Riding Together – The Art of Being a Great Teammate

Jennifer Epp, Ben Beckman, Lynn DeVries Author

08/26/2025 Added

32 Plays

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A conversation about teamwork and the impact it has on our work and our stakeholders.

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[00:00:00.000]Hi, Lisa. This is our
[00:00:01.190]conversation about teamwork
[00:00:02.590]between our group.
[00:00:03.720]So our first question is, what
[00:00:05.420]does being a good teammate in
[00:00:06.990]extension mean to you?
[00:00:08.440]And why does it matter in the
[00:00:10.010]work that we do? So Ben, how
[00:00:11.680]about you first?
[00:00:12.800]Oh, I think that being a good
[00:00:15.680]teammate in extension means
[00:00:18.650]supporting the people that we
[00:00:21.660]work with.
[00:00:23.920]And extension's all about
[00:00:25.790]connections and communication
[00:00:28.100]and working with people and
[00:00:30.120]building those connections
[00:00:31.090]within our communities.
[00:00:32.060]And it's just as important, I
[00:00:33.250]think, to build it within the
[00:00:34.290]system.
[00:00:34.760]So being a good extension
[00:00:36.370]teammate means, yeah, helping
[00:00:38.520]to support those people that
[00:00:40.370]you work with regularly.
[00:00:42.240]But even, you know, when you
[00:00:44.030]and I don't work with regularly,
[00:00:45.940]but if you need something and
[00:00:47.630]you come to me and say, we need
[00:00:49.380]it in Cedar County, it's
[00:00:51.100]helping out our coworkers
[00:00:52.390]wherever we can.
[00:00:53.920]how about you lynn so yeah i've
[00:00:56.700]been thinking about this since
[00:00:59.380]we were asked about teamwork
[00:01:01.660]and similar to ben throughout
[00:01:04.110]my career in extension um i've
[00:01:06.380]seen that really meaningful
[00:01:08.620]impacts only really happen when
[00:01:10.780]we get diverse voices coming
[00:01:12.800]together around maybe a shared
[00:01:14.800]common goal or purpose a lot of
[00:01:16.590]my work has been shaped by
[00:01:18.080]leading and participating in
[00:01:19.960]cross-disciplinary kinds of
[00:01:21.530]teams within Extension
[00:01:22.750]internally and also without
[00:01:24.230]side of Extension
[00:01:25.240]across the state, national
[00:01:27.030]teams. And really, I think the
[00:01:29.410]secret sauce, the ingredient
[00:01:30.900]that makes
[00:01:31.460]it all come together is that
[00:01:33.920]teams have trust and they value
[00:01:36.580]trust. They have respect and
[00:01:39.290]they
[00:01:39.780]value inclusion and including
[00:01:41.970]everyone in that collaboration.
[00:01:44.500]Awesome. When I was thinking
[00:01:46.660]about
[00:01:47.160]and I was thinking about that
[00:01:48.770]being a good teammate to me
[00:01:50.300]means making meaningful
[00:01:51.340]contributions when
[00:01:52.200]we do collaborate. And that
[00:01:53.460]doesn't necessarily mean those
[00:01:54.820]contributions are going to be
[00:01:56.330]equal.
[00:01:56.580]But if we're sharing the best
[00:01:58.180]that we can in the particular
[00:01:59.820]set of circumstances that we're
[00:02:01.590]in,
[00:02:01.920]that that means being a good
[00:02:03.420]teammate in that moment. And so
[00:02:05.250]I think coming from a
[00:02:06.350]background
[00:02:07.120]in 4-H, I definitely know that
[00:02:08.970]I cannot do all of the projects.
[00:02:10.820]But even if I attempted to try
[00:02:12.560]to direct all of the projects
[00:02:13.870]in my counties, I'm not going
[00:02:15.340]to do an exemplary job of it.
[00:02:16.740]So
[00:02:16.820]when I can look to my
[00:02:18.260]colleagues and share that load
[00:02:20.870]and be a part of a team, I
[00:02:22.430]found that I do
[00:02:23.520]my best work when I'm a part of
[00:02:25.780]a team. So we do have another
[00:02:28.240]question from Lisa, which is,
[00:02:30.920]can you share a time when
[00:02:32.320]teamwork made a difference in
[00:02:34.090]your extension work or for the
[00:02:35.920]people that you serve? So Ben,
[00:02:38.190]you want to go first again?
