Experience of the Practical Seminar Activities - Essay Example

? Effective Team and Performance Management Reflection on lessons learnt from the group exercise inweeks one to three During the first week we formed a team of four that was to be the basis upon which we were to complete the learning process in this module. At first I was a little skeptical of the team as I found the newness of it quite awkward. We were only four in our team so bonding was a lot faster. This made me think of Hackman’s (2002:50) wisdom on teams which stipulates that fewer than six members in a team is the efficient level with which teams can efficiently perform. But that was just a start of the many lessons that I learnt concerning working in a group. The process of team formation was a unique experience as I had to work with people I did not know neither had interacted with before. Thinking back on the way that the team initially got together, I can clearly understand why Tuckman (1965:87-89) developed his four step model. The very first thing we had to do was select a leader, and since all of us were quite uncomfortable and held back a little, Hana who was the first to break the silence and quite seemed to be directing the group, was chosen as the leader of our group. We were four members in the teams diverse both in gender, race and culture. I realized that this could possibly present a problem as noted by Cox (1991:57) concerning diverse teams, but this was proved wrong as different members though uneasy at first, brought in different thoughts and perspectives into the group discussions and the search for a solution as shown by Kravitz (2011). I got to understand that a team would not be able to get focused direction without a leader who fosters the team towards bonding, familiarity and working together rather than individually (Chieh-Wen, Yi-Fang, & Ming-Chia, 2010:1299). Notably at first we had to develop rules on how the team would work out, the various expectation of the team and how we need to behave to accomplish various tasks and accountability. Though initially I felt I did not own the group or understand exactly what we need to and how we need to do it, after laying out the rules and interacting for while and after realizing that my team members were as anxious as I was, I became more comfortable and gained trust in the group. This is certainly a reflection of one of Hackman’s (2002:54) that a team needs to have a strong direction and focus in its direction and needs to develop a structure upon which tasks are assigned. This is clearly noted in the manner with which various tasks are roles were assigned in the team. One of the most unique lessons that I gained were from the survival activity. Not only was I able to see my team develop its own unique character, but me and my teams became as one dependant on each other and highly seeking to accomplish the same thing. Different team members tended to have different characters. While two were action oriented, one was more of realist while I was a planner engrossed on details (Chieh-Wen, Yi-Fang, & Ming-Chia, 2010:1302). At first I thought it incredulous but fun that we had to take animal names for our group and had to develop a survival strategy for our species to survive in a constraint environment. As we continued with our survival strategy I thought, aha, this is not about just some other random assignment, but was rather a deeper look into team building, what makes teams act in togetherness, have the same goal, same zeal and work together proactively to attain what is good for all in the group (Cook, 2009:124; De Jong, & Elfring, 2010:540). This is highly reminiscent of the social exchange theory which looks at how different people in a team exchange resources in manner that created utility for our group and enabled us to be able be able to brainstorm and come up with effective survival tactics for the lion in the jungle (Flynn, 2005:743). It also made me think of Freud’s group behavior model where he notes that people often have a herd instinct which potentially defines the character of group which may be different from the individuals within the group (Behr, 2008:56). Though admittedly working together as a team made me relax a bit as I knew that my team mates had my back (Liden, et al, 2004:289), the contribution of all members enabled our team to perform highly in the survival tactics due to the contribution of different members as even person brought in newer, fresh ideas and perspective in the group. Describing and reflecting on experience of the practical seminar activities The seminal activities were among the most eye opening activities that helped me both understand and define key aspects about my capabilities and how the various aspects team effectiveness are completed. Notably, the activity on self –perception inventory by Beblin (Swailes and McIntyre-Bhatty, 2002:231), I was able to identify my behavioral traits and profile, and showed my key strengths and weaknesses. My profile and traits as an implementer and complete finisher within Belbin’s model explained the sought of approach and the behavior with which I approached some of the team work activities. For instance, the Lost on the Moon activity in weak five, my team role as a complete finisher became quite evident as I took quite sometime to go over the ranking made by my team on the most essential items to carry for survival on our voyage. I scrutinized and analyzed the feasibility of one item being on top of the other and why another should be more important that the other. Though such skill was important for the team, I tended to linger of details which tended to be problematic as the time for carrying out the activity was limited, and some of my team members grew a little impatient of minutic dissection of the list decided on. The role though had a positive impact to the performance of the team, as most of the items that I went through and questioned the logic of them being essential were among the ones which closely aligned with the true NASA list. Clearly Beblin (Swailes and McIntyre-Bhatty, 2002:231) notes that within this role, a person tends to scrutinize and polish on the final decision looking for errors in order to maintain the highest standards. Despite the positivity, since I would not easily let go of an issue, other members tended to feel that this trait tended to pull the team behind. Looking back at this, I would say that my role in being inquisitive and seeking to be perfect in our choice actually best applied to the survival situation as it involved having to choose between closely related items in terms of importance yet still be able to know which is important than the other. Though Aritzeta, Swailes and Senior (2007:110) show that complete finishers have the tendency of taking the team back to already concluded decisions, and therefore may be a downer to a team, Foo (2011:40) found that diversity in team roles is imperative in giving different perceptions on an issue for effective team performance while Chong (2007: 211) note that effective balancing among the different team roles is what defines how coordinated, creative, and cooperative a team is, and is what differentiates performing from none performing teams. These made me thoroughly aware