Reaching the Peak of Mount Everest - Coursework Example

Group or Team Based Business Project Customer Inserts His/her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 04/05/ 2011 Introduction In a class assignment, groups were formed to complete a group project aimed at reaching the peak of Mount Everest safely but in difficult and challenging circumstances. The teams or groups consisted of five students from which the students would also choose a leader and one other member to assist the leader. The assisting member was referred to as ‘junior leader’. I was chosen to act as a junior leader. As a junior leader my major duty was to coordinate the group members as directed by the leader. The group participation was quite challenging, though we reached the peak of Mount Everest successfully. My participation, experience and insight of the group will be analyzed based on John’s four step model. Problem and Context In the first instance, I was not scared of been chosen as a junior leader since in the school I was serving as a leader in the prefect body and in other clubs or movement. However, when I saw the students who constituted my group colleagues I felt nervous and thought like quitting instantly. The group formation stage is the most difficult stage since members are not aware of each other and have not yet established their boundaries. Lack of knowledge about each other results to consideration of trust issues; for example, I felt I could not trust some of my group members based on their behavior during classroom sessions. However, Levi (2010) suggests that teams should consider team warm-ups at the formation stage which are aimed at improving social relations within the team. Team warm-ups are social activities conducted for team members to know each other more and enhance group communication. I was lucky because the team leader was a very entertaining person and hence he was able to conduct team warm ups that actually lightened my spirit and the spirit of other group members. The students that I was feeling insecure around became more cooperative and social to each and every member of the group. However, there was still some resistance from members in certain decisions that the team leader felt would be effective. As a junior leader, appointed to assist the leader, the members’ resistance had a negative impact on me too. I feared that if the group did not cooperate, then the goal of the team formation would not be accomplished effectively. Having been a leader once, I knew if the team was to achieve the goal then members should be very supportive of the leader and provide views on different areas. I therefore advised the team leader to provide the team members with a chance to give their suggestions. The issue of trust was also a consideration for the team, specifically trust in the leader. The leaders must not only have the ability and hard work but acquire leadership skills. Leadership qualities include: innovative, sensitive, courteous and respect for others. According to Rossiter (2004) a leader provides ideas to his followers while he remains open for suggestions. In addition, he should criticize as well as welcome criticism. The team project was both challenging and exciting especially because this was a unique task and adventure to majority of the group members. Organizing on the kind of necessities needed was difficulty since the leader, with the help of the junior leader had to find out from other people on items needed. In addition, the fund allocated for each group to accomplish the project was not enough and team members had to contribute from their pocket for extra money needed. These was difficult since the team comprised of have and have not, hence making it hard to get contributions from the have not. To sort out this problem, the leader requested that members should make contributions based on their capability. This proved rather difficult because some members gave to little compared to what they were capable of giving. Reflection I was given the role of a junior leader to assist the team leader in developing and implementing ideas. My role was chosen since the team conducted an open selection of the team leader and the two junior leaders. Consequently, there was no role overlap because there was no other junior leader who was to play the same roles as I. Role overlap could lead to role conflict if the leader did not select the role to be played by each junior leader, though any junior leader could play any role. Fellenz et al (2010) notes that it is important to avoid role stress which is brought about by role ambiguity, incompatibility, conflict and overload or under load. My role of junior leader was quite compatible with team’s project and objective. The fact that the role of junior leader was played by one person did not mean that there was role overload since I was just assisting. I performed this role because I knew am able to follow directions without much questioning therefore providing the leader with an easy time. I also knew I was capable of acting as a neutralizer or a mediator between the team’s leader and the members. This is because the leader was a person who might go overboard in exercising his power, that is, dictatorship. In addition, am very sensitive to others and a strong advocate of equality. The Mount Everest team project was one in which there were some difficult and easy tasks to accomplish. Therefore, since the leader’s role was to provide the junior leader’s with tasks to be distributed to team members; I knew I could equitably locate the tasks accordingly. My team members chose me as a junior leader instead of a team leader because I did not display characteristic of strictness which they highly preferred for this kind of project. In my view, this is true since I strongly advocate for dialogue and adherence of rules and regulations without any pressure. Therefore, I did not expect that the team members would be reluctant in following the norms guiding our team hence the need for a strict leader to coerce them. Earlier on during school activities, I was able to influence the school management to consider a price giving day to reward the best students in different categories of school activities. Due to these negotiating skills, the group members knew I would still influence the school management to consider rewarding the best group. My team was very optimistic that they will achieve the group goal of reaching at the peak of Mount Everest, consequently receive the group reward. The group incentive plan would also integrate individual incentive and organizational incentive plans. Group incentives (rewards) are aimed at motivating members at being more productive and high performers. This is because incentives also referred to ‘variable programs’ are pay-for-performance based. A group must reach at a certain minimum level in order to rightfully qualify for the reward or incentive (Bohlander et al 2009). The knowledge about the group incentives influenced my decisions in course of performing the project. This is because I kept on reminding my team members of the importance of the incentive for the group and also as an individual. One personal factor that influenced my decisions and actions during the project was been more rational since I prefer dialogue rather than fighting to be heard or recognized. During the storming stage, I chose to remain rational when members were arguing about who will take certain positions, specifically the position of the leader. I knew it was my duty to participate in the selection procedure, but I had to do this in the most rational way to avoid conflicts with any member. At the storming stage, the team is characterized with conflicts for position as well as competing for certain roles, while at the norming stage each