[00:02:40.140]This one was hard, I thought,
[00:02:42.600]because I feel like this
[00:02:45.140]happens just every day, you
[00:02:48.210]know, so much every day. You
[00:02:51.690]know,
[00:02:52.640]we're working with groups and
[00:02:54.480]with teams in extension all the
[00:02:56.340]time. And so, you know,
[00:02:58.180]you can take on a project by
[00:02:59.420]yourself, but when you've got
[00:03:00.960]people to collaborate with,
[00:03:02.400]you know, it makes it so much
[00:03:04.000]better. I guess one recent one
[00:03:05.820]that I can think of,
[00:03:07.700]we've got a practicum group
[00:03:09.830]that we're working with in
[00:03:11.880]Eastern Nebraska, and just some
[00:03:14.510]of the
[00:03:15.060]really neat collaboration and
[00:03:16.490]teaching that we're able to do
[00:03:17.860]with some specialists and some
[00:03:19.290]educators.
[00:03:20.040]You know, it's a very kind of,
[00:03:22.830]I don't want to say necessarily
[00:03:25.660]informal, but we have a topic
[00:03:29.540]that we're going over, and we've
[00:03:31.000]got two or three of us standing
[00:03:32.320]up in the front of the room,
[00:03:34.240]And, you know, I might start on
[00:03:35.810]a topic and one of the
[00:03:36.730]specialists had something that
[00:03:38.420]they want to, you know, add
[00:03:39.850]into it and it might take it
[00:03:40.920]into a completely different
[00:03:42.320]direction.
[00:03:43.320]But, you know, it was a really
[00:03:45.200]good point. And then I take it
[00:03:47.500]somewhere else.
[00:03:48.520]And we have this really great
[00:03:50.090]conversation that everyone, you
[00:03:52.010]know, someone asks a question
[00:03:53.680]from the audience and everyone
[00:03:55.380]learns from that just
[00:03:56.570]collaboration and being able to
[00:03:58.310]bounce ideas off of each other
[00:04:00.070]in that setting, I think really
[00:04:01.440]makes the teaching experience
[00:04:03.420]more interesting for those that
[00:04:05.190]are listening to it.
[00:04:06.760]And honestly makes it a lot
[00:04:07.950]better than just sitting up
[00:04:09.050]there listening to a PowerPoint.
[00:04:10.680]What about you, Lynn? Do you
[00:04:13.520]have an experience like that?
[00:04:17.020]Yeah, I think several actually,
[00:04:18.820]but the one that I'm currently
[00:04:20.390]working on might be the best
[00:04:21.820]example or the one that's freshest
[00:04:23.630]in my mind.
[00:04:24.460]You know, when we bring all
[00:04:26.250]kinds of voices together at a
[00:04:27.980]team, we try to pull on
[00:04:29.470]strengths, but also to make
[00:04:31.270]sure that everyone that we need
[00:04:33.300]at the table is at the table.
[00:04:35.200]And so one of my examples is
[00:04:38.500]actually with our CHIME program.
[00:04:43.060]It's cultivating healthy,
[00:04:44.580]intentional, mindful educators.
[00:04:46.750]With CHIME, it's a reflection-based
[00:04:49.280]initiative for early childhood
[00:04:50.370]professionals. It's built on
[00:04:52.340]the work and collaboration of a
[00:04:54.250]team that's included.
[00:04:56.100]Our extension specialists are
[00:04:57.690]included, colleagues are
[00:04:59.100]included, community partners,
[00:05:00.870]national organizations are now
[00:05:02.520]included at bringing this
[00:05:03.870]program to what we know it to
[00:05:05.250]be today.
[00:05:06.060]But recently, I became involved
[00:05:08.600]in working with a grand
[00:05:10.320]challenges program.
[00:05:12.200]We call it Connections for Kids.
[00:05:14.960]So it takes a little bit of
[00:05:16.660]time and other programs.
[00:05:18.580]And so that's the reason I
[00:05:19.770]became involved, is to create
[00:05:21.230]those connections among
[00:05:22.760]university and community
[00:05:23.680]partners to promote early
[00:05:24.930]childhood and the workforce
[00:05:26.350]development and also the
[00:05:27.510]retention of the workforce
[00:05:28.820]today.
[00:05:29.480]And so as a result, we're also
[00:05:31.280]promoting children's social and
[00:05:33.660]emotional development.
