I have had a lot of experience on different teams in the past and some of the most common
challenges that I have seen include personality clashes, power struggles, and lack of
diversity. Out of those challenges, I'd say the one I have experienced the most is power
struggles. In the past, I have been apart of teams that have two (sometimes more) people
trying to fight for the "leader" role. These situations were always really tough because it
would make me and my other team members feel like we could never get a word in
edgewise or offer any sort of contribution. It would feel like it was either their way or the
highway, but instead of one person demanding that it would be two or sometimes even three.
I felt that was always damaging to the overall effectiveness of the team because we always
spent more time trying to figure out who to listen to and how to accomplish our goal than we
did actually working on the task at hand. When I was in these situations, I would react in a
way that prevented me from being an active member of the team. I would shut down and not
even bother to contribute ideas because I felt it wouldn't make a difference if the "leaders" of
the group had the final say. After going through some of the readings for this week, I learned
that my behavior was also destructive to our team by just conforming to the negativity of the
group instead of trying to repair it. If I was asked what it meant to strengthen a team, I
would say it means always participating, contributing, and making sure you are aware of
your strengths, weakness, and responsibilities, as well as those of the other members. I react
very well to all situations that are presented to me. It is part of being a manager or
supervisor. Yes, I needed to adapt to meet the needs of the business. When I was asked to
strengthen my team, I would have meetings with my office staff. See where they thought
about how we work and ask what we could do better. I would take that feedback and make
the necessary changes to that team to improve their flow and environment. With my
operations crew, I would hold another meeting and ask what changes they saw to help the
flow of things. I would take that feedback and make the changes that I felt would help the
operation and add ideas that would make their jobs easier. I would do this every few months
to keep them engaged in their work so we would perform at our best. Some typical
challenges that may occur while the team develops are others' opinions and once you are
done training. Some associates that have been taught the proper way end up doing things the
way they want to. As the lead for my group in a certain situation, I would have a decision
with the team to make it known that team members are not following the proper directions.
When one fails we all fail. In order to keep my team strengthens I need everyone on the
same page and comfortable to ask questions when they are unsure. Never do something
going forward if you are unsure of yourself and the situation. And able to take constructive
criticism well and learn from their mistakes. Knowing what one’s strength and weaknesses
are when building a team are a couple challenges that teams occur during the development
phase of a team. During my experience of being on a team I experienced both challenges.
When getting to know my teammates I had to figure our what each member was better at
doing so that we could know how to work together as a functional team. The way I would
respond if my supervisor asked me what it means to “strengthen a team” I would have to
respond by saying “learning how to work together and trust one another is the best way to
strengthen a team, along with communication a team could be unstoppable.” To me those
are the qualities and challenges that any team must overcome, if any team can overcome
those challenges then they would be a great team and have no issues working together. The
way me and my other team members would react to these situations is by talking and getting
to know where our weakness and are strength lied in our job so that we could know where
we would be best suited to properly work together. Some typical challenges that occur as a
team develops would have to be everyone agree on the task that are made for each person as
they work together to get it done. Also being able to get along with everyone in your team.I
have encountered all of these when working with a team.We all remain calm and open
minded. I think these reactions was appropriate since we can all come to gather and work
together.
I would say that strengthen a team means get to know everyone and use everyone’s
strengths to get the task done effectively as a team. Some typical challenges are lack of
leadership, distrust among the team members and leaders, misunderstanding the roles of
their selves and others, people being put into roles they do not want or should not be in, lack
of wanting to learn more than one role. I find it to be a common problem, that team
members only want to handle their job and go home, they do not want to do more than they
have to.
I have encountered the team members only wanting to do one job and not learn the other
jobs. This causes friction among the members of the team, they then have to pick up on the
additional workload because that one team member only knows and does that job.
Some typical challenges that occur as a team develops are situations like clashing
personalities, communication discrepancies, and low morale. I have encountered all of the
above mentioned situations when working with a team. At my last job, working in the
supplement and body care department (wellness department) of a health food store, (I have
many years experience at this.) I disliked a man on my team. Well, maybe I didn't exactly
dislike him, but he got on my nerves, and made my work day seem super long. Come to
think of it, the woman I worked with before he arrived made me feel that way, too. She had
low morale, and that is contagious! Fortunately, high morale can also be contagious.
