Team Building - Term Paper Example

In this regard, there are team building exercises that have been proven to assist in conflict resolution in an organizational setting. The objective of this essay therefore, is to present and describe a team-building exercise for conflict resolution that could be applicable in an organizational atmosphere. Team-Building Exercise Usually, the sources of conflicts within groups are the incongruence of goals, interests, and lack of accurate perception of each member’s personalities and preferences.

Conflict behavior could be manifested through overt (or covert) expressions of hostility between members of the group and deliberate interference with each other’s activities. Human behavior practitioners have identified a number of approaches to resolve conflicts within groups through group meetings, brainstorming, group dynamics and team-building exercises, and sensitivity training (Martires and Fule, 2004, pp.114 – 118). Group dynamics and team-building exercises are techniques that enable group members to articulate their actual experiences, emote their feelings, sentiments and emotions on certain aspects, areas or problems with the aid of a facilitator.

The process helps members get a clear understanding of the problem and gain insights into the situation. One example of team-building exercises that can be presented within an organizational setting is the Brown Bag Discussion (Destination Imagination, n.d., p. 6). The details that indicate the goals, materials, directions, and variations are as follows: Brown Bag Discussion “Goal: To have an opportunity to discuss group issues in a fair way Materials: Small pieces of paper, paper bag Directions: Have each person write down, on a small piece of paper, the topic that they think the group should discuss most.

Have them fold the paper twice and deposit it in the bag. Shake the bag and take turns drawing out a topic, reading it and discussing it. Make sure that the person who wrote the topic is satisfied with the discussion before you move on the next topic. Remind people to use "I "statements. Variations: Have the group write down questions to make it a an icebreaker, or write down different quotes and draw them out one at a time and talked about what they mean to the group” (Destination Imagination, n.d., p. 6) The exercise is simple to understand and to implement within the organizational setting and requires very minimal materials that are easy to procure.

Further, as the directions indicate, the topic that the group could focus for the discussion could be the current conflict being experienced among group members. By doing so, with the assistance of a facilitator, the members would be illumined on the possible ways to resolve the conflict as heard from the insights and comments of each member. Also, to lighten up the discussion, the variation is a helpful technique that could provide an ice breaker for the discussion; rather than merely focusing on the seriousness of the conflict resolution topic.

An ice breaker could be in the form of group activities that require actions, games, and even fun endeavors that would stimulate much needed respite from the formalities of the discussion. In the end, the facilitator should identify which among