[00:05:35.120]And so the product that came
[00:05:36.960]out of this was something we
[00:05:38.810]call Connections for Kids.
[00:05:41.140]And so this project will adopt
[00:05:42.710]the most effective elements
[00:05:44.270]from three of the evidence-based
[00:05:45.970]programs that are happening in
[00:05:47.610]early childhood today.
[00:05:49.120]Time being one of them.
[00:05:50.720]Another program is called
[00:05:51.910]Getting Ready, Getting Children
[00:05:53.360]Ready for Kindergarten.
[00:05:54.600]And the third program is Rooted
[00:05:56.520]in Relationships, our pyramid
[00:05:58.770]model on social-emotional
[00:06:00.210]development.
[00:06:01.360]And so my role would be in this
[00:06:03.380]effort is with UNL researchers
[00:06:05.590]and extension, this partnership
[00:06:08.040]guiding the program design and
[00:06:10.230]ensuring that each partner's
[00:06:12.350]expertise was acknowledged and
[00:06:15.480]integrated by creating this
[00:06:16.970]environment where all prospectus
[00:06:19.130]from classroom teachers were
[00:06:21.240]invited to the table to look at
[00:06:23.350]what we were doing.
[00:06:25.060]University researchers were
[00:06:27.060]also valued. Extension
[00:06:29.240]educators were there, as well
[00:06:30.910]as the other collaborators
[00:06:32.740]amongst the state using some of
[00:06:34.820]the programs. And so what's
[00:06:36.860]resolving is we're piloting
[00:06:38.790]this now. We're rolling out the
[00:06:41.030]first pilot in this teaming
[00:06:42.870]effort of seamlessly combining
[00:06:45.050]three programs into a seamless
[00:06:47.160]delivery that makes sense for
[00:06:49.160]our clientele.
[00:06:52.880]That's amazing. And I just
[00:06:54.070]think in this conversation,
[00:06:55.330]like it's incredible how our
[00:06:56.340]different subject areas just
[00:06:57.600]kind of bring these different
[00:06:58.750]experiences about.
[00:06:59.860]Because when I saw this
[00:07:01.050]question, I thought immediately
[00:07:02.780]to this summer, we had Citizenship
[00:07:04.590]Washington focus that our
[00:07:05.920]counties participate in.
[00:07:07.480]And I'm the only 4-H staff
[00:07:09.090]member in my three counties.
[00:07:10.970]And so for me to chaperone CWF
[00:07:12.600]means that I'm gone for 11 days.
[00:07:14.980]11 days in June, which is just
[00:07:16.920]prime programming time. But
[00:07:18.670]this summer, my accountability
[00:07:20.590]educators
[00:07:21.240]from other counties, my own
[00:07:22.810]office staff, and our 4-H
[00:07:24.370]volunteers, like they all came
[00:07:26.250]together to
[00:07:26.880]fill those gaps so that 4-H was
[00:07:28.230]still happening, even though I
[00:07:29.660]was halfway across the country.
[00:07:31.140]And in that 11 days that I was
[00:07:32.940]gone between those three groups
[00:07:34.760]of people, they put on 17
[00:07:36.420]programs
[00:07:37.060]from really diverse areas of
[00:07:39.250]high quality. And so I can be
[00:07:41.510]confident knowing that thanks
[00:07:43.880]to my
[00:07:44.400]accountability people and my GLW
[00:07:46.190]team that like really cool
[00:07:47.530]things were happening in my
[00:07:48.910]counties
[00:07:49.460]and that I could do a good job
[00:07:51.030]being a chaperone knowing that.
[00:07:52.990]And so that just really filled
[00:07:54.690]my
[00:07:54.980]bucket this summer. And I know
[00:07:56.550]that things like that happen
[00:07:57.920]every day in extension. Like
[00:07:59.410]this is
[00:07:59.820]a pretty cool place to work
[00:08:01.680]knowing that we each other up
[00:08:03.960]and support each other. So our
[00:08:05.980]third
[00:08:06.500]question we have today is what's
[00:08:08.520]one practical thing you do or
[00:08:10.610]have seen others do that makes
[00:08:12.260]working together easier and
[00:08:13.730]more effective? So maybe I'll
[00:08:15.390]go to you first this time, Lynn.
