Blending In

If you have read my articles before, you know I like quotes. This quote took me back to another lifetime.

   ‘Wearing the same shirts doesn’t make you a team.’ – Buchholz & Roth

When I started working at Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal many moons ago, my work attire was blouses, skirts and heels. The guys in the field wore work clothes but there was no high visibility workwear. In fact, they were wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts. There were hard hats but no wide brims to protect you from the sun. Those days are long gone.

The changing of the guard at Daly Bay brought with it many changes. One change was the introduction of high visibility work clothes. Not just for the maintainers and operators but also the staff who primarily worked in the office. This change was one of many which would challenge how we operated as a whole.

There are studies and theory relating to the benefits of everyone wearing the same ‘uniform’. It was in my text books and I referred to the theory in my assignments, some of which referred to Daly Bay. I, with everyone else, began wearing jeans and long sleeved high visibility shirts. The heels were swapped for steel-capped boots. With that, I also noticed changes in my behaviour. How I walked, sat and even how I spoke. I was blending in.

However, wearing the same uniform and wearing the same logo was not what made us a team. A lot of other work was undertaken to create the team environment that was at Daly Bay at that time. It was a great time to work there because of what everyone created.

The current model in the mining industry creates a number of anomalies. Employees may have one logo on their shirt yet they are reporting to a contactor to the mine and not the person who employs them. This combination may make it difficult to create a team environment. Have we created work groups instead?

Does everyone wear the same uniform at your workplace? Are you a team? How do you know?