As long as humans are humans, there will be conflict. No matter how well you think your team gets along, there will be times when people on your team disagree. This kind of conflict could be constructive or it could delve into chaos. The kind of conflict you have is a reflection of the kind of team you have around you.

We encourage our team members to speak their minds, even if sometimes what they say might ruffle feathers. As long as what they say is respectful, they can bring up their concerns and feel heard. The leadership at Bridgeview encourages an open environment where team members can approach them at any time for a one-on-one. We listen to concerns, take all sides into account, and encourage team members to come up with their own solutions. By doing this, we have created a tight team of people who work hard and enjoy each other's company. No one likes conflict but sometimes conflict can be helpful in coming up with creative solutions that might have been overlooked before. We welcome it. 

​Richard (left) and Peter (right) work incredibly well together. They bounce ideas off each other, quickly resolve any differences of opinion, and pull together to get the job done.
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This week, Kevin and Christina were out of the office on Monday, so Ashlee led the team meeting. The topic? How can team members contribute to forming a dynamic team.

While leadership is needed to communicate the company vision and help the team members see the way forward, the team members themselves have to put in the effort to work together and create an environment of respect and encouragement. When team members appreciate each other, give compliments, listen to constructive criticism, and offer suggestions to problems, they create trust amongst themselves and this trust is the foundation for an amazing team.

We believe that our work environment should be supportive. Team members are given what they need to succeed, whether that be extra training or even just a comfortable chair. In turn, they work hard for our company and show up everyday with a winning attitude. It's the team that makes the company and we feel blessed to have an amazing team. 

Below:
Chris and Collin (left) work together to figure out the wiring diagram for a new assembly. Ben (right) keeps everyone entertained with dad jokes and random trivia.

Every Monday afternoon we have a team meeting. We start each meeting with a trivia question. The first person to get the correct answer wins $5. It's a fun way to start the meeting and gets everyone excited about gathering together. This Monday we asked how many squares does a chess board have. Do you know?

We put a lot of emphasis on team meetings. Everyone knows that no matter what their schedule might be for the week, they have to make the Monday team meeting. It's a time for us to go over basic info (like upcoming shop closures and who's cleaning the bathroom that week), but it's also a time for us to focus on a specific topic and have a team discussion. Sometimes the topics are fun and sometimes they're deep but they always present an opportunity to learn and better ourselves. Monday meetings allow us to connect as a team and work together to advance the mission of our company.

Below:
Christina leads our weekly team meeting. Ben (left) and Greg (right) love giving her a hard time. It's all in fun and makes for a fun meeting.

We had a fun training today based on the famous book Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson.

The point of the book is to remain flexible and to keep your eye on the prize. Life happens and you have to learn to ride the waves, no matter how challenging. Some people get stuck and can only keep doing the same thing every day, even if that same thing is no longer working for them and stops pushing them towards their ideal future.  In order to succeed, you have to be able to take a step back and course-correct when needed so that you're never stagnant but always moving forward.

How do you make sure you're always moving towards that cheese?

Below:
Greg (left) is always cheering us on, reminding us that we can accomplish anything. Haley (right) is always up for a challenge and has a great attitude when it comes to learning new skills.

"Light It Up Blue" for autism! We all wore blue at work today to show support for our neurodiverse brothers and sisters. ❤ We have a variety of people working at Bridgeview and that includes people on the autism spectrum. 

Below (from left to right):
 Seth, Peter, Chris, Greg, Ben, Collin, and Kevin