The situation I recall the most that I have experienced of these issues when working with a
team is attendance and communication. As an automotive service advisor, you work your
own customers repair orders while updating the system to allow other team members
(managers/other advisors) to be able to come behind you in the event that you are
unavailable so you can understand where that customer is in the repair process. This was
rarely taken care of properly. It caused an exponential amount of additional work for those
team members trying to find out and understand the details of others customers information
when notes were not properly entered and that advisor was off that day, at lunch, in a
meeting, out sick, or whatever the case may be.
Everyone usually reacted the same, as I did as well when this happened, all pissed off and
frustrated. I do not think those reactions are appropriate, however they are understandable. If
my supervisor asked what it means to strengthen a team, I would understand that to mean
better communication. Typical challenges that occur as a team is develop are lack of trust
and communication. I've encounter lack of trust because I've experienced not being spoken
highly of or purposely sabotage so the person can reap the benefits solo. Every team may not
be perfect and in my personal situation I just continue to do my part. Ignore the negativity
because eventually and it never fails the rest of the team will see who the bad apple really is.
My reaction was appropriate because it didn't cause confusion or disrupt the team's
objective. If my supervisor asked me what it means to strengthen a team, my response would
be making sure that my team is aware of their importance, opening up communication so
trust can be established, as well as ideas flowing. I would lead by example and make sure
that they understand my role on the team as well. Biggest complaint I hear about team
leaders are that they do not do nothing. I believe that is commonly spoken because the team
members are not aware of the additional required behind the scene that is put on the leader.
The initial development of a team often begins with the separation of duties between the
team members. This process can be awkward or even feel a bit forced while each team
member is feeling out the group. Once roles have been established there is generally a leader
that emerges amongst the team. This can be a make-or-break moment depending on that
leader's approach to leadership. In a great team, the leader is more of the spokesperson that
can help resolve conflict amongst team members. Instead of asserting power to get the job
done their own personal way, a great leader will use the teams strengths and weaknesses
appropriately to benefit the group.
I believe what it means to "strengthen a team" is simply to let go of personal desires for how
a team should work. A team only really works great if every member is working towards a
common goal. When team members are each pulling in their own direction it can lead to
conflict amongst the group. Some typical challenges that can occur as a team develops is the
difference of opinions on the team functions. There is always one person that will usually
stand up and take leadership right away. This leader may start delegating duties and
responsibilities for each team member. From personal experience I know that usually does
not go well. Some may feel as though their part is “too much” or sometimes “too little” and
would be vocal. Also, communication sometimes gets overlooked. Therefore, the team is not
on the same page with outcomes. In the past, we learned that it was easier and voice
opinions and concerns from the start. If someone felt that ideas, goals, and/or directions were
not clear, then we would voice those concerns. We also created a group chat to make sure
everyone was tracking information.I believe that reactions of prior team members were
always appropriate. They addressed and spoke to each other with respect. They started
concerns and included everyone in problem solving ideas. To strengthen a team means
listening to all opinions on what can improve and applying. It also means treating everyone
like a leader. Some challenges that can come when forming a team is working with others.
Everyone may have an idea of what they want to happen within the group, and it may cause
conflict or confusion. Sometimes, too many people want to be the leader of the group and
there could be a lot of bad communication skills amongst team mates. When problems
would arise within my dance team in high school, we learned to take the steps to get down
to the root of the problem. We would spent practice talking about what the problem was to
we could find a solution and move on. Our coach would make us work on our problems
quick to avoid splitting the team up. If a supervisor were to ask me how to strengthen a
team, I would tell them that first we must get to know everyone within that team, Learn
communication skills that can help the team work through problems. Also I would have
team members doing small skills every day that would help strengthen the team. As a team
develop I believe some typical challenges such as poor communication amongst each other,
lack of trust, and dictatorship just to name a few. I can honestly say I have encountered
every single last one of these situations, mainly at a job and I can also remember countless
of times encountering these situations in high school. When I encountered these situations at
my job I just went with the flow and didn't say much even if I knew that my idea would
have been more effective for the team. Other team members reacted by arguing and going
back and forth to the point where it got out of hand and became very unprofessional for a
work place. I remember when working in teams in high school and I encountered these
situations I would sometimes just leave the team all together. Based on what I learned this
week I would say that how I handed the situations at work was ok but could have been
handled differently by me speaking up because looking back I showed lack of
communication and as far as school I definitely didn't handle that well by just quitting on my
team If I was asked by by supervisor what it means to "strengthen a team" I would say to
communicate every way possible in a positive manner, be clear, and just simply work
together. Some typical challenges that I believe occur as a team develops, I would have to
say communication. When it comes to communication; you listen to understand their
meaning, read their meaning, observe and infer their meaning. Lack of trust; trust is very
crucial to teamwork and getting to know your team is always a great start. Lack of
transparency; transparency is a new norm and expectations are growing. Poor management
change; when change is constant and unless carefully managed, it can detrimental to
teamwork and results.
The situation that I encountered when working with a team out of the ones I listed above
would have to be communication. I have been in a setting where team members didn’t know
how to talk to one another. Team members would over talk others and would point out
others flaws with the intent to shame or just hurt feelings. Many time meetings did not stay
on topic due to lots of micromanaging.