[00:08:17.220]Okay. I think what makes
[00:08:19.190]teamwork more most effective is
[00:08:21.630]just creating that environment
[00:08:24.060]that's safe, creating that safe
[00:08:26.080]space where all team members
[00:08:28.150]feel like they're invited to
[00:08:29.670]share,
[00:08:30.280]sharing ideas. It's okay to try
[00:08:32.160]things out. Maybe it's going to
[00:08:34.450]succeed. Maybe it's not
[00:08:35.700]going to succeed, but willing
[00:08:37.000]to try and support each other.
[00:08:38.350]And, but that creating that
[00:08:39.750]safe space
[00:08:40.040]to do that. And I feel like our
[00:08:41.510]early childhood team is really
[00:08:42.980]great at that. The other is
[00:08:44.420]supporting one another,
[00:08:45.880]supporting faculty and staff in
[00:08:47.670]their professional growth. It
[00:08:49.530]might be
[00:08:50.060]through mentoring. I've had
[00:08:51.700]some mentoring roles and I've
[00:08:53.300]been mentored by others on my
[00:08:54.780]team as
[00:08:55.260]well. And providing that space
[00:08:57.710]to reflect with one another on
[00:08:59.980]how the work is going. And then
[00:09:02.440]the third thing there I would
[00:09:03.920]think of is just ensuring that
[00:09:05.570]all of our efforts, all those
[00:09:07.120]collaborative efforts are used
[00:09:10.040]to advance both our goals as
[00:09:12.510]well as individual goals of
[00:09:14.990]people
[00:09:15.740]engaged in the team. I'm
[00:09:17.090]thinking of maybe, you know,
[00:09:18.690]writing proposals and, you know,
[00:09:20.540]I don't
[00:09:21.040]have to always be the lead on a
[00:09:22.410]proposal. I might grab a couple
[00:09:24.040]of the newest members on our
[00:09:25.360]team
[00:09:25.760]and make sure that their voice
[00:09:27.450]is also on that document, on
[00:09:29.060]that proposal, so that, you
[00:09:30.770]know,
[00:09:31.300]their work is carried out and
[00:09:33.090]that they get an opportunity to
[00:09:34.950]try things out and to author
[00:09:36.740]things to present, you know, on
[00:09:38.320]a, on a bigger scale level,
[00:09:39.650]maybe it's a regional or
[00:09:40.920]national
[00:09:41.360]or even bigger conference, um,
[00:09:43.820]because we're all building that,
[00:09:46.080]that, um, that, um, progress
[00:09:48.460]towards promotion file. And so
[00:09:49.940]I, others did that for me in
[00:09:51.240]the past, and I want to make
[00:09:52.550]sure that
[00:09:52.840]I'm doing that for my team as
[00:09:54.660]well. Incredible. And yeah, I
[00:09:57.020]can definitely look to many
[00:09:58.850]people
[00:09:59.400]at extension who brought me
[00:10:00.770]along and I hope I'm doing that
[00:10:02.280]too. So how about you Ben?
[00:10:05.600]Yeah, I really would echo that
[00:10:07.680]too, Lynn, that whenever we're
[00:10:09.920]bringing others up with us,
[00:10:11.850]that's always a really great
[00:10:13.810]thing to help teams flow
[00:10:15.360]effectively. You know, it's not
[00:10:17.320]always just about what I'm
[00:10:18.420]getting out of it. It's what
[00:10:19.780]you're providing, you know, to
[00:10:21.210]that team as well.
[00:10:22.540]And I think from the effective
[00:10:24.440]side of it, though, walking
[00:10:26.670]into whatever collaboration
[00:10:28.290]that you're having and kind of
[00:10:30.210]knowing what you want to get
[00:10:32.000]out of it is really important
[00:10:33.960]or having some sort of end goal
[00:10:35.660]in mind.
[00:10:36.600]So maybe that's just a team
[00:10:37.920]meeting where you're just
[00:10:39.240]connecting and you're just
[00:10:40.780]bouncing ideas and getting some
[00:10:42.240]collaboration and you don't
[00:10:43.680]walk away with anything
[00:10:44.880]physical.
[00:10:46.380]But, you know, maybe you've got
[00:10:48.620]a larger team meeting and
[00:10:50.560]sometimes I just feel like we
[00:10:52.230]can get so bogged down in the
[00:10:54.060]weeds of this or that. And so
[00:10:56.010]having, we want to walk away
[00:10:57.500]with some action steps to go
[00:10:58.930]towards this proposal or, you
[00:11:00.570]know, at the end of this
[00:11:01.990]meeting, we want to have two or
[00:11:03.420]three different working groups
[00:11:05.130]that are going to go forward.