member is aware of his or her position and therefore conflicts have been resolved and there is increased understanding and cohesion in the group (Gary et al 2007). Alternative courses of action Some of the group members were very ignorant on certain directions provided by the group leader. They seemed to demonstrate that they knew everything while the team leader knew nothing. Not that I was against the idea of integrating or sourcing opinion from group members, but the way some members approached the leader’s ideas. If I would be in the same situation, I would have stood upright with all strictness that I did not show to possess and assert the leader’s ideas. In addition, even in requiring the leader to remain open for suggestions when giving ideas, I should have advised the team leader to support the idea that he felt was the most appropriate more so to enhance a consensus. I would have also considered teaching the group members on how to plan, make decision and reach a consensus with an aim of making them good team players. This idea is considered by Lewis (2004) who encourages training new skills to group members before executing a task, since many of them do not possess these skills. During formation, I would have addressed the importance of listening as a sign of respect for one another. Group members need to attain a level of competence in performance of their duties for accomplishment of the goal. This can be enhanced by developing certain skills that can only be acquired through training. Training and development is the responsibility of the concerned management. There was also the conflict that rose concerning extra contribution to finance the project. The group members did not fairly contribute based on the fact that some members were well off than others. If I was to be involved in the project again, I would have tried to negotiate for an equal amount of contribution to resolve the contribution conflict. Further, immediately when the teams were provided with the project, I would have carried an analysis to know the actual amount needed for the project to be executed successfully. After this, the teams would have been given the actual amount hence the contribution conflict would not have occurred. The best approach that I would have considered taking, is explaining to the group members of the importance of unity and concern for each other. On the other hand, together with the leader and the other junior leader, we could have analyzed every stage of team development. This would have ensured that the whole group had a better understanding of their expected behavior in each stage. Hellriegel et al (2007) states that team development stages include: formation; storming; norming; performing and adjourning. These stages are explained based on change in behavior of members in every stage. At the forming stage, members are strangers to each other hence they behave antisocially. In the storming stage, members display a conquest behavior; that is, they fight for roles and position. In the norming stage, members are aware of their roles hence a cohesive behavior. During the performing stage, the members have attained trust for each other and a flexible working process has been created. Members are aware of their individual’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their group. At this stage, I would have focused more on using my strengths and minimize my weaknesses. With support from the team leader, I should have looked out for non participative members to make them involved in accomplishment of the project. At the adjourning stage, members have accomplished their tasks or achieved their objective. This is the stage at which I would have organized for group and individual rewards and sharing of experiences (Kurtz et al 2010). Learning outcome The group project was very beneficial to me since I learnt the importance of teamwork and the commitment level expected of me. I also became aware of other capabilities that I possessed and developed other leadership skills. I was not brave and feared criticism but after the working in the team I knew I had to be brave and welcome criticism as a way of acquiring extra knowledge. I came to understand that, a leader need not to be a dictator but a brave assertor of ideas that he or she felt were essential for effective accomplishment of the teams objective. Since the members showed appreciation for been rational in solving conflicts, I learnt the best way of interacting with people. I learnt how to better interact with people through communicating and dialogue rather than fight to be had. As a future leader I have to be more innovative, sensitive to others, courteous and respectful. I knew the importance of planning for any major or minor task to better analyze the situation, look out for possible areas of role or resource conflict. As a member of a team with no other position held, I came to understand that in the future I have to be more cooperative with other members and respect the ideas of the leader. I have to be more welcoming of the ideas of others achieved through listening to them. The team project helped me understand the importance of communication, consensus and contracting with other members of the group. According to Pokras (2002) good teamwork is accomplished by members cooperating and working together. There is need to aware of the skills and competencies of other group members based on their current jobs. This is because this will necessitate role and task allocation at group levels. I learnt the importance of forming groups comprising of members from different field since there will be a pool of knowledge and variety of skills necessary to accomplish the group assignment. A group must have a common goal that will guide them. This goal is effectively achieved through communication, contracting and reaching a consensus. If given another chance in a similar task, I would react in a different way having known or acquired extra knowledge about team development. I would be more accommodative of opinion from other group members as well as try to achieve a consensus where every group member appreciates the resolution. I would emphasize more on members having full understanding of the project as well as their roles as individuals and as a team in achieving the goals and objectives of the team. Conclusion Though my team accomplished the task aimed reaching the peak of Mount Everest, I cannot ignore the major difficulties that the team faced. In my view, these difficulties and conflicts would have been avoided if at all my team had thoroughly planned for every stage of team development. The plan would have considered on how to avoid or minimize the difficulties and conflicts that would have been encountered. The group members would have had actual knowledge of their expected conduct at every stage of team development. This is because, in order to be productive, the teams have to pass through these stages with commitment from every member of the group (Williams 2005). References Bohlander, G & Scott, S 2009, Managing Human Resources, Cengage Learning. Fellenz, M & Martin, J 2010, Organizational Behavior & Management, 4th Ed, Cengage Learning EMEA. Gary, D & Jean, P 2007, Managing Now, Cengage Learning. Hellriegel, D & Slocum, JW 2007, Organizational Behavior, 11th Ed, Cengage Learning. Kurtz, DL & Wiley, J 2010, Contemporary Business, 13th Ed, John Wiley and Sons. Levi, D 2010, Group Dynamics For Team, 3rd Ed, SAGE. Lewis, JP 2004, Team-Based Project Management, Beard Books. Pokras, S 2002, Working In Teams: A Team Member Guidebook, 2nd Ed, Cengage Learning. Rossiter, DE 2004, Leadership Skills, 2nd Ed, J.G Ferguson Publishing Company. Williams, J & Curtis, T 2005, CIM Coursebook 05/06 Marketing Management In Practice, Butterworth-Heinemann. Read More