Working in teams is not always easy, disputes, misunderstandings and segregation can happen which can have a negative affect on the work at hand but when team work is successful it could be a amazing achievement.
Working in a team can be defined as;
A working group is a set of individuals who are aware of each other, interact with one another and have a sense that they are a group (Schein, 1988)
Am not really a team work person myself but i have had good team working experiences an example of this is when in college and i was put in a team to do a presentation the team was mixed consisting of male and females whom i didn't know well, starting of doing the work was very difficult due to the reason we all didn't know each other well so the "getting to know you stage" was cut out because we had a very tight deadline and demanding work.
I then noticed that we all had one main factor in common this was determination, we all wanted to do well and be successful so we put our all into the work we was doing, we divided the work into section and completed each section to our best and came together and showed each other our section of the work, people commented and had input this was very productive and because of this we worked well as a team, received go recognition from our teachers and completed the work successfully and made new friends because after the work we got a chance to speak and get to know each other.
Everyone has different experiences with team work and definitions another definition is ;
During my course of people and organisations i eventually wiggled my was into a group this was very uncomfortable due to the fact the group was full enough and everyone were friends and i basically had to fit in, i was very focused so i tried my best to be involved and mingle with people.
Tuckman 1973
using Tuckman theory i believe my group didn't go though all the developing stages this could be the reason for our grade, everyone was certainly polite but a few including my self were guarded due to the new environment we were put in and the new people we were working with, this was our a first group assignment so everyone was still new to the university environment, totally understandable. That was the forming process going on to the Norming, getting organised was very simple but at this early stage people had alot of work on their plates so meeting up at a good time for everyone was very difficult, eventually a system was created and we got on our feet and started doing the work, no issues were confronted, no one would like to create confrontations at this stage of the assignment, so we kind of just got along with it all.
Moving on to the Storming stage, i felt stuck alot of the time during the assignments alot of things were happening in my personal life,even though i didn't want to i informed my team mates so they would understand but their was no difference, i believe my team mates did not understand what the word team meant, i was stuck and they didn't help i had to unstick my self and get my head focused which was difficult with everything i was passing though BUT no excuses i suppose.
This now leads to the performing stage at this stage i was pretty much tolerating people now vice verser am sure, everything started getting rushed opinions didn't matter any more and communicating was braking down due to this the report we presented was not marked to the standered of our level.
So in conclusion team work can go two ways especially when working with people you don't know and also when your in an environment your not used to.
The key is to establish a good work organisation and understand the work so everyone is clear on what to do and making sure everyone has a role and is not left out.
Am not really a team work person myself but i have had good team working experiences an example of this is when in college and i was put in a team to do a presentation the team was mixed consisting of male and females whom i didn't know well, starting of doing the work was very difficult due to the reason we all didn't know each other well so the "getting to know you stage" was cut out because we had a very tight deadline and demanding work.
I then noticed that we all had one main factor in common this was determination, we all wanted to do well and be successful so we put our all into the work we was doing, we divided the work into section and completed each section to our best and came together and showed each other our section of the work, people commented and had input this was very productive and because of this we worked well as a team, received go recognition from our teachers and completed the work successfully and made new friends because after the work we got a chance to speak and get to know each other.
Everyone has different experiences with team work and definitions another definition is ;
shared communication network
shared sense of purpose
shared goals
group consciousness
interdependence
interaction
groups structure and roles
ability to act as one
(Huczynski and Buchanan 2004)
This year coming to university i never realized their would be a lot of teamwork, this was very difficult for me as i came to this university alone and others came hear knowing someone on their course already.During my course of people and organisations i eventually wiggled my was into a group this was very uncomfortable due to the fact the group was full enough and everyone were friends and i basically had to fit in, i was very focused so i tried my best to be involved and mingle with people.
Forming: Testing Polite Impersonal Guarded Watchful | Storming: Infighting Confronting people Managing conflicts Opting out Difficulties Losing team members Demotivation Feeling stuck |
Norming: Doing Getting organised Developing skills Establishing systems and procedures High task orientation Confronting issues Competence assessment | Performing: IdentityCloseness Group Maturity Resourceful Flexible Open Effective Supportive Sharing Tolerance |
Tuckman 1973
using Tuckman theory i believe my group didn't go though all the developing stages this could be the reason for our grade, everyone was certainly polite but a few including my self were guarded due to the new environment we were put in and the new people we were working with, this was our a first group assignment so everyone was still new to the university environment, totally understandable. That was the forming process going on to the Norming, getting organised was very simple but at this early stage people had alot of work on their plates so meeting up at a good time for everyone was very difficult, eventually a system was created and we got on our feet and started doing the work, no issues were confronted, no one would like to create confrontations at this stage of the assignment, so we kind of just got along with it all.
Moving on to the Storming stage, i felt stuck alot of the time during the assignments alot of things were happening in my personal life,even though i didn't want to i informed my team mates so they would understand but their was no difference, i believe my team mates did not understand what the word team meant, i was stuck and they didn't help i had to unstick my self and get my head focused which was difficult with everything i was passing though BUT no excuses i suppose.
This now leads to the performing stage at this stage i was pretty much tolerating people now vice verser am sure, everything started getting rushed opinions didn't matter any more and communicating was braking down due to this the report we presented was not marked to the standered of our level.
So in conclusion team work can go two ways especially when working with people you don't know and also when your in an environment your not used to.
The key is to establish a good work organisation and understand the work so everyone is clear on what to do and making sure everyone has a role and is not left out.
