Individual reflection about a presentation(denmark - Coursework Example

In an article written by Katzenbach and Smith (1993), The discipline of teams, there is an interesting exerpt, “When individuals approach a team situation, especially in a business setting, each has preexisting job assignments as well as strengths and weaknesses reflecting a variety of talents, backgrounds, personalities, and prejudices” (p. 168). The strength of our team was a powerful one. Though we had problems trying to meet each other due to distances we were able to put in our efforts and do our best.

We were able to communicate with each other and each member was able to contribute to making our project succes. We understood each others weaknesses and we overcame those weaknesses by working together. This project had given us a positive experience that neither of us will soon forget. Though we only met four times during the making of our project I would like to experience this form of comradery again. We have accomplished a lot in such a small amount of time. The weaknesses our group had were not based on an inability to get along.

In actuality, we worked diligently and strived together. The problem was our distances from each other as well as our schedule. There are things that we are obligated to do in life such as work. Jobs and family life must take a priority and on the other hand, making a schedule to meet up together was difficult. Because of all of our different schedules we needed to set up a specific time and place to meet. Two of our group members live in London and us other two live far from each other as well.

But even though the distance was large we were all able to meet up as scheduled. There were many difficulties trying to get our work done and it was sometimes overwhelming but we learned to compromise with each other to get the work done. As a team leader it took me much effort to have the group run successfully.We met up on February 15th for our first meeting. During that time I assigned divided the project so that each team member would have a part and I took the first one which was about the background of Denmark.

When we had to work on the part about Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, we separated the part into pairs. During our second meeting on the 17th, we were able to begin our PowerPoint. On the 22nd we finalized the PowerPoint and organized it to make it sound perfect. And finally, on the 23rd we spent hours upon hours reciting and practicing our presentation. Before our presentation we had practiced ruthlessly. We were proud that our efforts had given fruition to our success. During my time as the group leader I had to coach everybody in the team.

I encouraged everyone to think hard about the work we have done. I was able to learn a lot from my team members. I have learned that communication skills are important when working towards a common goal. As De Janasz-Dowd-Schneider (2005, pg. 195) put it, everyone should participate and take responsibility on what he or she has to do. The key to all of this is communication. If a team member is having issues, we should assist the best way we can. Without proper communication we would have had a hard time working together.

We were able to tackle this project with our hard work and understanding of each others’