Communication, Team Dynamics, Influencing Other Team Members - Research Paper Example

? Leadership Experience Leadership Experience During a leadership week attended on 19th May in college, different teams consistingof six to seven members took part in different outdoor activities such as balancing a ball on various threads by all team members, making a structure within three minutes, determining the least price costs and others. As a team leader, one was expected to direct the making of decisions and making the structure within three minutes at the least price. Twenty minutes were allowed before the actual task began, and the team leader’s approach, during that time, was to gather information from the activity instructor and the team on what the team’s goals and objectives were, and also the management of each team member. The team managed the lowest price and finished the task within the three minutes. This paper seeks to describe the activity, what was learnt, and the solutions provided with a focus on communication, team dynamics, influencing other team members, sharing information, agreeing on tasks and objectives. 1. Leadership, strategy and upward communication Strategic leadership can be defined as the ability to maintain flexibility, anticipate, and empower the other team members to form necessary strategic change. It involves coping with increasing changes, management of an entire team rather than functional subunits, and management of activities through the other team members. As a team leader, I had to affect the behavior of the other team members in environments that were sometimes uncertain via personal example and ability to envision the requirements for the next stage in the task (Yukl, 2010 p34). It is not feasible to formulate strategies which will give returns without strategic leaders. Therefore, it is necessary that as, a team leader, I had the ability to be a strategic leader to avoid over managing and poorly leading the team. Effective, strategic leadership shapes the formation of strategic mission and intent which influence successful strategic actions. These actions result in the formulation and implementation of these strategies which then yield strategic competitiveness and above average returns. For a leader to prepare the team’s minds towards one vision and direction, it is necessary to transform the team’s strategic direction. Directing the team towards the set goals, and having the ability to adapt concurrently ensures that the strategy delivers the aim that the leader wants (Yukl, 2010 p35). It is essential to have a different way of thought on how resources can be marshaled in the formulation and execution of the strategy in order to be successful. This balances strategy making’s human dimension with analytical perspectives that are focused. Coupled with time management commitments in engaging the team in dialogue on strategy, this strategy lays the foundation for building a foundation for creation of winning teams that define, adjust, commit, and adapt quickly to strategy. I learnt that in order to shape the strategic direction, I had to know what my primary role was as the chief strategist, my role as a leader during the strategy making process, the team required for the strategy making, and the point at which the making of the strategy can be considered finished. A leader requires to incorporate human and analytical dimensions, in order to create winning outcomes, and for the team to comprehend and commit to the set common agenda, and must also be clear about each member’s strategic capacity. Using feedback from the team members helps to provide a holistic view on the team’s and its individual member’s effectiveness. Ratings by the team members themselves and their peers can be used to evaluate the efficiency of the team and the individual (Yukl, 2010 p35). The members rate the following personal traits and competencies: Communication which is the ability to objectively, supportively, and openly share opportunities using nonverbal and verbal behaviors while listening actively. Conflict resolution, which involves the ability to sense conflict, identify its source, and resolve it appropriately. Collaborative problem solving which involves the ability to create obtainable, specific, and realistic goals for the team. It also involves monitoring, providing, and evaluating feedback to the team in goal accomplishment. Coordination of planning and tasks which involves the ability to establish role and task boundaries which result in balanced workload for the members of the team. Meeting of management skills which involve the ability to monitor and coordinate responsibilities and roles of teams, as well as facilitative behaviors. Extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness of personal style. Accurate and honest upward feedback from the team members to the leader can be blocked by the following barriers (Yukl, 2010 p37): Personal barriers including the manner in which the members process and interpret given information, prejudices ad stereotypes, poor skills at listening, inability to listen understandingly, judgment of the message from the sender, egos, interpersonal mistrust, and lack of effective communication ability. Physical barriers, which involve employee’s physical distance, differences in time zones, workplace noise, and communication quality, for example, phone lines. Semantic barriers, which manifest as decoding and encoding errors due to communication phases involving reception and transmission of words and other symbols including sign language. The leader can overcome these barriers by prioritizing the feedback collection meetings by creating meeting agendas and minimizing interruptions, setting a collaborative tone, being clear as to what the purpose of the feedback is, discussing of performance that meets, exceeds, or falls below expected in a constructive manner, get the members to tell them what they think, set objectives to align the work done by the member with the team’s needs, and encourage feedback by offering support and help as well as giving encouragement to the contributions and strengths of the employee (Yukl, 2010 p38). 