Q: I work on the "new development" team in the IT department for a major university. Our department has three teams and three levels of employees in the department — the CIO to which the three managers report and three teams of 12 IT workers of various types, of which I am one.

Each team has a heavy workload and we have a lot of meetings, which take away from our time needed to get the work done. It seems the university has adopted the team approach, even though there is no actual teamwork. We work individually on tasks in our varying positions, and we work on different platforms. The only thing we share is the end result, which is new development for IT systems for the other university departments.

Our manager meets individually with each member on our supposed team once a week to check on progress and potential or existing problems. Our work rarely connects to our co-workers' work, so these meetings are necessary for the manager to know the details of what's going on. Then our team meets as a group every other week with the manager. This is the meeting where nothing takes place and nothing is accomplished. In fact, we don't even know each other. Since we work on separate tasks that only each of us can do individually, we are not involved with each other. We also never have any type of social time together where we can meet and talk to our co-workers. When we are done for the day, everyone is so burned out we run home.

In these supposed team meetings, the manager thanks or gives credit to various employees who have helped others. This rarely happens though, because we work on our own. He also announces issues that apply to the whole team, which could be done in a memo. He allows no time for introductions or any kind of social interaction. In fact, when I was hired, I was not even introduced to the team. I was just told to attend the team meetings. We, as individuals, also have meetings with the employees in the departments for which we are to work on new systems. These meetings are need-based and we communicate only on a professional level.

I can't tell our manager that we are really not a team because we work separately and we don't know each other. It's like being on an island with strangers and being called a team, and the environment feels personally empty. The only thing we have in common with each is that we are in the IT department. One person just left and I am looking for a new job, too, even though I've been here only a year. We have great benefits, but leaving seems to be the only way to change the situation.

A: Universities are steeped in hierarchy and administration politics, and you will not likely be successful at pointing out the flaws of its system, its implementation of the team concept, or your manager. If your department has adopted the team approach, but has omitted the aspect of social interaction for the team, a complaint from one of its anonymous workers will be ignored.

To have department teams where members don't know each other sounds absurd, but it may not have to do with the school's ability to implement teams. Without interviewing the manager and the CIO, It's difficult to know where team knowledge and communication break down. It could be due to your CIO's lack of guidance or your department manager's lack of social skills that set the environment for his team. A manager without social skills may not understand its value for others, nor would he know how to foster it on his team. The heavy workload may also contribute to the lack of social interaction, but most people, even those who work in technical areas such as IT, need to have social contact with those they see daily. It's sad to say, but finding a new job may be your only option for job satisfaction. Before you interview with each company, research its corporate culture and specifically, the IT environment.

Email your questions to workplace expert LindseyNovak@yahoo.com and follow her on Twitter @TheLindseyNovak and Facebook at Lindsey.Novak.12. To find out more about Lindsey Novak, visit Creators Syndicate Website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2016 CREATORS.COM