cause some
ruffled feathers and that'sgoing to cause some problems,
and that's just how it is.
(10:14):
And you have to be patient withpeople and you have to
communicate again, communicatehow and what you're doing Right
To make people feel morecomfortable, okay.
You also have to take the timeto remember that these are
(10:36):
people Right.
And so, just like you know howI preach about fundraising and
success in fundraising, I alwaystalk about build a relationship
.
You know, don't just go out andask, don't just meet somebody
and ask them right away forsomething Like you wouldn't go
(10:56):
on a date and ask them to marryyou right away.
You just you don't meetsomebody and ask them for a big
gift right away.
You build a relationship.
And ask them for a big giftright away, you build a
relationship.
So when you're trying to buildteamwork I think a lot of the
time it's the same thing youshould try to build a
relationship with that personyou know, in an appropriate way,
(11:19):
in a work way, not necessarilya very personal way.
Don't get into personal stuff,but build a relationship.
Find some commonality, findsomething that you can
compliment the person on rightWhether it's, you know, maybe,
(11:41):
the shirt they're wearing or theway they do their job and ask
them about how they got intothis job, how they feel about
the job, what they think are thechallenges of the job, and that
will endear you to them.
They'll probably be easier todeal with.
(12:05):
One thing that I think is veryimportant in trying to build a
relationship and to try to builda sense of camaraderie and
teamwork is humor.
I try to use humor wheneverpossible because I think it
makes people feel comfortablewith me a little bit more.
(12:27):
It kind of breaks down thedefenses, if there are any, and
it gives me a sense of how bestto communicate with them.
And if I try to use humor withsomebody and they don't laugh,
well then I know I have to try adifferent route and it's going
(12:50):
to be a little bit more of achallenge.
Maybe the person doesn't havethat same sense of humor that I
do, maybe they're a little bitmore literal, and that's always
a challenge for me.
When people are literal, I makea joke and they'll say what do
you mean by that?
It's like, oh, okay, well,never mind, I'm sure that you've
(13:16):
all met people like that.
Just, I wasn't trying to beliteral, just figuratively,
right, figuratively, I'm justsaying so, okay, it's
challenging, sometimes it'schallenging.
And just remember that you'renot always going to be able to
(13:39):
crack everyone at first.
You're going to have to get toknow them and they're going to
have to get to know you.
And sometimes you have to go alittle bit out of your way to
show that you're there to helpthem in their job.
You're there to be a teammember on their side, right?
You're not just looking forsomebody to help bolster you and
(14:02):
bolster your jobresponsibilities.
That you're there to help themand pitch in and be a yes, team
player.
It's very important.
I think that when I've felt likeI'm a member of the team, I've
been a better employee, I'vebeen a happier employee and I've
(14:26):
given more to my job in thoseinstances than when I feel like
I'm not a member of the team.
I mean, it's the same thing.
It's very, it's very, importantto remember all these lessons.
So I'm wondering how do youbuild teamwork?
(14:48):
How important is teamwork inthe things that you do every day
?
And I think that teamwork,really to an only child, is
something that we have to reallythink about.
(15:09):
It has to really right.
It's hard to resonate.
It's not something that maybecomes naturally to us because we
didn't grow up being a memberof a team, right, siblings?
(15:29):
Or maybe we didn't feel like amember of the team, maybe we
felt like we were a loner andmaybe you didn't feel like a
member of the team at school, ormaybe you didn't consider
yourself a team with yourparents or whoever right.
It's something that is moreforeign to us as only children,
(15:51):
but I think it's an importantskill to have.
If we don't have it, it's animportant skill to learn.
So that's what I've got for youtoday.
Next week, we'll tackle anothertopic together.
I hope you'll join me If youlike this episode, please follow
(16:11):
the Only Child Diaries podcaston Apple Podcasts or other
platforms you might listen onand consider rating Only Child
Diaries and writing a review.
It helps others to find us.
Please share it with a friendyou think might like it as well.
Visit my Instagram page OnlyChild Diaries or Facebook Only
(16:34):
Child Diaries Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
I'm Tracy Wallace and these arethe Only Child Diaries.
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