Advantages and Disadvantages of Leadership - Essay Example

A Personal Reflective Account The event that took place at the Marriot Hotel can be considered a success because of the manner in which the team handled itself. The team worked professionally to ensure that all the tasks that we were supposed to carry out were undertaken to the best of our abilities. One factor that ensured the success of our team was not only having a good leader, but also all members of the team being efficient leadership as well. The team tended to assign different tasks to those members who were most proficient in them and this ensured that when the event was being planned and executed, it was conducted in such a way that very few mistakes were made (Katou 2008, p.18). It is also essential to note that our team leader adopted a hands-on approach during the entire process and he did this through constantly checking on how the team members were doing as well as helping them where he felt that they were not undertaking their tasks as they were supposed to. Furthermore, the moral support that he gave to the team members played a key role in making the event a success because all of us were encouraged to give our best. Communication played a significant role in our success because the team kept in constant touch to ensure that all went well. This is especially the case where tasks were assigned to different individuals and it was essential to ensure that there was constant coordination of activities so that some members of the team would not be left behind (Paauwe and Boon 2009, p.38). I believe that communication also allowed for greater interaction within the team and it helped in the development of friendships, which helped in enhancing the working environment. The event was a success because the communication that existed within the team allowed its members to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses; allowing to a smooth transition into working together in such a way that they functioned as if they had known each other all their lives. Communication enhanced the manner through which the team was able to develop a plan for the event and execute it; removing all the potential frictions that would have otherwise led to the disruption of the team’s activities (Harrison and Lock 2004, p.34). As a result of the willingness of the team members to communicate with each other, we were able to make the event a success; increasing our potential to do better. During our work on planning and implementation of the event, I was able to recognise both our strengths and weaknesses and this, I believe, will be helpful in our dealing with future events. Among the strengths that we displayed was time management especially considering that we had so little time to organise the event. As a result of the short time that we had to prepare the event, we found it necessary to do things quickly; meaning that at times, we were forced to work long into the night. The willingness of the team to work for long hours in order to achieve our objectives allowed us to organise the event on time while at the same time ensuring its quality so that it ended up being a success. However, despite our success in such a short time, i would recommend that in future, we always begin working on events much earlier; perhaps a month before the date set, and this would allow us to work at our own leisure without too much pressure, which has the disadvantage of potential mistakes coming about as a result. Working as a team was very important for us because it enabled us to complete our tasks at a much faster pace without making mistakes. This was because all members of the team were assigned tasks that they were not only capable of undertaking, but they were very good at. Individuals’ handling tasks that were suited to them meant that they could work well with minimal supervision; allowing us to conduct our activities without worrying that some of us would end up making major mistakes (Kusluvan 2003, 515). Working as a team meant that such activities as making decorations, developing wine and food menus among others were divided in such a way that the team members were able to ensure that they had the time to perfect their parts before the event took place. It is through the efforts of individual team members that were able to ensure the near perfection of our tasks; helping us achieve success the first time that we had undertaken such an event as a team. The team often met frequently to discuss the progress of each member as well as to make recommendations concerning the best way through which we could hasten the process so that we could do a good job during the event. The frequent discussions between group members allowed us to ensure that all were made aware of each other’s progress as well as ensuring the development of contingency plans in case some aspects of the event did not go as planned. These discussions allowed us to perfect our planning as well as making it possible for the development of new ideas based on the individual tasks of team members so that we were able to get recommendations concerning how best to improve the plans that we had for the event (Scott 2013, p.126). Constant discussions further enabled us to make sure that no one in the team was left behind in undertaking their part in making the event possible and this helped us to bring about cohesiveness in the team. This cohesiveness allowed us to ensure that we were not only on friendly terms throughout, but also allowed us to help one another to achieve the goals of our tasks. These discussions further helped in making sure that were recognised bad ideas early and discard them before it was too late to make any comprehensive changes; essentially helping us to avoid disaster. One of the tasks that I was given in the group was to conduct research concerning food and wine. I at first accepted this task with trepidation because despite being quite skilled in such research, I had never conducted it to serve so many people. Despite my initial misgivings about whether I would be able to succeed, I undertook the task through conducting research online as well as talking to the chefs of the Marriot Hotel who provided valuable suggestions and recommendations concerning the best way forward (Allen and Albala 2007, p.112). Furthermore, I consulted with the rest of the team during our discussion sessions and they were extremely helpful through making recommendations concerning where I could get information about food and wine (McKercher et al. 2008, p.137). I did my best to make sure that I worked in constant coordination with the chefs and this experience was quite educational for me because it allowed me to become aware of a wide variety of foods and wines than I would have ever believed possible before I was assigned this task by the group. In addition, this task helped me to propose and later develop a diversified list of food and wines that were served during the event. My second task was to manage the Facebook page that we had developed for the purpose of promoting the event. In this task, I opened a Facebook page and posted pictures as well as advertisements about the coming event and invited all who were willing to attend. Moreover, I was tasked with posting constant updates to the page to allow guests to attain an insight of the preparations that were being undertaken on their behalf as well as promoting the hotel which was attempting to rewards them for their being loyal customers (McCarthy and Mothersbaugh 2002, p.667). This task was easy for me because I often enjoy using social media to communicate with others. Through my efforts in the Facebook page, we ended up receiving several hundred likes on the page and this was very encouraging because it allowed the team to have active interactions with guests as well as potential guests to the hotel (Lu and Lu, 2004, p.221). Promoting the activities of the Marriot Hotel through this page not only made those who liked the page to aware of the services and offers from this hotel, but we received very positive feedback from precious guests; enhancing the promotional attempts that we were making. Through my participation in the planning of the event, I believe that I have been able to acquire several skills, which will help me in my career. Among these is the ability to work within a team; a situation that I had rarely experienced previously. Furthermore, through the division of tasks within the team, I learned how to work on my own towards the achievement of team goals. Moreover, I was able to develop the necessary communication skills that are required for one to work within a team; enabling me to work hand in hand with others to achieve common goals. Finally, I acquired the necessary skills required in the management of events and I am now more confident in myself and my ability to achieve the same level of success in future. References Allen, G.J. & Albala, K. 2007. The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food and Drink Industries. ABC-CLIO. pp. 112–. Harrison, F. L. & Lock, D. 2004. Advanced project management: a structured approach. Gower Publishing. Katou, A. A., 2008. “Human resource management and performance in the hospitality industry: Methodological issues.” International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Systems, vol. 1, no. 1, pp.18-42. Kusluvan, S., 2003. Managing Employee Attitudes and Behaviors in the Tourism and Hospitality. New York, Nova Publishers. Lu, J. & Lu, Z., 2004. “Development, Distribution and Evaluation of Online Tourism Services in China.” Electronic Commerce Research, vol. 4, no. 3, pp.221-239. McCarthy, M. S., & Mothersbaugh, D. L. 2002. “Effects of typographic factors in advertising-based persuasion: A general model and initial empirical tests.” Psychology & Marketing, vol. 19, no. 7, pp. 663-691. McKercher, B., Okumus, F. & Okumus, B. 2008, “Food Tourism as a Viable Market Segment: Its All How You Cook the Numbers!” Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 137 – 148. Paauwe, J., & Boon, C., 2009. “Strategic HRM: A critical review.” In D. G. Collings & G. Wood (Eds.), Human resource management: A critical approach (pp. 38-54). London: Routledge. Scott, N., 2013. Knowledge Sharing and Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism. London: Routledge. Read More