[00:11:07.040]you know just having that end
[00:11:08.830]goal um makes you walk away at
[00:11:10.620]the end feeling like we
[00:11:12.050]accomplished
[00:11:13.020]something instead of we just
[00:11:14.630]had this meeting and why did
[00:11:16.170]why were we all here sometimes
[00:11:17.850]um you know
[00:11:18.580]those can happen definitely you
[00:11:21.360]know i was thinking back to a
[00:11:23.610]professional development that
[00:11:26.350]we had
[00:11:26.940]probably four or five years ago
[00:11:28.180]and maybe you guys remember
[00:11:29.390]this one but the connection
[00:11:30.430]before content
[00:11:31.120]and as a team leader like that
[00:11:32.720]really stuck with me that we
[00:11:34.250]need to make sure that we're
[00:11:35.840]building
[00:11:36.400]time into the things that we do
[00:11:37.800]to build relationships and
[00:11:39.180]build trust with the people
[00:11:40.460]that we're building those
[00:11:41.730]things with. And so in my time
[00:11:43.240]as a team leader, I always try
[00:11:44.640]to make
[00:11:45.120]sure that I build that time in
[00:11:46.910]to get to know my team members
[00:11:48.700]on a personal level, because
[00:11:50.560]you
[00:11:50.840]can't expect when you're
[00:11:52.030]jumping into a team project
[00:11:53.290]that everyone's working styles
[00:11:54.860]are
[00:11:54.860]necessarily going to just
[00:11:56.500]naturally mesh. But I do find
[00:11:58.430]that we show grace to people
[00:12:00.150]that we know,
[00:12:01.100]right? And we extend that a
[00:12:02.360]little bit better when we know
[00:12:03.680]each other a little bit more.
[00:12:05.560]And so I think it's hard to
[00:12:06.900]dislike people that you know,
[00:12:08.560]that you know well, right?
[00:12:10.240]So that's been something that's
[00:12:11.810]really stuck with me is making
[00:12:13.180]sure of you, that connection
[00:12:14.680]before content.
[00:12:15.480]But I love you guys' answers
[00:12:17.490]too.
[00:12:18.080]Like there are just so many
[00:12:19.000]good answers to this question.
[00:12:20.220]So any final comments, Lynn or
[00:12:23.000]Ben, before we end our
[00:12:24.980]recording?
[00:12:26.300]I don't know.
[00:12:27.680]I just would say teamwork is
[00:12:28.990]kind of the secret sauce.
[00:12:30.360]You can see that in outcomes
[00:12:32.040]that are successful.
[00:12:33.920]It took a team that really,
[00:12:35.490]like Jennifer said, you know,
[00:12:37.290]the strengths, you know, what
[00:12:39.280]makes people tick, but you know,
[00:12:40.730]and you care about people on
[00:12:41.890]your team as well.
[00:12:42.740]And that really comes through
[00:12:44.310]or shines through in the end
[00:12:45.660]product that we're putting out
[00:12:47.240]there for our clientele.
[00:12:48.740]I feel like the thing, too,
[00:12:50.530]that doesn't get mentioned
[00:12:52.130]often enough with teamwork and
[00:12:54.010]extension is that when we go it
[00:12:55.800]alone, we can do some pretty
[00:12:57.600]cool things.
[00:12:58.640]But I think it's just naturally
[00:13:00.120]ingrained in us as Nebraskans
[00:13:01.550]to be humble about what we do.
[00:13:03.500]But when I'm a part of a team
[00:13:04.690]project and we do something
[00:13:05.950]great, like I'm more likely to
[00:13:07.200]lift that up and elevate that
[00:13:08.510]and say, look what we did.
[00:13:09.900]And I think we need to do more
[00:13:11.310]of that when we're thinking
[00:13:12.730]about our professional
[00:13:14.080]associations or even our own
[00:13:15.510]fall conference to lift those
[00:13:17.010]things up.
[00:13:17.860]And so I think, like I said, we
[00:13:19.050]can do that more when we're bragging
[00:13:20.320]about our teammates.
[00:13:21.280]Very good point.

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Riding Together – The Art of Being a Great Teammate

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