Team Effectiveness and Productiveness - Essay Example

An effective team is characterized by clarity in the unity of purpose, self –consciousness about the team’s operations, the team has in place demanding and clear performance objectives, the team’s atmosphere always seems to be comfortable, relaxed, and informal, lots of discussions with everyone participating, teammates are free to express their feelings and ideas as well(West,2012).

On the other hand, an ineffective team is characterized by low unity as pertains to team purpose, the team seems to stay away from discussing its maintenance, there is an atmosphere of indifference in the group characterized by tension or boredom, an individual’s personal feelings are usually concealed, and there is no proper resolution of disagreements by the team (Zepeda, 2004).On their first meeting, each member should introduce himself/herself, and share information regarding their backgrounds, experience, and interests.

This assists in breaking the ice and letting team members learn more about each other. The team should also learn about what their project is all about as well as discuss the project’s goals/objectives and begin thinking about the various role(s) each will play in the team. When a conflict occurs within a team, the group leader should take firm control and should not allow others to begin wading into the argument by way of interrupting other speakers. All team members should remain silent and listen to their leader no matter how heated the conflict is.

For a team to be effective it must be efficient, productive, and cohesive and members must enjoy taking part in their various roles as well as working harmoniously together. The team must therefore be cohesive with all team members working together cooperatively and sharing common resources and objectives (Zepeda, 2004). The leader in this case plays the role of building a relationship of loyalty and trust rather than that of fear. The leader should be the harmonizing influence and should communicate clearly, facilitate communication as well as encourage all the team members to reveal and share information.

Team members on the other hand should brainstorm, listen to their leader and each other, and obey the ground rules set by the team together with tolerating as well as considering other members’ ideas as important (Laura, 2011). 

At times during our group meetings, I portray behaviors such as communicating openly on various issues facing our team, encouraging my colleagues, getting time to know my teammates personally, and collaborating with not only our leader but also other teammates. Some of the behaviors that I demonstrate that work against team effectiveness include blaming others, ignoring other colleagues as well as talking while somebody is speaking. To ensure my Course Project Team is effective, I will make sure that I collaborate with others, offer constructive criticism, create trust as well as respect my colleagues in whatever discussion they may raise.