2. Leading successful teams Group dynamics refer to the changes that are in motion within groups and concerns forces and interactions between the members of the group in social settings (Bass & Riggio, 2011 p65). It involves the study of various forces at work in the group. Group dynamics investigates creation and change within the structure and functions of a grouping turning into self directing whole (Bass & Riggio, 2011 p65). The laws on the behavior of the group are independently identifiable from the goals of the group without reference to the group’s structure. It is a technique that fosters conciliation between groups and individuals to formulate principles of group behavior and for the formulation of group actions and decisions. Formation of groups involves four key stages. These are: Forming which involves testing of the waters in the determination of behavior required. It ends when the members believe that they are group parts. Storming which involves the members accepting the group’s existence but conflict on leadership emerge. Ends with the formation of a hierarchy that is relatively clear. Norming, which breeds a sense of cohesiveness and group identity. This stage ends when the structure of the group solidifies, and there are set of common expectations that define the conduct of the group. Performing where the structure of the group is accepted and fully functional. As a team leader, I attempted to carry out a crash program of these stages during the twenty minutes allowed before the task. I took the initiative of the group, assigned duties to some members, and set out the tasks that each member should do. I tried to get all members reading from the same page and conforming to the team’s mission strategy. However, conformity in a group is not always a positive procedure (Bass & Riggio, 2011 p67). It breeds a feeling of non-responsibility in the outcome of the group. Members, who are too conformist, may lead to failure of a group in meeting set objectives, as they are hesitant in taking the initiative, in turning around a situation. This is especially so if there is no personal responsibility for the failure or success of the group. Groups can be turned into teams by several means. One is the formulation of common vision and goals. Unless the members have a similar vision of the destination they share, there will be conflict and confusion. A lack of direction leads to disintegration of groups as they spend their energy moving against one another. Another way is harnessing of diversity and different values, which can be the greatest threat or asset for the group. Finally, the leader should foster effective communication between the members. 3. Leadership and rational thinking Biases in our thinking that cause us to leap to often inaccurate conclusions include judgmental and heuristic biases by using shortcuts unconsciously (Dawson & Andriopoulos, 2009 p77). Another is status quo bias which refers to individual tendencies to lean towards alternatives which perpetuate maintenance of the status quo. Sunk cost bias which involves consideration of irrecoverable past investments in making of decisions despite the fact that they are now irrelevant. Framing bias involves wrong framing of a problem which will heavily affect the decision taken. As a leader, it was necessary I relied on evidence based management based on intelligent and informed decisions by relying on evidence and facts in order to avoid these biases (Dawson & Andriopoulos, 2009 p78). It was also necessary to encourage diversity and dissent which opens the process to various opinions and ideas. 4. Fundamentals of leadership For the current team activity, it was vital to identify the best leadership style to use in order to execute the task at hand effectively. For the task at hand, affiliative style was the best. It emphasizes team work importance and creates harmony by connecting team members to one another (Grint, 2000 p34). It was especially helpful for increasing morale, team harmony, and improving communication and trust among team members. As an effective leader, I needed to operationalize the team’s mission, involve the team members in the team forward movement, and make sure that excellence was not negotiable. 5. Influencing and persuading others Influence and persuasion are powerful tools in leadership. They help to set the task’s tone, aids in seeking agreement on problems that may face the team, explore all the possible outcomes by being tentative and giving enough room to the members for maneuvering, exploration of the course of action to be taken by narrowing down the team’s vision, and gaining a commitment from the team members on the way forward (Grint, 2000 p23). As the team leader, I had to frame the task in a way that the team would understand, mirror the task in easier terms, reciprocate team member’s actions, time introduction of new ideas, be consistent with actions done earlier in the task, be fluid of speech, and cultivate cordial relationships with the team members. 6. Leadership and communication Communication plays a central role for leaders. Leaders have a strong influence on the behaviors and attitudes of employees (Yukl, 2010 p51). Team members prefer to go through their team leader as a channel of communication on such things as conflict. This is, however, dependent on information that is being communicated. When there was a change in structure of task performance, for example, it was clear the team members wanted to hear it from me. However, the members may become disengaged due to the leader playing to what they perceive to be their communication strengths. It was noted that what was helpful in helping me succeed in earlier was not as helpful in later activities during the task (Yukl, 2010 p59). 7. Conclusion The activity carried out was too short and did not have enough activities for me to show my leadership qualities. However, the activity did allow for some group dynamics during the twenty minutes before the beginning of the task, which consolidated the team together to serve a common interest. Team roles were also assigned during this time. During the task itself, conflicts were minor and inconsequential. References Bai H, Chris M. Transients of modern power electronics. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Bass B, Riggio R. Transformational Leadership. London: Lawrence Erlbaum , 2006 . Dawson P, Andriopoulos C. Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation. London: Sage , 2009. Grint K. The Arts of Leadership . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Yukl G. Leadership in Organizations (7th Edition). London: Prentice Hall. , 2010. 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