Leading Groups and Teams

Instructions write 100-to-200-word responses to the two post listed below

2.2 Discussion Responsess

Burkman Post:

The Jefferson Range (Air-to-ground bombing range) is comprised of ten enlisted members and two officers. We are a small detachment from our more extensive mother base in Terre Haute, Indiana. Our purpose is to provide a training atmosphere for those members of all military branches so they can complete their air controlling tasks while deployed. Since the range is a highly dysfunctional organization with many issues plaguing a healthy workplace, I will reference the vehicle mechanic (VM) team during this discussion first and then the range team. 

Forming, storming, morning, performing, and adjourning are the five stages of a team listed by Middlebrooks et al. (2020) and discuss critical aspects involved in all stages (p. 312). With the VM team, we are operating on an ever-revolving usage of all five steps. Even though we do not “form” a new group frequently, we must constantly understand how our work impacts mission requirements and the associated vision. Since priorities often change in the military, we must refocus goals to meet new guidelines (storming). There are some items that the other mechanic or I are not comfortable with, which causes us to capitalize on differences and elaborate on different ideas (norming). As a team, we consistently perform our tasks, and after completion, we reevaluate our next steps and prioritize current or new mission requirements (performing and adjourning). The VM team works exceptionally well and does not have the same issues that the bigger range group deals with daily.  

Referencing Lencioni (2002), there are five dysfunctions of a team that the VM team does not struggle with since it is such a cohesive and functional team. The bigger team (range) suffers from all five dysfunctions. Starting at the bottom of the pyramid, unit members have no trust unless you are in the buddy system. Unit members are afraid to speak out against the unethical and harmful actions of the leaders for fear of retaliation or simply because they have adopted a “well, that’s just how they are” mindset. The commitment is situational, dependent upon the individual’s motivation for doing the assignment, and not necessarily because of the “buy-in” process referenced throughout Lencioni’s (2002) book. Having no accountability for certain members of the range team, some feel their accomplishments are unnecessary since they will not be held liable for failures. These attributes ultimately lead to unfocused processes. We often scramble with last-minute deadlines because of low work ethic, no accountability, no commitment, and not functioning as a team should. 

The range team needs a lot of things overall to help them function as a team. Only having to pick one, I would say that the upper management needs to be held accountable for the good ole boys club and their actions that only stifle team building and productivity. By doing this, many members would trust the leaders and start building an environment with proper psychological capital. 

References

Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team: A leadership fable. Jossey-Bass.

Middlebrooks, A., Allen, S. J., McNutt, M. S., & Morrison, J. L. (2020). Discovering Leadership: Designing your success. SAGE Publishing.

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Richardson Post:

I work at Global Prep in Indianapolis, IN. I will be the Interventionist for K-5 for the Special Education Department this upcoming school year. I will be pulling our students for small interventions using a program called Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI). This program gets our students struggling with reading and writing to get to grade-level expectations. The dynamic of our team has changed. Many teachers have gone to different positions in the building. We did have some vacancies that needed to be filled by the start of the new year. I'm sure that brings some anxiety about how things will flow once we get back from summer break. However, the previous team had grown strong towards the end of the year. We are like family we have some issues but nothing that we can't fix through communication.

According to (Middlebrooks et al.,2020) and the article, I would have to say my team will be in the Forming stage. This is because The new year always brings in a new set of goals for our students. We also will have teachers who have transitioned to other positions, and we will be having new teachers who will start. Everyone will be excited, get set in, and the real work begins. Then I'm sure by like fall break, we will move onto stage 2 (Storming).

As far as I can recall being on this team, we have struggled with the absence of trust. It's always like you can get a conflict of different information that can make you mistrust what is being told to you. You never want to think a person is out to sabotage you in reality. It happens, so you don't know who to confide in or do anything with the team. My recommendation for my team or even my school is to follow the protocol chain. Having too many leaders who give you conflicting answers causes dysfunction and confusion. Then also communication. It hardly comes from my department specifically, but when the transmission fails outside our department. It can, in return, hurt how our department functions as a whole.

Middlebrooks, A. E. (2020). Discovering leadership: Designing your success. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Lencioni, P. (2012). The five dysfunctions of a team. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.