Personal and Team Effectiveness - Example

Personal and Team Effectiveness INDIVIDUAL PORTFOLIO WORKBOOK Personal Development Portfolio A. SWOC Analysis B. Information interview C. SWOC Comparison D. Gap Analysis E. 5 personal development areas F. Article Abstract G. Library Assessment Worksheet 1. Personal Development Portfolio A. SWOC Analysis Strengths I have a balanced life in terms of work, life and school. I’m articulate. Ambitious. Highly motivated. I believe these are my strengths because they drive me to excel in school life, personal life and my part time job effectively and I’m able to multitask all of them. Weaknesses I have a problem with conflict resolution skills. Though I’m articulate in speaking, my writing lets me down. I’m poor in doing follow-ups on delegated tasks. I’m a perfectionist and unable to appreciate substandard work no matter how challenging. I believe these are my weaknesses because they reduce y efficiency. Opportunities I’m receiving training on time management. I’m interacting with other team leaders to learn from them. I’m carrying out a survey to rate myself in my groups both in school and at work. I’m planning a to-do list to save time. These are opportunities since they are helpful in limiting my weaknesses and solving my challenges. Challenges My over ambitious attitude makes me very fatigued and this can cause me to project on others. Balancing my duties makes takes all the time leaving me with no time to rest properly. I’m highly inpatient with underachievers in my teams both at work and school. I’m uncomfortable delegating tasks which makes the other members perceive me as authoritative. I believe these are my threats because they undermine my strengths and limit my performance. Future jobs or areas of employability in which I might be interested are: Marketing, Sales and purchases, Human resource management My Insights Personal Profile Colour Wheel Position is: coordinator B. Information Interview Information interview 1 Name of interviewee: Mr. ZEUS 2 Job Title: Head Public Relations Department 3 Organization: Global Enterprises Inc. The process of identifying the interviewee 4 Global Enterprises Inc. was selected as the company I could interview because of their efficient employees and good interpersonal relations due to their public relations. The interviewee was selected through a thorough analysis of the employees of Global Enterprises Inc. Firstly; I looked at the people from the Career Advice Network (CAN) which has hundreds of professionals who are willing to discuss their occupations. The network provided a lot of professionals who are highly skilled in human resource, public relations, marketing and sale and purchase. I collected the contacts of the available practicing public relations officers in Global Enterprises Inc. so that I could do a follow up. I got five of them but could not locate them, but luckily, a relative happened to know one of them and got me started in my follow-up. He was the head of the department. Follow-up for the interview was done by e-mails. Using the name of my relative helped me in breaking the ice and was able to secure an appointment for meeting through several e-mails. The most important thing was assuring him that I was only interested in the information and not looking for a job. I prepared for the information interview by selecting some questions I could use for the interview. The interview questions include; What are the organizational skills and competencies of culture of Global Enterprises Inc.? What is your career background related to your current role in the firm? What challenges do you face in the firm? What skills do I need to work as public relations officer in this company? Would you give me advice for university students who are pursuing business- related courses? The information I gathered from the information interview helped me get knowledge which is very important in my career development in the future. Although my work experience has been short, I had several instances of relativity with the information I gathered. My experience has been short as compared to what the actual field experience in the industry. I have learned that in a firm with many specialists, team work is indispensable and very essential, supervision is less and therefore, self-discipline is critical. C. SWOC Comparison Most important job qualities from my interview include; 1. Have the ability to work in teams 2. Have the ability to resolve conflicts and make decisions 3. Have communication skills 4. Ability to plan for work and deliver effective results 5. Proficiency with the technological equipment like computers 6. Have the capacity to influence others 7. Have leadership skills 8. Have previous work experience in similar sector D. Gap Analysis Required job skills, qualities / attributes Personal Strengths and Weaknesses Gap Analysis 1. Have the ability to work in teams I’m a good group leader and I think I have the qualities required to consolidate and consolidate a team. This challenges me because I do not have trust ion delegation. I need to develop trust in my team members since delegation will help me get work done easily. 2. Have the ability to resolve conflicts and make decisions I have a good ability to make decision relating to our teams. However, I need to develop conflict resolution skills as I always find it difficult to resolve relationship and task conflict in the team. I’m working with other team leaders in different organisations to learn from them on the experience of effective conflict resolution. 3. Excellent Communications Skills – telephone, face to face and written. I’m highly articulate and coherent in speech presentation. However, I have a problem in presenting coherently written work. While I do not think this will affect my future work because of the technology where every official document is required to be typed. 4. Ability to plan for work and deliver effective results I have good planning skills as I’m able to balance my personal life, part-time job and school. However, I need to plan a to-do list which will help me save more time. At the moment I’m working on my time management skills. 