Team Efficiency - Assignment Example

Final Paper Working as a team is an effective way of mimicking the corporate sector. It is an essential component to the development, especially where the intended objective revolves around the community or society. In the development of a market-based product, views from different people are a significant contribution that ensures productivity (Tittemore, 2003). In this project, different members brought in various skills, expertise, and experiences that fostered the development of a Texting App. Since the members of the team had a common objective, management of the team, its resources, and the progress indicators formed the basis of most of the leadership responsibility. Different members of the team were assigned different roles, but this was not a restriction in their activity within the group, everyone was welcome to contribute towards the objective (Schultz D. P. & Schultz, S. E., 2010). Team Efficiency The team was comprised of calm and reasonable minds, who took the time to assess every opportunity and discuss it in detail addressing the possible pitfalls to the project. There was a mutual understanding of each member, and respect was common to all. Every member was considered an equal partner in the team, and contributions were encouraged for all participants. The developmental process in the team was highlighted in the interactions between member in the forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning stages. The group is currently in the adjourning development phase and contributions from each member of the team have been instrumental in the collective decision-making process, granted there were some compromises along the way. Leadership in the team is a very important element to the ability of the members and team as a whole to meet the objectives set (Tittemore, 2003). In the team setting, there was an ambient agreement that the team leader was responsible for the actions of the entire group. The leaders providing the team with clear objectives manifested leadership and guidelines on how to accomplish various tasks, in addition, he held team members responsible for the assigned tasks. Giving the team direction was crucial for the team leader and it is a task that was not taken lightly by all who were involved in the collective handling of the challenges. The relationship between the team leader and members was cordial and exceeded the professional scope, although the social interactions were also not encouraged in undertaking team responsibilities. The presence of clear objectives and direction contributed to the team’s participation and handling of responsibilities. This was further facilitated by the efficiency in which responsibilities and tasks were assigned to the team members. Contributions by individuals were welcome, meaning that the approach used in leadership was integrative, and ideas were debated comprehensively before a decision was arrived at (Montana & Bruce, 2008). Individual members were allowed the opportunity to contribute to a decision and proposals, without inappropriate criticism of what was argued in the team meetings. The team leader encouraged debate and communication, which developed the relations within the group setting, thereby allowing contributions and disapproval of ideas, within the group setting, such that the group contributed in the strengthening of individual research and presentation of ideas. The main obstacle in the group was the presentation of half-baked ideas. The group may have benefitted from devising a structure on which research would have been conducted. The presentation of ideas in the group was encouraging to all, but there was a limitation in the evidence to support the claims that were made by the proposers. The opposition seemed to do a better job in shooting down ideas since they were initially not presented with enough support. There was much time wasted in the second tabling of ideas, with backed evidence to give a concrete account in the probabilities of success or failure (Montana & Bruce, 2008). Additionally, the team should have been involved in the development of a regular and all-inclusive schedule to direct the pace and schedule of the task, responsibility, and action plan execution and implementation. Role in the Team The degree of effectiveness in the responsibilities I had to the team can be calculated from the attendance and execution of responsibilities. The effectiveness of my performance in the team was at the upper percentile, above 90% considering that I did not miss any meetings, details about the app, and contributions made towards the development process. I engaged the members of the team at every stage, thereby playing the role of a team member effectively. From the interactions, the app was designed and developed with considerations given to the needs of the market as well as the group. Punctuality facilitated the meetings of the group, as I was in charge of minutes and notes among other responsibilities. Documenting the progress made by the team was a significant role in meeting the team objective, and my participation was instrumental to capturing all details of the plan. In this project, I acted as a communication node to all the members of the team. I was in charge of documenting any progress made by the group thereby offering an account of aim discussions, decisions and assigned roles and responsibilities. I acted as a supporting character to the team in discussions and arguments towards the objective of the team. Providing the team members with information from previously agreed upon ideologies allowed the team to forge ahead without having to revert to solved challenges. This is important as it minimized the chances of wasting time in executing the project. I also acted as the compiler to the project report by documenting what was involved in the project process, thereby developing a report accounting for the group’s progress. Development in the group was determined by the approach and objectivity of the team. I was a major team player in that I captured all the progress made in the while dealing with major and minor issues. Acting as a frame of reference, I provided the development phase with information towards the goal of the project, as well as incorporated the findings that would support a different or similar approach to the problem at hand (Miner, 2005). Ascertaining that all the members of the team had access to their responsibilities and tasks, with relation to the team’s development objective facilitated the phase development of the project, as well as the assembly of the final product. By writing and sharing the minutes with the team, I provided the development with regular updates, which marked the progress made in the project. I thus acted as an indicator top the project’s progress. The challenge that I was faced with in the project is ensuring that everyone was at par as I updated the members of the team as one unit or as individuals. I believe that the establishment of a communication channel would have increased the effectiveness of the team. Incorporation of ICT technology (Schultz D. P. & Schultz, S. E. , 2010), such as email might have provided the project with an increased efficiency in communicating ideas, as opposed to reading the minutes to the members of the team, while at a very low-cost. Concepts, ideas, challenges, could have been communicated through the online method of communication, especially with the tight schedules that were kept by the team members. Ensuring everyone got the information effectively through the email would elicit reactions from the team, without fear of intimidation of speaking up. Lessons about Teams Considering the results from the project, lessons learned from the practice concentrated on the relationships between different entities in a team. Communication within the team builds the team relations and contributes to team efficiency (Miner, 2005). Considering the nature of the team, where there are too many similarities, using the task-oriented and relationship-oriented style of leadership is a contributor towards a productive environment. Using a participatory approach to decision making is key to productivity, and a democratic environment should couple it. The leader-member relations theory best capture the ideal relationship of a group formed by colleagues in a team towards a common objective. References Miner, J. B. (2005). Organizational Behavior: Behavior 1: Essential Theories of Motivation and Leadership. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe. Montana, P. J. & Bruce, H. (2008). Management. Hauppauge, New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc. Schultz, D. P. & Schultz, S. E. (2010). Psychology and Work Today : An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Tittemore, J. A. (2003). Leadership at all Levels. Canada: Boskwa Publishing. Read More