Management - Leadership and Team Simulation - Coursework Example

Leadership and team simulation Customer Inserts His/her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 29, 09, 2010 Outline Executive Summary Introduction Analysis of teams and individual experiences in Everest Simulation Membership goals and roles Conflict management Decision Making Team Structure Leadership Communication Team effectiveness Conclusion Executive Summary Understanding teams and group concept currently cannot be wished away by any progressive contemporary organisation. With performance driven units forming an organisation, team productivity and effectiveness therefore needs to be enhanced. This can only be done through collection and analysis of relevant information. This paper is a reflection of the simulation experience in Mount Everest expedition which involved a team of five members. The report highlights experience of the group and members throughout the expedition and lessons learned. The group experiences ranged from conflicting goals, resource allocation challenges, leadership weaknesses, communication and risks management. The paper has been able to bring variables affecting teams’ effectiveness as leadership, decision making style, monitoring and evaluation systems and environmental uncertainty. The paper therefore enhances the understanding of groups and management challenges as they establish goal driven units. Table of Contents Outline 2 Executive Summary 3 Introduction 5 Analysis of Teams and Individuals experiences 5 Membership goals and roles 5 Conflict management 7 Decision making 8 Team Structure 9 Leadership 10 Communication 12 Team Effectiveness 14 Conclusion 14 References 15 Introduction Teamwork and leadership are critical aspects in the management of dynamic working environments. This paper is a reflection of the experiences in the simulation consequently a good practical learning environment for problem solving, leadership, teamwork and decision making. The paper discusses and reviews the area of team work as an administrative option in most organisations made up of members whose contributions are indispensable. Decision making skills are also acquired in the simulation since challenges regarding resource allocation, timing and risks are encountered. Communication challenges also ensured that members were able to attach value to it as they seek alternatives solutions to the breakdown of the only satellite equipment. Group dynamics and challenges in team management have been elaborated widely in the reflection (Austen 1995). Analysis of Teams and Individuals experiences Teamwork is a necessity in most organisations as there is no corporate task that can be accomplished individually. Organisations discharge their responsibilities through several people whose workings have been harmonised to work for the organisation. Membership goals and roles The five member team had an objective of maintaining the health of their members by putting in place measures and guidelines that minimises and avoid rescue option occurrence on the team members. The team membership has been constructed around the idea of supporting each other achieve the group and individual goals by ensuring that each member had a role to play that will be beneficial to the whole team. Presence of a physician was to provide necessary health remedies and advice, the environmentalist assisted in the weather forecasting and information. The team leader provided guidelines and triggered necessary actions for the team members. The marathoner gave the team the necessary impetus and speed of ascend while the photographer helped the team in capturing memorable moments and picture and map reading. Separate and complementary skills and attitudes are important for the success in achievement of the group goals when harnessed properly through leadership (Bissett 2010). Conflicting individual goals is usually a challenge in a team. For me, the ultimate goal of signing a multimillion contract created an impetus for the expedition hike and this desire might have created a sense of pride and a feeling of importance as compared to other team members but this had to be hidden so that the interest of the whole team could be upheld. Feelings of superiority usually affect team members but there is a need to forgo them for the sake of the team. No one could individually hike to the peak without help and therefore team spirit is required. In the endeavour to balance between personal goals achievement, the team performance dropped in the second simulation. This implies that such an endeavour should be done with high level monitoring so that an optimum balance can be attained between personal goals and the group goals (Caust 2010). The team performance can be rated good as it was able to overcome several challenges it came across. Team challenges ranged from personal goals and skills of members, varied personalities and team process implementations. In the areas of resource management, health status management and weather forecast analysis, the team performance can be rated as better. Analytical decision making challenge was one of the team processes that lead to the low performance in the second Everest simulation. The group decision making lacked a monitoring and evaluation mechanism that ensured that such decisions were thoroughly investigated; this led to wrong weather forecast. In the area of team cohesiveness and norms, the team contract provided some basic guidelines for ensuring harmony in the team; punctuality decision making policies and communication strategies were put in place. Conflict management Conflicts in any organisations cannot be completely eradicated but rather managed so that they may not affect the attainment of goals. Inherent conflicts in a team do arise due to differences in the team goals and individual goals. Different values and belief systems amongst members can also be a source of conflict but this is usually handled through tolerance and understanding. Unless conflicts are managed, they can always lead to more problems or poor team performance. Conflict management is a critical process in a group since it minimises sources of opposition to the attainment of group goals. Conflicts arising from miscommunications are a can be managed through effective listening skills, interpersonal skill and oral communication skills. Other conflict management strategies include discussions, open communications and establishing of group norms. For our team conflict of interest as a result of differing individual and group was solved using open discussions with a resolution of change of tact in the second Everest simulation. The