Five Stages of Team Development - Coursework Example

Individual reflective report s Submitted by s: Individual reflection So that I can create a precise of the team process, the basis of my experiences is on the five stages of team development created by Bruce Tuckman (Forsyth, 2010, p. 129). The initial stage involves forming the team where the different members come together and try to know each other better (Martin, 2011, p. 21). In the case of this assignment, the team comprised of my partner and I as we had worked together before. The formative phase of our team entailed talking about the weaknesses and strengths in order to understand what each of the members could bring to this specific assignment and to get be more aware of the perception we both had towards this assignment. The second phase involves storming where the members of the team create a system that will assess different processes the group will take part in (Garrett, 2011, p. 117). Consequent to the choosing of teams, my team reached the agreement that in order to be successful; we had to develop a collection of rules, which were to be adhered to throughout the process of completing the assignment. In this phase of the team’s development, we had to identify processes and identify working standards that would govern the team in various aspects like communication, absenteeism at team meetings and meeting deadlines. We then appointed my teammate to be the leader of the team tasked with enforcing that collection of standards together with monitoring the process made by the team. The next stage in the development of the group was norming where the members were supposed to agree on the structure of the group along with the procedures and processes, which the group will employ so that it can make its operations effective (Hass, Vander Horst and Ziemski, 2008, p. 43). This phase also entailed the amendment of standards that had been set previously to suit the evolving dynamics of the team. This was followed by the performing phase that involves the group following the procedures that were agreed on in order to achieve the set out objectives (Schwalbe, 2010, p. 363). Regardless of the fact that group members did not strictly adhere to the identified procedures, the group successfully achieved its set goals by the deadline that it had set. Nonetheless, individual duties were often not completed in the timeframes that had been allocated, this resulted in other members of the group having to do extra work and therefore conflicts arose. The final phase was adjourning which occurred upon completion of the work the group had set out to do (Dessler and Phillips, 2008, p. 471). Successful completion of the assignment the group was working on was achieved and this can be attributed to hard work and dedication of the team members. Even though the team had experienced its share of difficulties as well as conflicts in the process of completing the assignment, the outcome of the team process was a high quality assignment. I think the level of cooperation and collaboration of our team was high particularly considering no members of the group had worked with each other before. Even though there is likelihood that the team members will be happy that the assignment has been completed and the group work is over, I think all the team members would agree that we worked well together. As an individual, I wound encourage my colleagues to approach this assignment from a more hands on approach rather than learning from predominantly theoretical applications as this has a significant effect on the improvement of knowledge concerning ways of dealing and working with real firms. Through the assignment requiring the creation of a PR campaign, I have been able to learn a lot concerning PR campaigns, the members who made up my team and the public as well as myself. Since people learn from making mistakes, the chance to come up with this campaign inspired a lot more learning that merely finishing an assignment. Getting the opportunity to work with different members of my class was important as far as putting PR skills into practice is concerned along with seeing the outcome of what we were working on first hand. One of the main learning aspects of this assignment was being able to understand the implementation dynamic that had been introduced earlier. Even though the idea is bold and was received differently by a section of the students, the idea that highlighted it paid off. My colleagues and I were able to appreciate fully the manner in which agencies work and the lengths they must go to in order to achieve the goals they have set for themselves. Initially when I started this course, I had wished for assignments that would require some level of creativity and innovation from the students while avoiding standardized methodologies meant to replicate previous successes instead of giving students a chance to come up with new ones. Consequently, the teaching ethos that concerned itself with capabilities and expertise we would attain through co-constructing knowledge excited me along with the accountability of various members of the class to something, which was bigger than they were. Additionally, the ability to plan implement and assess a public relations campaign has increased my awareness of the effect that communication can have in altering perceptions and exposing people to new ideas as well as information on various social aspects. This assignment efficiently incorporated the other assignments on public relations that I had previously completed and upon reflection, I think this was an exceptional opportunity for the applications of skills while at the same time making a difference in the community around us. Incorporating social issues with business is an aspect that I hope to pursue in the future and this assignment played a crucial role in showing me that it is possible from a communications practitioner’s perspective and from a higher and strategic level. The assignment was enlightening and important and I think students should develop a PR campaign and implement it for assessment at the end of their degree as this wraps up every aspect they have learnt through putting it into practice. Doing this at the end of the degree means that students will take it more seriously and in the process get a lot more out of it and the students can include this specific assignment in their CV. Additionally, the practical aspect will try all the theoretical knowledge the students will have learnt in their entire time in the university and this will be of uttermost benefit. Even though most of the people are afraid of the teamwork part of the assignment, it is important to remember that in the work environment; most of the tasks will be completed as a team making it imperative to learn how to deal with other people (Smith, 2002, p. 338). The PR campaign assignment provides students with a taste of the manner in which they can implement what they have learnt in real world situations and beyond benefitting the students, it involves contributing to the broader community while focusing on the sections of the community that require it to make a significant impact. It also provides a good reflection on the institution as a component of CSR while assisting to instill values of charity on the students. In my opinion, students should be encouraged to complete the assignment at the end of their courses rather than taking it early as it meticulously utilizes the learning and captive attention of the students I order to create value to an aspect of the community. Taking a practical PR assignment at the end of the degree course will assist in tying all the theoretical assignments completed throughout the course of the university degree while at the same time adding value to what has already been learnt (Duch, Groh and Allen, 2001, p. 252). Even though theory is important, many people do not get enough learning from it and this creates the need for the practical aspect. Therefore, putting into practice what the students have learnt under the watchful eyes of the lecturers will assist the students develop confidence in various aspects including creation of PR campaigns and other relevant experiences they can include in their CV. This assignment was among the most relevant public relations assignments that I have ever done as it had the capacity to incorporate all the theoretical aspects into practical ones. Further, all the components of the campaign remain relevant to various differing roles especially those that relate to the type of media and its impact on the results of a particular campaign. If the campaign is implemented practically, its application will be greatly beneficial as the entire process of campaign requirements will further assist in highlighting the full requirements that will lead to a successful implementation of a campaign. It is therefore imperative to add that this assignment went further than the classroom and the conventional one-way communication from the lecturer to the student. As a result, I found myself immersed in attaining actual experience in communication in an interesting and applicable manner compared to the way most of the university assignments are completed. Bibliography Dessler, G. and Phillips, J. 2008, Managing now!, Houghton Mifflin Co, Boston Duch, B., Groh, S. and Allen, D. 2001, The power of problem-based learning, Stylus Pub, Sterling, Va. Forsyth, D. 2010, Group dynamics, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Belmont, Calif. Garrett, D. 2011, Project pain reliever, J. Ross, Boca Raton, Fla. Hass, K., Vander Horst, R. and Ziemski, K. 2008, From analyst to leader, Management Concepts, Vienna, VA. Martin, S. 2011, Co-create, Steve Martin, [S.l.]. Schwalbe, K. 2010, Information technology Project Management, Course Technology/Cengage Learning, Boston, MA. Smith, R. 2002, Strategic planning for public relations, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, N.J. Read More