Group Techniques for Idea Building - Example

s eAssessment Cover Sheet MGMT 19114 Strategic Management Year/Term 2012 Term 2 Assessment Task Review of Self & Team Performance – Individual assessment Weighting 5% Due Date 27-09-12, 5:00PM Student Section Campus/Mode Melbourne Campus / Internal Lecturer Robyn Neeson Team/Group Name He Minting Student ID S0214758 Remarks Extension Information Extension granted? Revised due date N/A Approval date Approved by DECLARATION I certify that this assignment is my own work, based on my own personal study and/or research, and that I have acknowledged all material and sources used in the preparation of this assignment/report whether they be books, articles, reports, lecture notes, any other kind of document electronic or personal communication. I also certify that this assignment has not been previously submitted for assessment in any other course or at any other time in this course, unless by negotiation, and that I have not copied in part or whole or otherwise plagiarised the work of other students and/or persons. I have read the CQU policy on plagiarism and understand its implications. ASSESSMENT: 4 ASSESSMENT TITLE: PERFORMANCE REVIEW ON TEAM WORK SUBJECT NAME: MGMT 19114 NAME: HE MINTING STUDENT NUMBER: S0214758 ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE: 27-SEP-12 THURSDAY 05:00 PM Introduction The essence of having teamwork is to work in unison and produce better results unlike a single individual effort can yield (West 2012). It is for this reason that it is important for the assessment of a team’s performance over time. As a team leader, it is my duty to ensure that there is no conflict among the members neither of my team nor with another external team member or team. In the situations where this is not achieved then it is my duty ensure an amicable agreement or a quick resolution of the conflict takes place. My team is made of four students of which by this time after working together for time now we at least have come to understand each other and learnt to work in peace. However, this has not been a smooth transition from the start as we have experienced a number of hitches on the way but luckily been able to resolve them in time. The following is a summary of the overall performance of our group towards achieving our set goals and objectives. Purpose The sole purpose of teamwork is to be able to achieve more success with less effort as each individual is to bring in his/her contribution (West 2012). In some cases, this might not be the norm but it is critical that each partner feels included, has the information and a sense of ownership towards the entire effort. Responsibilities, power, credit, and decision-making are a part of team effort (IESE School 2012). This brings commitment and among the partners a sense of accomplishment (Moore 2007). It is therefore important that as a team we reach agreements and give suggestions where doubts may arise. One of my team’s main goals is to achieve a coordinated teamwork and improve on our leadership skills. It is also important not to forget that wherever two or more people work together then conflict is inevitable, this is because each individual will always have his/her priorities (Moore 2007). Identifying, understanding and finding out strategies to resolve the conflict in an effort to improve the work environment of a team is the important factor in team effort (Carlopio & Andrewartha 2008). It is for this reason that another purpose for engaging in teamwork is to work on how to handle such situations as they arise. Team rules, norms, values & structure Reflection on the application rules & team norms From the beginning, the team charter contains all the rules, norms, values, and structure of the group. Each member is fully aware of these rules and regulations pertaining to the group and agrees to abide by them. As the team leader, it is my duty to ensure that all the members obey the rules and work within the norms of the group agreement. However, not all has been according to plan although most of the members follow the rules keenly certain behaviors by some members are contrary to the rules and norms of the group. One of the concerns was especially when one member kept on bringing plagiarized work despite warnings from myself as the team leader. Another notable bad conduct by the members is skipping the tutorial class and lectures. It is clear amongst ourselves as team that it is important to attend the lecture session as well as the tutorial class as this enlightens us on the new assignment paper. Self & team roles and responsibilities One of the positive values of the team is to be able to share the workload equally and finish it on time (NDT Resource Centre 2012). Being the leader, I received total respect from my members with negligible instances where we did not agree with some members. The dedication of my team members to attend to their responsibilities and keeping time is one of the positive factors that have made working in a team an enjoyable experience. It is from this experience that I have learnt the importance of understanding each individual personally and try to work with him or her towards a similar goal with everyone. I have also been able to learn that as a group it is very important that the ideas and thoughts of each member be as of equal and considerable importance. The major factor that was discouraging towards the team efforts to accomplish their roles and responsibilities is poor communication amongst the members. This is mostly due the fact that most of the team members rely on the leader as the source of ideas instead of being open and share their own thoughts (IESE School 2012). Reflection on team processes One of the team’s positive sides was that all members always attend the meetings (IESE School 2012). The members also have high respect