conflict management strategy of using open discussions with group members and arriving with decisions through consensus proved to be amicable amongst the group members. Decision making At every level of management, decisions have to be made. In every organisations, the core process activities being undertaken revolves around decision making process. This is very critical since decisions leads to actions that in turn produce results which can be measured against the goals of the group (Hopkins 2010). Facts and data constitutes very critical inputs in a decision making process. In organisations decisions are usually made under considerations of risks, uncertainty and resources. Team decisions were made regarding ascending at various camps, the health of the members attacked by Asthma and frostbite, ways of overcoming malfunctioned communication equipment, Oxygen management and conflict management. Decision making schemes range authoritarianism to democratic systems. Decision making methodology trades in with time and consensus building. Authoritarian methods dedicate all decision making authority to the leader while in consensus the leader facilitates the process but the decisions are made by the team members (Hopkins 2010). The team employed consensus decision making methodology where the leader formally had opinions just like other team members but then they all had to agree to a middle ground opinion or decision. In the case of attack by frostbite to two of our members, the team agreed on recue as the only viable option them and the leader just facilitated it. Responsibilities for all decisions made were always vested with the team leadership though they were arrived at through consensus and team spirit. It was therefore imperative that leadership be very analytical, eloquent, and influential since the success or failure of the team was vested on it. Team Structure Team structure relates to the channels of relationships and communications within an institution. It constitutes roles and responsibilities, various players for different roles and interaction protocols between members. Team structure therefore has greater influence on the achievement of organisation goals, individual behaviours and decision making processes. With allocation of roles to different members, several leadership support positions were being developed consequently making harmony and synergy. Each role was assigned a responsible member therefore each individual has indirectly been given performance evaluation indicators. This will not only create a sense of responsibility but ease of delivery of organisation goals where relevant enquiries will be directed to the right role player. Team structure therefore ensures coherent functioning, communication and development of performance and responsibility centres. For the various roles in our team challenges were being countered by the leadership of the matching role position holders. Sijia’s physician role gave her the impetus to handle Grafaldy’s asthma attack. It is usually perceived that the team leader is the apex of administration in a team, while this holds, for our team the leadership position stood just for communication with the base camp therefore failing to show leadership as regards decision making where the teams consensus method reigned. While team structure does exist, different roles should be allocated to members who have the necessary skills to handle that position and this will lead to a highly effective team. Leadership Leadership in a team or group is central to the operations and success of a team. The team leader creates and ensures consistent endeavours to achieve the goals of the entire team. The leader ensures that group member maintain focus and energy while undertaking group activities. The core element of leadership in the group is instituting a group norm which ensures that members act within the boundaries and work in harmony with each other hence minimising areas of conflict. Leadership is not usually categorised as role in the groups’ structure rather than a position of influence on other team members (Parsons 2010). Team leadership is more to do with power to create and promote new solutions to the various challenges the team is experiencing and for our case of malfunctioning of the satellite communication equipment, the leadership of Myint just supervised the solution process. Our team leader was not a proactive leader in the areas of reward and motivation. The group leadership is the core of communication between the group and any external environment (Reith 2010). With the frostbite attack on the two members, the leadership was able to communicate with the rescue team at the base camp for help. Leaders do have a responsibility of control over the teams’ processes, he/she should be held responsible for all the decisions made in the group and therefore he should be able to put in place a logical monitoring and evaluation systems that ensure all decisions are vetted. This system will curb erroneous decisions like wrong weather forecast which resulted in frostbite attack on two members. The decision making process should have detected the risk but since an efficient monitoring and evaluation system didn’t work we suffered as a group. The leadership style employed in Everest expedition is democratic style where the decision making process in the hands of the team members and the team leader just asks for the ideas and opinions from the members. This style of leadership can sometimes make a leader to be a spectator hence not in control of the teams results. Leadership responsibilities do also extend to the area of team motivation and rewarding. To improve on the team members’ satisfaction, necessary rewards should be given out. In reality rewards need not be material but even emotional support through positive comments. Use of appreciation and encouraging words do have a great effect on the team productivity hence leader should be able to appreciate a performing team member, likewise communication amongst members need to be positive. Rewarding individuals in a team can sometimes lead to strive amongst members consequently leading to focus on attainment of personal goals. It is therefore necessary that a team based reward id developed so that much emphasis is given to team effectiveness. Leadership role of resource management is very crucial. Team leaders should have hands on comprehension of the team objectives and in-depth knowledge of various tactical processes. This will enable the leader to allocate resources amongst competing ends and limited timelines. The resource allocation challenges needs an overall direction of