My company had our company picnic today and it was my first employer-sponsored event for quite a long time. I forgot how nice it is to see my peers with their families and watch everyone just enjoying themselves. Many of us managers did the grilling and serving of food to the employees, and it was a hoot to watch out “big kahuna” serving the biggest hot dogs I’ve ever seen while wearing a t-shirt and baseball cap, and then drawing numbers for the prizes and “high-fiving” the kids who won.
I have been facilitating some teambuilding with the management team for several months and the team was making strides in building trust and mastering conflict. As I sat at the picnic table, 
munching on my gigantic dog and swigging diet soda, I realized I was witnessing rapport before my eyes. Managers from various departments working together to make sure the garden burgers didn’t burn, employees introducing each other to their spouses and children. We all work in a children’s hospital and sometimes we are trapped in our ’silos’ while working hard to serve our patients and their families. And here, in the park, next to the swingset, those silos were gone and we were simply people. Good, hard-working people focused on a noble cause.
Tomorrow at work, we have five new hires joining us for orientation. I can’t wait to welcome them into this organization, where they may find their perfect job, just as I have.
