Project One - jeremypbl



centercenterOtago PolytechnicProject OneE Portfolio, Professional CommunicationJeremy Hall100000100000Otago PolytechnicProject OneE Portfolio, Professional CommunicationJeremy HallProfessional Communication Write a reflection that discusses team dynamics and identifies strategies for improvement of individual contribution and team performance. Use your experiences of working in this project team for the purpose of this first project as the basis of your reflection.Discuss the development of the team using any model of group development. (5 marks)The first thing we must consider is what a team is. “A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they are mutually accountable” (Katzenbach & Smith. 1993. P. 21)Below is a representation of the model I have chosen (Armstrong, Adam, Denize & Kotler, 2012. p. 245).FormingThe start to this model is forming. There are two stages to forming; the first is the group members coming together (Armstrong, et al. 2012. P. 244). The Business Beavers group was formed after every student in the first year class took a Belbin test. After the test the class was split up in to groups based on the results, the idea behind this was to have the groups as diverse as possible. The second stage is “defining the group’s purpose, structure and leadership” (Armstrong, et al. 2012. P. 244). The purpose of the Business Beavers was to come up with a business concept and do a group presentation on that concept. The forming stage is complete when members begin to think of themselves as part of the group.StormingThis is where the intragroup conflict happens. There is going to be conflict over who is going to control the group, and what the group needs to be doing. The Business Beavers with the help of their mentor decided to have set rules and guidelines that the team had to agree with and abide by. These rules and guidelines were drawn up in an agreement and signed by every member. No leader was appointed with the intention of the group working in a democratic way. The storming stage is completed when the leadership dispute is resolved and the group’s direction is agreed upon (Armstrong, et al. 2012).Below is a scanned copy of the rules Business Beavers agreed to.Norming Norming is the stage in which close relationships with in the team develop, the group becomes organized and the group has a strong sense of identity (Armstrong, et al. 2012). I would relate this to when all the teams had to come up with their group names and logo, every person in the group put ideas in the mix and the group had to come together with the decision. This became the identity the members belong to. Their group name defines the group and their purpose. In the group I belong to it was Business Beavers, the reason for the beaver as a logo was that beavers are busy, environmentally friendly and hard working. They never give up on their goals.PreformingThe fourth stage is performing; the group structure is in place and accepted by all members. The focus has moved from getting to know each other to focusing on the task at hand (Armstrong, et al. 2012). In project one the Business Beavers moved into this stage when the task of coming up with a business concept started. The team members came together with ideas selected an idea and formed then presented that idea at the presentation. AdjourningAdjourning is the stage when the group prepares to disband and the focus is on wrapping up activates. Some of the members will be upbeat at the group’s accomplishments and the others will be sad over the loss of comradeship (Armstrong, et al. 2012). The Business Beavers have not met this stage yet as there is more work to be done in project two before adjourning.Describe and evaluate how the team managed differences. (4 marks)The view presented is that the team Business Beavers managed differences well and the reason for this is the members had to follow the rules and guidelines. The reason the team worked together so well is that the first task as a team was to create the rules and guidelines that every team member had to abide by. The group decided not appoint a leader so every step was democratic. The rules and guidelines were made and agreed upon by every member of the group, each member then had to sign at the bottom of the page containing the rules and guidelines.Part of these rules and guidelines were what to do if a team member breached these rules and guidelines. It was agreed that if any member broke these rules or guidelines that it would be brought up in the next team meeting and discussed. If there was no realistic reason for the breakage of that rule then if a majority of the team could decide to give that member a warning. If that particular member had three warnings then the group would discuss this with the mentor.During the course of the first team project the Business Beavers had one team member that broke three rules. That team member broke the rules, attend all classes, do not be late to any classes: late being defined as 10 minutes passed the required class start time and if you are not attending a class let one of the other team members know. The other members of the Business Beavers followed the rules and guidelines starting with bringing it up at the next meeting, then issuing that team member with warnings followed by talking to the teams mentor. The result was that that member removed themselves for the team project.In conclusion the Business Beavers worked well together, the rules and guidelines were adequate and when put to the test the system of warnings then seeking the mentor’s advice work well. The result was that the members that adhered to the rules and guidelines were able to achieve the team’s goals.Describe and evaluate your role in and contribution to the team. (3 marks)My view to my role and contribution to the Business Beavers was that I felt that through project one I had the roles of leader, secretary and team member.Engleberg and Wynn (2003) explain that a “leadership refers to the action that a leader takes to help group members achieve shared goals”. The Business Beavers as a team did not put any person in to the role of leader but I found that I was always organising team meetings, keeping team members on task in those meetings and making sure they were able to achieve the goals set to them so that we were able to achieve the goal of a good presentation. I also tried to make sure every team member had every chance to voice their ideas and opinions. As for the team secretary I found myself taking the minutes and recording them. This just happened because I do not think anyone else wanted to do them.As part of the Business Beavers we had to contribute to the team presentation, my part to this was to research the trends involved with the coffee cup idea. I then had to justify what I had found and create a speech for the presentation and present it. I felt that all team members contributed well to the decision making part of the project, and the combined presentation went well. In conclusion my evaluation on my performance is, I felt that I did the leadership role well, I was as democratic as possible but I do need to work on the social aspect more. I find myself very task heavy and wanting to get on with that task but as Engleberg and Wynn (2003) explain, for a team to be effective there needs to be a balance between the task and relationships with the people in the team. With the research I got there in the end, but took the long way to get there. I now have new research skills which I will put to use in the next project making me more efficient, and hopefully a better team member.Identify two things you would do differently next time personally. (3 marks)With the next team project I am going to try to work on the social aspect towards the team. I personally am very independent and motivated towards tasks and goals and sometimes forget that relationships with team members are just as important as achieving our common task. Engleberg and Wynn (2003) explain that when a group becomes task-focused, the group will not work as effectively as it could. I felt that I needed to spend more preparation time on my speech; I prepared for my speech well, the content was researched and put together in a good order and I spent some time watching Steve Jobs giving speeches. It was very clear afterwards that I failed in one area; I needed to spend more time talking to the mirror and become more comfortable with the speech I was giving. ReferencesArmstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S., & Kotler, P. (2012). Principles of marketing (5th?ed.). Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Engleberg, I. N., & Wynn, D. (2003). Working in groups: Communication principles and strategies. Princeton, N.J: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic. Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (1993). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press. ................
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