the leader. In the case of Oxygen and other supplies management, the leadership of Myint was much more of hands-off giving up on direction role on resource allocation and decision making. The control aspect of leadership does not necessarily mean use of position power rather than coaching and mentorship. This requires that a leader should have effective consulting and communication skills that will enable the team succeed. Since no leader is endowed with all the necessary knowledge to effectively perform the decision making responsibility, proactive team coaching and motivation will enable a leader tap from the wide knowledgebase of the team members hence making informed decisions. This does not indicate watered down powers rather it shows relevant knowledge driven decision making which usually has the team endorsement. Team norms do play a very important role in minimizing conflicts and leadership guidance is therefore very essential in establishing team norms. Team leader ensures that before a team gets down to action necessary norms handling interpersonal interaction and team process handing are put in place through consensus. Communication Communication is the ability to pass information to the right recipient. With the virtual team, this was facilitated by a chat service and in real life team, this could only be enhanced by the satellite communication equipment and handsets used by the team members. In order to make the right decisions regarding the mountains weather conditions, the team was given updated information from the base camp through satellite communication without which they required manual analysis based on the wind speed and temperature analysis. Various means of communication are available but the relevant means of communication must be aligned with the teams’ objectives and processes (Reith 2010). If the team requires real time information mobile communication technologies should be acquired. This shows that where faster decision making is needed faster means of communication is also a necessity. Effective and reliable communication is a necessity for decision making process hence the communication facilitates contributed to the achievement of group goals indirectly (Tarrant 2010). Initial communication by the team members during the planning phase was through e mail exchanges and formal meetings. This was relevant then where initial interactions had to be created and interpersonal relationship for the team enhanced. During the climbing phase initial communication was face to face and this was a good foundation for the team spirit. On the actual climbing simulation, the team communication was via a chat service. This was a suitable means relevant to the simulation. Final meeting was face to face where the team reflected on their performance. Communication in the team is aimed at considering the suggestion of all members, establishing a common agreement and mutual acceptance for the overall bonding of the group. Without effective communication in the group, members’ cooperation could have been compromised consequently leading to conflicts and wrong decision making (Tse 2010). Team Effectiveness The team performance or effectiveness is a very importance output indicator even though very subjective. This measure will indicate the level of achievement of the teams’ goals both individual and group. The measure usually adds up the team work and the task work deliverables. Team effectiveness does not necessarily mean all the goals of the team only are achieved but also individual member goals are met. This therefore is an indicator of achievement of teams’ goals and individual satisfaction. The Everest team performance in the second Everest simulation dropped since initial simulation had indicated a higher attainment of group goals at the expense of individual gaols. After the reflection session, the team agreed to balance on the same on the second hike leading to high performance as regards individual goals as compared to team goals. The team concentrated on being innovative and more interactive while focussing on the team goals. Team effectiveness therefore requires optimization of both individual and group goals. Conclusion Mount Everest simulation opens our minds to the real world organizations behavior regarding group dynamics, decision making, problem solving and achievement of group goals. The virtual expedition expounded on the invaluable interdependencies inherent in all human beings while trying to attain individual and group goals. It clearly elucidates the importance of problem solving and importance of communication as important element in decision making. With various challenges of varying dimensions, the group in Everest expedition was able to learn decision making under different scenarios thereby learning risk management, resource allocations and disaster management which are very realistic challenges in organizations. The expedition therefore enabled the group to have a total view of the organizations as having dynamic problems and having flexibility and objectivity in decision making in order for the onward progression to be achieved and attainment of individual and group goals to be fulfilled. References Austen, G 1995, Human resource management for the future, Australian Library and Information Association. State Conference. (1995: Rockhampton, Qld). Conference Proceedings, (1995): 39-59. Bissett, A 2010, Enterprise risk management - is it achievable, Keeping Good Companies, Vol. 62 no 6, pp. 80-83. Caust, J 2010, Arts and business: the impact of business models on the activities of major performing arts organisations in Australia, Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture and Policy, Vol. 135, pp. 32-44. Gordon, C 1995, Management skills for the next Millennia, Journal of management, Vol. 2, no 3, pp. 13-17. Hopkins, I 2010, High performance: [individual, team and organisational performance]. Journal of Human capital, Vol.8, no 8, pp. 12-19. Hopkins, I 2010, Organizational resilience. Journal of Human capital, Vol.8, no 5, pp. 18-27. Parsons, D 2010, Organizational resilience. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, Vol.25, no 2, pp. 18-20. Reith, D 2010, Knowledge management in practice, Keeping Good Companies, Vol. 62 no 6, pp. 370-372. Tarrant, M 2010, The organisation: risk, resilience and governance, Australian Journal of Emergency Management, Vol.25, no 2, pp. 13-17. Tse, H & Mitchell, Rebecca 2010, A theoretical model of transformational leadership and knowledge creation: the role of open-mindedness norms and leader-member exchange, Journal of Management and Organization, Vol. 16 no 1, pp. 83-99. Read More