Working in teams

Every person has to work with other people at some point to ensure effectiveness and quality assurance. In the educationsystem, working in teams to complete part of a course is what creates an environment of teamwork and working together for the development of a good work ethic at the end of the academic process. We have had many tasks to be performed in groups over the years. The teams are developed within the confines of the instructions given by the course instructor. Depending on the nature of the course and the instruction of the instructor(Tuckman & Jensen, 1977).Different courses have demanded from us different levels of dedication and different working dynamics. At the completion of the course, working in those teams had given us different perspectives towards working together. Working together in groups creates the need to develop characteristics that allow people to work together amicably. This paper will look at the manner in which the members, working together in a team agree with each other to ensure that roles assigned to the group are addressed and tackled promptly and expeditiously. It will also highlight the skills that we have gained from one another after working together. We will also look at the developments that have happened during the subsistence of the group and how the group has developed to circumvent these challenges and to guarantee efficiency and optimum performance.

A capable team helps to ensure that the organization achieves excellent results. If a team is not working well, it can cause unnecessary disruption and failure to achieve the goal. However, the group in which I was showed great potential to incorporate the differences people have among themselves and to come up with dynamics that allow every member to exploit their full potential for the benefit of the group. My group was very effective and coordinated. The team members agreed on the manner in which they expected the activities of the group to run. The group allowed each member to understand their team workingstrengths and weaknesses(Tuckman & Jensen, 1977). My team is knowledgeable of the stages of development and provides excellent feedback on the performance of the group.

Additionally, every member accepts correction on whatever matter they may have done wrong. This team working ethics foster the group dynamics to ensure effective delivery of tasks. Our team went through all the five stages of team development. These stages were necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the activities of the group.

I have learned many lessons from the time I spent working with the members of my group. The most critical lesson I learned is that teamworkis a demanding task and every member of the team has to be ready to take part in the development of the team and to take it through all the stages of a group’s progress. The most important thing to note is that the reason why the group was created was to achieve a particular common goal (Watkins, 2016). So that the group remains focused on the primary purpose for which it was formed, it must stick to that goal and avoid digressing. For the group to achieve ultimate effectiveness, it must make sure that its members are also aware of the main objective. Understanding the main goals enables the team members to know how the task translates to them. This means that the team leader should now narrow down to what every member of the group is required to do in the realization of the common goal.

In order to make sure that a team achieves its goals, there is a set of skills one must employ. These skills help in ensuring roles are allocated well and done correctly. One of the most critical skills is the ability to make decisions for things to move forward. Excellent decision-making skills will ensure that the group is driven correctly. The team leader must be sure to realize that the decisions to be made cannot be biased and should consider the thoughts and opinions of every member of the group. Even when there is little time to carry out research, the team leader must be quick to evaluate the risks that may arise and come up with the best decision for the group(Tuckman & Jensen, 1977). As earlier mentioned, teamwork requires a lot of work. When members of the group disagree, theteamleader should be well vast in problem-solving skills and mediate the disputes to reach an amicable solution and avoid disagreements within the group.

The team went through all the stages of team development. The first stage was formation during which time we had the opportunity to get acquainted with one another. This gave us an opportunity to understand the goal of the group and to know what to expect from the group. It also established the team leader and scope of his authority. The next phase was the storming phase, characterized by conflicts and competition among the team members. The main hiccup in our group was disagreement on the team leader. Some people felt that they could do a better job guiding the group(Tuckman & Jensen, 1977). This lead to some members losing faith in the team leader at the time. However, we got through this phase and patched our differences for the benefit of the group. The next stage showed some degree of unity among the members. A consensus developed on who the leader was and on how the group was to carry out its activities. This gave thegroup momentum to move to the next stage. The clear and stable structure of the group allowed the group to performits duties diligently and without any distractions. As all good things must come to an end, the group was eventually dissolved after it met its tasks.

The group experienced few difficulties throughout its subsistence. However, during the performance stage, it was evident that some members of the group opted to ride on other people’s effort. Where no individual task was assigned, some members chose not to take part in the collective performance of the taskand instead waited for other people to finish those tasks for them. This reflected negatively on the group and caused some members of the group to disagree. For the group to continue to function, these problems had to be dealt with. The team leader had to establish a system in which every member of the group takes part in the activities of the group. This meant assigning roles to every member(Driskell, Driskell, Burke, & Salas, 2017). For every task that the group leader assigned to a particular person, punitive consequences accrued in the event that the member did not complete his task.

Conclusion

Teamwork is a very important part of life which every person must be a part of. Working in groups enables us to develop a specific set of skills that cannot be learned from working alone. Working in this group grew my perspective on various matters and allowed me to develop skills that I will require later in life to work well with others. The development that the group underwent brought to perspective the nature of teamwork interactions. It also made me realize the amount of work that one needs to put into creating a group successfully

References

Driskell, T., Driskell, J. E., Burke, C. S., & Salas, E. (2017). Team Roles: A Review and Integration. Small Group Research48(4), 482-511. doi:10.1177/1046496417711529

Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. (1977). Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited. Group & Organization Studies2(4), 419-427. doi:10.1177/105960117700200404

Watkins, M. D. (2016). Leading the team you inherit. Harvard business review94(6), 60-67.

 

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