As I clicked my seatbelt into place and switched on the GPS, one of the case managers at Jewish Family Services piped up from behind me.

“You know,” She said. “We may all come from different departments and do different work, but we really are one team.”

The GPS chirped, telling me to turn right and exit the parking lot, as I thought about what she said. She, another case manager, my supervisor, and I were in my car headed off site. A local nonprofit was distributing produce vouchers for seniors and JFS registered over 100 clients to receive them. A team of JFS staff was at that nonprofit trying to collect everything and unexpectedly ran into some logistical issues. We were on our way to be of whatever help was necessary.

I think what she said absolutely rings true. Here we were, the Resource Development Director, two Case Managers, and the Communications and Marketing Intern, putting aside the other work happening that day and driving down the highway to help the senior program managers get fresh food coupons to their clients. After battling traffic and the rain, the endeavor was a success: all vouchers made it back to JFS and into the hands of those that needed them.

The rest of the week continued to be a testimony to that thought. Today I had a meeting with the Business Development Consultant, the Service Navigator, the Communications and Marketing Manager, the Special Projects Manager, the Social Work Intern, and my supervisor to discuss newsletters. Part of my plan involves writing them and I wanted to learn more about the ones people were creating already – did anyone have some tips and tricks? Are there ways to streamline the creation process to optimize effectiveness? Everyone was more than happy to talk with me and share their insights. I appreciated them taking the time to help me along and was reminded again – different departments, one team.

Shortly after that I had another meeting with the Communications and Marketing Manager, the Special Projects Manager, and my supervisor. I presented my research on best practices for social media engagement and shared my recommendations. I went through the social media audit I conducted last week and discussed my thoughts on the findings. Together, we started to discuss goals for each site, metrics for success, and strategies for getting to where we want to be. Everyone absorbed the information and was enthusiastic about going forward. Just like the previous meeting, I was so thankful for everyone taking the time to meet with me and to hear what I had to say. While these managers work together often, they still individual projects to attend to. I couldn’t help but think it again – different departments, one team.