5. Proficiency with the technological equipment like computers I’m highly competent in computers and most of the software. I do not think there is a problem here. 6. Have the capacity to influence others 7. Have leadership skills 8. Have previous work experience in similar sector E. Things that could help me achieve my ‘goal’ include; Delegation skills-this will help me distribute work to the other team members efficiently. Time management- it will help me balance properly my work, school and personal life. Develop conflict resolution skills- to help in proper coordination of tasks. Carry out a survey to arte my skills-so that I can match the expectations of my team. Interact with other team leader sin sharing ideas- in order to have diversified experience. F. Abstract: Student Absenteeism & Motivation Project Purpose The purpose of this abstract is to show the underlying issues related to absenteeism in students who miss lectures in different levels. Design / Methodology / Approach The data for this project was collected from different schools to evaluate the rate of absenteeism. Data was collected from school of arts and media, school of health and social care, school of sciences and law, school of computing, school of science and engineering and Teesside university business school. The data was analysed and recorded in bar graphs and pie charts. Findings The information in this project indicate that female students between the ages 19 and 21 are mostly absents from schools. They are followed by female students aged above 25 years and above. The male students aged between 22 and 25 have the least number of best students. In overall, the female students are mostly absent in school as opposed to male students. The rate of absenteeism is schools can be attributed to the belief of people that missing the lectures or seminars would not affect your exam. The highest percentage of students-46% believes that missing classes does not affect their exams. The school of social sciences and law had the most number of absentees with Monday recording the most absented day. Originality / Value The information from the analysis of this data serves to give more insights into the rate of absenteeism in school and the motivation. G. Library Assessment Worksheet Task 1: Finding print books Search terms used How many results? Comments (eg. How useful were the results? Did you amend the search to focus or broaden the results?) ‘Tuckmans team development model’ 20, 7000 The search was not very useful because it resulted into very many results. Task 2: Searching ebrary for ebooks Search terms used How many results? Comments (e.g. How useful were the results? Did you amend the search to focus or broaden the results?) Tuckman and Jensen’s (1977) stages of team development model 9,810 The search was a bit narrow but the search results were very many. Nevertheless, the book was available in ebrary. Task 3: Searching Online Databases Task 4: Reading list for PTE essay Tuckman and Jensen (1977) Stages of Team Development Introduction The stages developed by Bruce Tuckman are very sufficient in explaining the formation of groups. Tuckman proposed that groups need to follow this phases in order the teams to grow and develop in building capacities, facing challenges, solving their issues, working together and achieving their objectives. The phases of group development as proposed by Tuckman are; forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. These stages have their manifestation in the teams that I have worked with as they have the same typical characteristics (Price & Maier, 2007). Forming This is the first stage of team development as proposed by Bruce Tuckman. During this stage, people come together and join a team but are strangers to each other and therefore they fear about being accepted into the group. This stage has less instances of conflict since members are trying to fit in and to avoid any controversies. The members act cautiously but are not well informed about the objectives of the team, the challenges and opportunities. During this stage, the members are learning each other; they exchange their contacts and their personal informations. Most of the members become friends with each other and friendship is struck between them. The members are, though working at a personal level at this stage and serves as a good opportunity to evaluate the motivation of each team member and their response to work pressures (Tuckman, 1965). This stage is typical to the first stages of all the groups I have been in. my study group was exactly as Tuckman proposed when we were forming it. Even the members who are every unruly now were very quiet and careful during the forming stage. Everybody wanted to be nice to each other in order to fit well with the other members of the group. Members would always tend to avoid issues which will spark arguments. At this stage, we deliberated on the opportunities and challenges that the team will derive us but nothing much was set on that stage since members were very careful to deliberate anything substantial. Storming This is the second stage of team development according to Bruce Tuckman. At this stage, the team members are somewhat comfortable with each other and are able to deliberate on issues. Since the team did not deliberate on anything on the first stage, there are a lot of things in this stage which compete for the attention of the team members. Members deliberate on the how they are going to deliberate on issues at both personal level and team level and also how they should solve their problems and confront their conflicts. Since the members already know each other, they are able to open up to each other and communicate openly towards issues they are discussing. The leadership model to be adopted by the team in also discussed in this stage (Tuckman, 2001). This stage is very consistent with my teams. During this stage, most of the members of my team have already aligned themselves along friendship lines which extend beyond the team. The warmth and comfort established by the members enabled them to criticize and confront the suggestions and ideas of other members. Our team was able to move from this stage very quickly since they were able to deliberate of serious issues about conflict resolution, challenges of the team and we were able to stick to the agenda of the team. Although criticisms at this stage were highly not tolerated, members were able to solve their issue logically. Patience was highly advocated at this stage although not many members observed it. I think that this was the most difficult stage as members try to compete but it was successfully accomplished with the guidance of the team leaders. Norming The group is more consolidated at this stage. The members are more agreeable now on issue of objectives of the tea and thus they support whatever idea which helps them achieve their goals easily even if it means giving up on their ideas to support others. Conflict has decreased at this stage since the members have learned to live with each other and to make decisions together (Tuckman, 1965). At this stage, the members of my groups were able to work together on real issues. They seemed more consolidated and focused on the goals of the team and achieving the collective objectives of the team as opposed to having their personal objectives met. Many ideas formed and documented in the previous stage were dropped by the members and they adopted the ideas which would meet the objectives