When you are on a team with someone you feel has a clashing personality, you could
encounter all kinds of communication discrepancies. Mostly, between my manager and I,
although we got along and liked each other, there was a major clash that I could not exactly
pinpoint. This would result in me misunderstanding her communication and direction often.
So, with most of my team feeling like it was not a good fit, even my manager, I began to
think it could be my pre-menopause hormones making me irritable and annoyed with
everyone. They are all very nice people, so why didn't I enjoy working with them? It made
me like the manager less after she hired those two people.
It was sad when the manager had to let a woman I really enjoyed go. This team mate just
couldn't be on time and show up in appropriate attire. She actually did not get the ordering,
receiving and stocking of shipments done either, so she could not carry her weight of the
labor on the team.
There were others I enjoyed working with who came and went. I suggested hiring a friend's
girlfriend, which we did, and I loved working with her. She is still there doing great. She and
I are friends and have tea or happy hour occasionally.
I decided to work on myself and try to surround myself with people I enjoy and connect
with. I gave notice at that job with no plan of another job. Part of me felt like since there was
someone good on the wellness team there, I was free to move on and find some place where
I felt happier.
The last day of working at the health food store wellness department, I got a job offer
representing and promoting a local Hawaiian superfood supplement, which I did as an
independent contractor. That job isn't happening now. Maybe I am happier working alone
rather than on a team.
I believe a lot of it resonates with the Chinese zodiac, for me. Once I realized that these
people that were bugging me were clashing with my Chinese zodiac, I decided to keep my
interactions with Roosters and Dragons as minimal as possible. It may sound strange, but
this has been an enormous help to me in my life. However, I don't know everyone's Chinese
zodiac, and need to get to know them to find out.I did not think the team at the health food
store actually worked like a real team. I was not assertive or motivated enough to discuss it
in a professionally appropriate way. I think I was spoiled working at Starbucks, actually.
They practice more team like strategies at Starbucks than at the health food store, and
everyone seems more equal. I also worked for Whole Foods, which implements wonderful
team strategies and has a vibe of team equality, as well.I felt like the last health food store
where I worked was a fake team. I tried not to react or respond. I could have handled it
better by presenting some ideas and communication, but I did not want to give them my
energy. I did not intuitively feel in my gut that there was equality and fairness there. That's a
difference I noticed in weighing the pros and cons of working for a big corporation vs. a
mom and pop. I was planning to look for a big corporation before I got the promotional
representative job.If a supervisor asked me what it means to strengthen a team, I could come
up with some ideas. I would say something like, " it means to connect with each other and
communicate our needs clearly and concisely. " Or, maybe I would say something like, " it
means we support each other." I like to think of the world as a team. Some typical
challenges that can occur as a team develop are poor communication and leadership, lack of
trust issues, and lack of participation between the team members. I have experienced and
encountered all of these typical challenges and what usually happens is each individual starts
to get frustrated and that frustration can lead to finger-pointing. One of the recent issues I
have encountered is the lack of participation and efforts from each team member. As a
supervisor, my main duty is to inform each team member about their own duties that they
can complete while I work on my end of the bargain. So I understand when things do not go
my way and sometimes I feel frustrated because it seems that if my whole team does not
want to put in the effort for their part then the whole load of the team falls on my shoulders.
So I try my best to try and encourage the team and make sure that they are all on the same
page as I am. I command the results that I know can be achieved without having to
overwork the team. I also seek their inputs as well on how we can work well together as a
team whether then always having to blame each other for little mistakes. Team
encouragement always seems to work because having the recognition and support that each
individual believes they deserve can help smooth and work out the dynamic in a team. Some
typical challenges that occur as a team develops can consist of trust issues, poor
communication and leadership, lack of diversity and/or skills, and attendance/participation
of the team members.