of my weaknesses with regard to my role and how I would need to align it to team needs in the future. The landlord tenant scenario in week ten provided quite a challenge on how the two with quite different terms of service would agree. This activity enhanced a deeper understanding on how various social interactions, perceptions and expectations impact negotiations and performance within a team, as a team brings a wide array of ideas to resolve a dilemma in a manner beneficial to all parties involved (Goleman, Boyatzis, And Mckee, 2002: 234: Hareli, & Hess, 2012:287). In addition, since we were a smaller team, I felt that the level of commitment of members was fine as each were assigned various tasks. One of the team members though tended to renege and delay in his tasks which always put the team in a compromising position with members feeling that they could not rely on him to deliver. This impacted team emotions and group efficacy in carrying out tasks, as others felt that the member was free riding or loafing (Hoon & Tan, 2008:98; Jassawalla, Sashittal, & Malshe, 2009:44). Clearer communication on this matter from the team leader though helped the team from becoming dysfunctional, and restored a much more comfortable emotional state within the team, and creating more self awareness on the significance of each member in the team (Weimann, Hinz, Scott, & Pollock, 2010:191). Group experience from the point of view of the leader based on my work with them Our group leader played a critical role both in resolving conflicts, squashing potential conflicts before they arise, and guiding the direction of the group in various of the tasks undertaken. Thinking of the leader’s perception of me in the group and how I contributed, I tend to think that she found me quite detailed and engrossed in the finer details as she kept saying which could be both good and bad for the team group and work. Such comments created in me self awareness (Goleman, Boyatzis, And Mckee, 2002: 245) in a manner that I tended to not to exceed the limits in analyzing an issue. Looking back at one incident during the landlord tenant activity, I tended to deviate the discussion to the motivations that both the tenant and the landlord would have in coming to agreeable terms, which were mostly purely assumptions, rather than based on provided data and information. The leader had to keep bringing the key issues in focus. Thinking of how she saw me then, I would tend to imagine that probably while she find me useful in the team for deeper view of some critical discursive issues, and while I may have been bringing newer aspects into a topic, I probably also tended to expand the scope of such issues taking the team’s discussion of course. Since she to give space for team members’ self expression, but always had to cut some of my long suggestions, I would tend to think she found my contributions highly detailed or irrelevant (Conlow & Watsabaugh, 2009:57). For instance while group consensus would concur that through negotiations the tenant and landlord could reach an agreement, I tended to think that the alternative options for each was a better deal for both of them since these two disagreed on the most crucial of points and terms and conditions. From the leader’s view point I probably took a dominant position and tended to think that all my answers and suggestions were right, which would be viewed as a competitive behavior (Goleman, Boyatzis, And Mckee, 2002: 221). I had started getting cross with her and though that she did not value my opinions. I thought clearly a leader needs to listen to all parts of the argument (Maginn, 2004:19-20). This lead to a withdrawal as I lessened my contributions, and instead laid back for the others member to discuss, and bust into a conflict after she realized I contributed less and wanted to know why I remained quiet. With further discussions it was agreed upon that each member would accommodate each others behavior so as to avoid conflicts, while all members would remain focused on the topic at hand in order to reach a conclusion easily and quickly. This note only applied to my dominant attitude within the group but also to the quite nature of one of the members who did not contribute much. This very much is reminiscent of Tuckman’s (1965) storming and norming stages in his model of team development. Final Synthesis and commentary on lessons learnt that are significant to my professional understanding. I have been able to learn that no team work comes fully integrated and unified in their values and skills. These need to be carefully nurtured and developed in order for the team be able to be fully operational and performing. Reaching a consensus as a way of decision making is a better way of ensuring continued team participation as every member will feel an important part of the team (Heller, 1998:14-17). I was also able to note some common predictable problems that have always been the downfall of team before it starts and how this can be easily avoided in my team. I have been able to note the emphasis on Creativity within teams being imperative for any team to be able to perform. This implies that teams not only have to nurture it but also have to work in collaboration by being supportive. Criticism of ideas within teams should be avoided and instead the members should concentrate on finding ways to improve the ideas that have been tabled (Maginn, 2004: 13-14). I have also been able to note that failing to complete part of responsibility assigned in my team not only loses trust but also demoralizes other members. I have also been made aware of the importance of managing effective team meetings effectively in order to reduce the spending a longer period of time in one issue as I obviously did. I was able to learn that it is not always possible that members reach a consensus, at times some might not be ready to negotiate their standing and this may at times need a call for a vote in order to break the deadlock. It is therefore not possible and practical to be able to completely satisfy everybody in a decision that has been made (Maginn, 2004:19-20; Heller, 1998: 30-31). The team leader’s role in fostering a supportive work environment to the team members in the seminar activities and group interactions clearly showed me on the great importance of having a person within a group as a team leader in order for any progress to be made within the group. Without the leader, the groups work haphazardly and in most cases an individual with a natural leadership talent would take over in order to restore consistency within the group. Members within a team are different and disagreements within teams are unavoidable. These differences can be well harnessed through effective listening to others perspectives and clarifications and through this, have new insights and perspectives on ideas. A team that tries to avoid disagreements instead of managing it, may brush aside other peoples ideas and thereby prevent open contribution, where as a team where disagreements are mismanaged may result to chaos ,accusations and wounded egos within the team members. Conflicts that spiral out of hand often result failure of a group to effectively achieve its goals. 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