of the team. They were more responsible at this stage and every member seemed eager to take their roles. Performing According to Tuckman, not many teams are lucky to get to this phase. Only those teams that are able to function with the goals of the team in mind and are able to solve their problems effectively are able to survive since they are united by the goals of the team (Tuckman, 2001). The tasks of the team are performed smoothly and effectively. The teams do not experience any types of conflict at this stage because they have gotten used to the conflict resolution mechanisms of the team. Cooperation is intense at this phase and members engage in positive criticism which is positively perceived. The motivation of the member is derived from the satisfaction they get from achieving their goals. The team leaders plays a very limited role in this stage since most of the members of the team are able to handle the task of the team, solve their conflict and handle challenges without supervision. Maturity of the team is at its peak (Hartley & Dawson, 2010). My team has been able to reach this stage and it’s imperative to say that the type of responsibility at this stage is very mature. Members are very punctual and are more involved. The reminder letters have since been dormant since no member needs to be reminded of any meetings or responsibilities they are supposed to undertake. The success of this group at this stage can be attributed to effective leadership which has nurtured a sense of control and responsibility in the group members and enhanced a revolution in task completion and cooperation among the members. The tasks of the team are completed with ease and patience is exercised during conflicts or misunderstanding. The objectives the team are highly internalized and all the members are willing to spare more time and resources to achieve the goals of the team. Adjourning (and Transforming) This stage of group formation is different from all the others. This is because at this point, the group has already achieved its objectives and the members wish to dissolve it. Tuckman and Jensen called this process "unforming" since it is the opposite of forming. This involves letting go of the team, the structure, and the member and moving on to other things. This phase has also be termed as “deforming stage” or “mourning stage” since the members are saying goodbye to each other after establishing close ties with each other. Members feel lost since the feel as if they have lost something dear to them because of the attachment they had developed. Dissolution of the team means termination of all roles and reduction of dependency on other members in making collective decision (Tuckman & Jenson, 1977). This stage is very different in my team. Since ours is a team for completion of assignments, there is no much strain during the dissolution stage. The members are happy to have completed the assignments while in Tuckman’s model; most members are very stressed and sad at this phase. The reason why members of our team feel happy at this stage is because their tasks have been reduced and at this point, the schoolwork becomes very demanding that every students is happy to finfish the work. Another reason is because our team doesn’t end completely but rather, it takes a break. During the next semester, the team gets more assignments and the process of group development starts all over again. While this stage also involves completion of tasks of the team and the achievements of the goals and objectives of the team, roles are not often terminated as some of the leaders are retained in the subsequent teams in the future. The stages of team development by Tuckman and Jensen (1977) are very consistent with many teams who get to accomplish the tasks which they had been formed for. Most of the teams start as depicted in this model and end just the same with little or no deviations at all. All the teams I have had experience to be in have the same stages as those of this model. The team starts off in a much disorganized way as members try to learn each other and establish friendships. While at the initial stages members are more selfish and competitive to ensure their ideas win in every discussion, those behaviors fade away and the team matures in responsibility, patience, conflict resolution and control. The hardest part is dissolving the team after the tasks have been completed although this is usually the opposite for teams whose interest is to finish class assignments. References Bratton, J., Sawchuk, P., Forshaw, C., Callinan, M. & Corbett, M. (2010) Work and Organizational Behaviour 2e, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. Buchanan, D. & Huczynski, A. (2010) Organisational Behaviour, 7e, Financial Times Press, Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow Conger, J. (2004). Developing leadership capability: What’s inside the black box? Academy of Management Executive, 18(3), 136-139. Cottrell, S. (2008) The Study Skills Handbook 3e, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke Cottrell, S. (2008) Critical Thinking Skills, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke Deutsch, M. and Coleman, P. (eds.)(2000) The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000. Duchon, D., & Plowman, D. (2005) Nurturing the spirit at work: Impact on work unit performance. Leadership Quarterly, 16(5), 807-833. Gallagher, K. (2010) Skills Development for Business and Management Students, Oxford University Press, Oxford Greetham, B. (2008) How to write better essays, 2e, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke Hartley, P. & Dawson, M. (2010) Success in Group work, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke Martin, L. J. (2010) Organizational Behavior and Management, 4e, Thomson Learning, London Mullins, L. J. (2010) Management and Organizational Behavior, 9e, Financial Times / Prentice Hall, Harlow Pears, R. & Shields, G. (2013) Cite them Right, 9e, Palgrave Study Guides, Basingstoke. Payne, E. & Whittaker, L. (2006) Developing Essential Study Skills 2e, Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow. Price, G. & Maier, P. (2007) Effective Study Skills, Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow. Smith, P., Farmer, M. & Yellowley, W. (2012) Organisational Behaviour, Hodder Education, Abingdon. Tuckman, B., 1965. Developmental sequence of small groups. Psychological Bulletin, Volume 63, Number 6 p384-399 Tuckman, B., & Jenson, M., (1977). Stages of small group development revisited. Group and Organizational Studies, Number 2, p 419-427. Tuckman, B., (2001). Developmental sequence of small groups. Group Facilitation, Number 3, Spring, p66-81. A review of the Original Work, 35 years later. Williams, K. (2009) Getting Critical, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. Read More