for me as their team leader and carefully listen to me during the team meetings. This respect brings in the factor of a self-managing team, which can be able to handle in kind of pressure and resolve it amicably. The same idea Langfred (2007) talks about, that, as a self-managing team there is increased flexibility to adapt to a variety of situations, conditions and tasks. By this time, the team has really developed in terms of working with each other and accomplishing set challenges and tasks (Langfred 2007). My group’s dynamics show that members are highly committed to their tasks and ready to work in unison at any given time with each other. Generally, one the team’s dynamics is commitment and determination to work together in achieving set goals. As an implementer, I must say there was so much for me to grasp. I had to sacrifice a lot of time, concentrating on new ways to make things move. I like doing my work efficiently and perfectly. This meant that I had to look for many new ideas that would help me set up my work in an organized and perfect manner. I had to keep up with many different attitudes that different team members had, as well as learn to understand each one of them they way they are. This calls for patience and understanding, as well. Generally, the whole thing was a lot of fun, as well as a learning experience. Reflection on roles Team engagement One way to understand a team’s engagement and commitment is to analyze on its way of resolving conflict. As Malbao (2009) puts it, “Teams performing well were characterized by low but increasing levels of process conflict…” As a team it is obvious that conflict is inevitable as there is a variation in an individual’s ideas when they are put together to work in unison with other team members ideas. As the team leader, I am glad to work with my team members, as there support and engagement is very encouraging. We were able to handle everything peacefully and shared many ideas. Whenever there was conflict, we always took it as a positive problem that gives us a challenge to brainstorm and come up with better solutions. In this process, we are able to learn a lot and understand each other even better. Team engagement and commitment is a very important factor for there to be any progress and I am glad that my team has all these qualities (Malbao 2009, p. 102). Contingencies As a team member, one of the important things that I aim to doing differently is to try to understand all my team members during the early stages of team meetings. I believe this will help in getting to understand each member’s behavior and be able to work with him or her freely avoiding negative conflict. The team charter also helped us a lot especially with the rules and values of the team. However, for the future it would be necessary to add a few more rules and regulations to the charter. One of these rules would be introducing penalties for those that default given instructions (NDT Resource Centre 2012). I believe it was comprehensive enough and it really helped the team in achieving its goals. Reflection on leadership My role as the leader of this group has helped me in terms of being in charge and working with other people. I have learnt great leadership skills as well a improved some of the skills that had. I have been able to understand various ways of handling tough situations and resolving conflict whenever it occurred without disrupting the group activities. I have been able understand that as a team leader it is very important to be the role model of your team members. To achieve this I have to preserve the team values and norms work in harmony with my subordinates and always pay attention to my team members. Another Important aspect that I have learnt as a team leader is having patience and never giving up on neither my team members nor myself. Learning was not only the major benefit that I acquired from this activity. It is very important to say that I also improved my skills. Communication was a major leadership skill that I improved. I realized that different people have varied levels of perception and interpretation. A leader hence has to exercise a lot of patience and understanding while dealing with such people Conclusion Overall observation is that it has been great working with team up to this point. The best part of it is how we have been able to handle even the most difficult tasks and reached a definite solution. The worst part being that in the beginning, not all members were willing to participate during brainstorming sessions but I am glad this was situation was resolved. The next we are regrouped and I am the leader again the first thing to do would be to encourage my members to attend the lecture and tutorial sessions as these provide very useful information. Reference List Carlopio, J & Andrewartha, G 2008, Developing management skills—a comprehensive guide for leader, 4th edn., New South Wales: Pearson Education Publishers. IESE School, viewed 24th Sep 2012, Developing Leadership Competencies, http://www.iese.edu/en/ad/EnfocadosWEB/1213/sfp/DLC/DLC.asp Langfred, C, W 2007, ‘The Downside of Self-management: A Longitudinal study of the effects of conflict on trust, autonomy, and task interdependence in self-managing teams’, Academy of Management Journal, vol.50, pp.885–900. (Online, Mason.edu) Malbao, R 2009, ‘The Nature of Conflicts: A Deep Analysis into the Types and Nature of Conflicts’, Journal of Conflicts, and Conflict Resolution, vol.17, pp.98-100. Moore, C M 2007, Group Techniques for Idea Building, 2nd edn., New York: Sage Publications. NDT Resource Centre, viewed 23rd September 2012, Team Work in Classroom, http://www.ndt-ed.org/TeachingResources/ClassroomTips/Teamwork.htm West, M 2012, Effective Teamwork: Practical Lessons from Organizational Research. New York: John Wiley & Sons. (Online, Lancaster) Read More