When it comes to family, every member of your tribe brings something unique to the team. Teaching them early and often throughout their childhood about how important teamwork is will not only benefit your family; it will teach your child the value of working with others to accomplish a goal.
Talk with any human-resource officer and they will tell you being able to effectively function as a team member is a valued skill they look for when hiring a new team member, along with other essential skills such as communication, conflict management and problem-solving.
There are plenty of fun ways you can incorporate teamwork into your family's daily living. Here are a few examples:
* Share chores. Since you aren't running a hotel, it takes everybody contributing something to keep everything going. From feeding the dog, picking up their clothes and making beds to clearing the table, putting dishes in the dishwasher, vacuuming, packing lunches and folding laundry, even the youngest member of your family plays an important role. Talk about the difference it makes when everybody works together to get it all done.
* Cook together. Deciding on a menu, buying all the ingredients, prepping ahead of time and then actually preparing the meal allows for lots of teamwork. Sitting down and eating the meal together can be a celebration of what you just accomplished.
* Play games together as a family that require teamwork. Whether it's going to an escape room and figuring it out together, playing Minute To Win It, playing Jenga together or creating an obstacle course in your yard, all of these games teach the concept of working together to accomplish a goal, and it's fun in the process.
* Volunteer. Heading out as a family to give back to others teaches your child many lessons, not the least of which is the value of giving back and exposing them to worlds they may not realize exist. Helping to build a hiking trail at a park, pick up trash along the river or in your neighborhood, serve food at a community kitchen, mow and rake an elderly neighbor's yard instills self-confidence in your child, encourages problem solving, teaches them their presence and voice matters, and lets them experience the impact you can have working together as a team.
* Plan a trip or a staycation. As you prepare for your next trip or even a staycation, instead of the parents doing all the planning, divide up the responsibilities among the family members, such as when and where will you stop to eat, what sights should you plan to see along the way, what's the best route to take and how much gas will it take to get there. Oh, and be sure you have someone in charge of fun - as in elements of surprise that only you and the "fun person" know about. For the ones working on food, give them a budget to work with. If you know of cool sights along the route, you might share those as a jumping-off point for those doing the plans for sightseeing.
Getting the whole crew involved might be a bit more time-consuming, but the teamwork opportunities and lessons are endless. Not to mention you're making family memories, especially when unexpected things happen like a flat tire, a detour or foul weather gets thrown into the mix, requiring the team to make a quick pivot.
In the midst of trying to teach teamwork, your kids might not be super appreciative. However, over time it is pretty likely the benefits of working together will pay off. Things like: Realizing that as a family, we can do tough things together and get to the other side. Having different personalities, likes and dislikes actually makes us strong together. You are depending on each other to help carry the load. We can disagree or not do something right and still love each other. There is more than one way to get a job done.
Here's what's really awesome: Your goal is to get your family to work together as a team. In the process of doing that, you are teaching your children a life skill that will work for them forever. That is a good and powerful thing.
Julie Baumgardner is president and CEO of family advocacy nonprofit First Things First. Email her at julieb@firstthings.org.
Julie Baumgardner