Other team members would engage in all the unprofessionalism that was taking place. There
were maybe 3 of us that would sit quietly until the madness was over. Based on what I
learned this week, the reactions were not appropriate and the person that had the floor should
have been given the respect to lead the meeting effectively. I would bring some team
building skills forward to help me with strengthening the team if asked by my supervisor.
Challenges that can occur as a team develops is that other members can believe that they
bring forward a certain role, and that they will not budge. Also the individuals managers'
might not talk to the team members before the project to be heard, and there could be too
many different personalities that clash together.
Situations I have encountered working with a team is when we would have a team meeting
to discuss our ideas, some members would only listen to certain ideas, and not the team as a
whole. For a team to succeed all ideas should be heard, and if the ideas are not listened to
some people could have their self-esteem effected because of that. Knowing what I do now
my team members and I approached these issues the wrong way, we ended up just backing
down and going with what was being discussed. If this was to happen now, I would ask for
them to listen to my idea again, and if they would have refused it I would have went to the
manager and tell them the issue. To strengthen a team would be to get to know each other,
listen to all ideas, and to make sure everyone felt heard. Another way is to make for sure all
members feel appreciated, if one feels they are not the willingness to complete the
goal/project will be non-existent. I would say some typical challenges that we face not just
at my new position, but in general range. I personally have experienced having to manage
different personalities and get to know how others work together. Knowing what irks one
another or even how your managers like things done. With working for a big company you
run into so many different and diverse co workers. I always make sure to be professional at
all times, so that if a situation arises i am able to remain calm and handle it.
Not in my new position, but in previous positions i have encountered having different
management. With different managers on duty they all like things done a certain way. I had
2 very unique managers. One was strictly by the book and the other just kind of took any
shortcut that was available. I constantly had to go back and forth between the 2 ways they
wanted things to be handled. I became flustered with the inconsistently and decided to bring
it to their attention. Their responses were night and day and their was some clashing. I just
wanted to explain to them that i cannot do both and make each of them happy. They both
understood that and decided to let me choose what i wanted to do. From there i merged both
and even added my own way of doing things. The end goal was the most important part and
we all agreed to that!
What it means to "strengthen a team" to me is to be resilient, your willingness, and your
constant hard work. You cannot predict the day and challenges arise, but you keep moving
forward and get through it no matter what. Failure IS NOT and option. Keep your energy
positive and your mind focused on the bigger picture at hand. One thing to keep is in mind
is that as we look back on groups in our lives, we probably were mainly viewing the process
only from our personal perspective. When we are looking back and analyzing the team
processes, we start to view the activities from other teammates’ perspectives, too. We start to
look more at the totality of the situation. Once you complete this course, you’ll be better
prepared to examine groups that you are participating in from multiple perspectives.
Understanding how a group is working from multiple perspectives will help you be able to
better navigate groups. But you will forever be learning because there’s always a new
combination of variables. Group Development (or Formation) Stages are very useful to
understanding the evolution of a group. Humans like to be able to predict (or have a pretty
good idea) what will occur in a given situation – it’s just our nature. Predicting what will
happen can help protect ourselves physically – perhaps even save our lives. Predicting
actions can help us get what we want, especially when we know someone well. The point is
that we feel safer when we have a good idea about what will happen in a situation. It makes
sense that we will feel safer working with groups if we can better predict the likely actions
that will occur at various stages of the group’s development. Some typical challenges that
occur as a team to me would be that many personalities and different opinions clash causing
trouble. I work in a group/team every night at work. We build brakes for varies companies
on a assembly line. During my time at this job I have faced many challenges. A challenge I
have faced recently has been that in our group we have many people that do not know how
to be a team mate. Many people want to take the leadership position but do not realize what
comes with being the leader of any team. Being a leader means that you listen to other's
ideas and respect different opinions. Being on a team I have learned that there are many
different ways to solve a solution and not everyone takes the same route to get to that
solution. Any time I face a challenge with any team mate, I always respectfully confront the
problem and find a way between the group to solve the problem . As a person I always
believed that problems should be faced head on, instead of going unsolved. I believe this
approach is very appropriate. It gives everyone a chance to express their feelings, opinions,
likes and dislikes. My response for what I think it means to strengthen a team is really
simple. To strengthen a team it is always good to acknowledge someone's hard work, give
credit where it is due and compliment them every once in a while. Compliments go a long
way and can turn someone's bad day into a great one. When groups run smoothly life is
simpler. It’s often difficult to know others’ skills until you’ve worked with them for a while.
In the beginning of a team we are just getting to know one another. It’s not until our first
task or even project together that we truly get to exhibit our skills and learn about others’
skills. In fact, we might not even really understand our own strengths and weaknesses,
especially in relation to the team’s needs. Keep in mind that storming occurs when
teammates disagree. Disagreement is not bad. Healthy disagreement about how to proceed in
a group leads to team discussion. Team discussion is required in order for everyone to agree
about how to proceed in a group. We normally go through this storming stage very quickly
and smoothly and we are accustomed to discussing various ideas as they come up during our
initial group discussion.
