Community of Collaboration: A Higher Perspective

Simply put, it’s been a really, really great time learning, sharing, collaborating and connecting with fellow higher ed professionals this past week at HighEd Web 2015.

 

During the group lunch session today, Colleen Brennan-Barry, President of HighEdWeb, reminded us that as professionals in higher education, we all have an extremely broad mission especially in the world of the web. Our profession is ever evolving. This is only to be expected, as technology is ever changing. How can we rise to the challenge of this ever changing landscape and continue to find success and bring positive change?

 

While many things are uncertain, one thing is for sure — we can’t go it alone.

 

We need each other. We need community. We must open the conversations, get on a level playing field and call it what it is. Be open and honest with each other and turn to one another for input, feedback, encouragement… this is what community is all about. Com (with). Unity (togetherness). Simple as that!

 

Who are “we”? We are content developers, designers, developers, managers, librarians, faculty, staff, students. We have this collective job of working together to reach a common goal. We need each other.

 

Perspective is key. We tend to only see things from one or two angles. This perspective we hold is based on our viewpoints, experiences and interpretations of people and situations. What if we started to see things through another set of eyes? What if we truly desired to place ourself in another’s shoes? What would we see?

 

After all, perspective is a powerful, powerful thing.

 

Case in point:

 

 

Let’s tear down the preconceptions, misconceptions and false notions. Let’s get over the hurdle that’s holding us back from open collaboration. Let’s move past the things of the past and start a new day. Let’s find the 101 things that we can change within our own person and method of operation — then let’s boil that down to the top 1 or 2 things that we can really take action on and see real impact and change in the area of collaboration and teamwork.

 

There is no I in TEAM. It takes all of us, and it takes each of us. Strive toward the single goal together, trusting one another and working together for the benefit of the whole as the clear and primary objective.

 

Let’s do this.

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