Running Head
Lessons about teamwork can be learned from geese. As each goose flaps its wings it creates"uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. When a goose falls out of formation, it immediately feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position. While flying in formation, geese honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. When a goose gets sick or wounded, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. They launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock (Lessons on Teamwork from Geese, 1999).
Bluefield College has a unique flock of geese that meet every Thursday night in the Science building on the second floor in room # 222. These particular geese "honk" in every class and are attempting to become a team. OMD #97 members are a prime example of how group intervention can be transformed into a team. Team building creates a culture that enables communication, trust and commitment. Critical skills for team success are factors such as communication and appreciating differences.
Communication and appreciating differences
When a group of people becomes truly effective and perform to their potential, each one should possess a built-in confidence for each other. Understanding how goals can be served by a group effort is important. During transition from a group to a team, communication skills need to be developed. Talking and listening are crucial forms of communication. The weakness in our group is not talking. Our geese "honk" about homework, papers and tests. They fall out of formation when they do not listen or try to understand what is occurring and become upset when questioned about their presentations. The group is affected when particular members: engage in distractions (writing, reading, leafing through books, slamming book covers, zipping and unzipping notebooks); verbally attack personalities; do not participate in team decisions; do not take the process seriously; and offer putdowns at every opportunity. These actions weaken the team.
What are some common threats to each of the essential conditions for successful team performance? What are the psychological factors underpinning these threats?
As soon as the four members of my team entered the breakout room, we had begun the stages of team development. As Bruce Tuckman (1965) observed in his research, teams often undergo a five-stage process of team development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. During my team’s forming stage, we defined what our objective was and planned a general outline of how this was to be accomplished. Because we didn’t know each other very well, a quick introduction was given so we could get to know each other a little better. Next, we had a brief stage of storming which caused a bit of inefficiency. This was our initial five minutes of confusion due to not knowing each other’s strengths and who was better suited to answer which question. Our norming and performing stages melted together as we quickly gained our footing on the task at hand and settled for an execution strategy which would allow us to perform at a fairly efficient speed. Our performing stage was very encouraging and helped the team push through the questions...
William Langewische , an Airline Transport Pilot certified, an flight instructor and pilot writes a book on the event famously known as “The Miracle on the Hudson”. Langewische has organized the book into 3 parts “The Gear UP”, “Fly By Wire” and “Survival’. Reading a book on aviation from someone with credentials shows authority on the matter of the miracle on the Hudson and the technology fly by wire gives a feel of certainty and conviction. It is known that Langewische roughly has the same certifications as an airline captain comparatively to the writing by Malcolm Gladwell called Foreign Airline Safety VS U.S Major Airlines. William Langewiesche very well describes how effective the technology is and the struggle engineers go through to build a jet that can repel bird flocks flying in to the engine.
... resolution via coaching, constructive criticism and positive actions. Additional measures may need to be taken should behavioral issues persist to include the termination of team membership and/or repercussions for non-active participation. Resolving negative issues by turning performance around can only be accomplished when team members clearly understand their role within the team and the importance of their participation. This occurs with the encouragement and support of all team members; hence team morale improves in addition to team productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness.
An effective team typically develops through several stages. Tuckman and Jensen developed a model for how teams should develop that includes five stages: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (as cited in Martin ,2006 and Fulk, Bell,& Bodie ,2011). In forming, the first stage in team development, team members are introduced to the team’s purpose and goals(Martin, 2006 ; Fulk et al. ,2011). Fulk et al. (2011) explain that members are usually motivated and excited about working together to accomplish the specific goal, but they point out that interactions among team members can be affected by uncertainty about purpose, anxiety, mistrust ,and reluctance to share ideas and opinions. Nevertheless, despite such uncertainties, team members usually avoid conflict and move on to the next stage, storming(Fulk et al.,2011). Unlike the forming stage, the storming stage is marked by conflict (Martin...
Larson, C. and LaFasto, F. (1989), Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong. Newberry Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Stewart, G., Manz, C., & Sims, H., (1999). Teamwork and Group Dynamics. New York: Wiley. pp. 70- 125.
A considerable amount of literature has been published on teams and teamwork. These studies ..
A team's weak cohesion will result in poor performance that may prevent the team from reaching its goals. Individual team members must forget their arrogance and take their roles and responsibilities seriously. Managers, trainers and leaders must make a significant contribution to making the team come together. First of all the leader has to choose the right
Firstly, the team’s poor communication. Despite Brandon being self-oriented and disruptive by not showing up for meetings and shirking his responsibilities, the team fails to confront him regarding his commitment and his duties, probably due to groupthink, they deem that Brandon would not be up to negotiate. Instead, Suhaimi takes on Brandon’s work, as he does for any other teammates’ shortcomings, without compromising. Also, Miko being silent and withdrawn during meetings might lead to misunderstandings between her and her teammates, such as Suhaimi seemingly not trusting her. Furthermore, the team’s poor communication led to differing project focuses. Overall, having poor communication would lead to misunderstandings and hinders effective teamwork.
LaFasto, Frank M. J.; Larson, Carl (August, 2001). “When Teams Work Best.” Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
From the beginning, where we were unfamiliar with each other and became a team, my team and I had started to learn each other name and getting to know each other. Throughout each meeting, we slowly start to feel more comfortable and open minded with each other. Not only are we getting familiar with each other, each meeting that was held we progress of becoming an effective team member, we learn our strengths and weaknesses of everyone. During the meetings, we learn many concepts from the textbook, “Communicating in Small Groups: Principles and Practices” by Steven A. Beebe and John T. Masterson. We were able to learn different types of concept in the textbook and utilized it as a team to complete certain tasks. The three concepts that impacted my team and I are human
This is where the team comes together and get to know each other and feel each team member out and work on finding each member’s strengths and weaknesses. During forming, the team will begin working on establishing trust and getting over their fear of conflict. Lencioni recommends that the team members spend some time talking about their personal lives to help establish trust. He also suggests taking the Myer-Briggs personality profiles to help facilitate learning each member’s strengths and weaknesses (2002). According to Prytherch, et.al. (2012), when individuals are brought together into a team, it can take a long time for that group to bond cohesively and reach the stage where it is working well. Trust and confidence between team members also takes time. To hasten the process, the new team should first undergo a team-building activity. The goal of team building activities is to promote greater interaction and cohesiveness among employees (Schnall
In David Wright’s “The Myths and Realities of Teamwork,” (Wright, D., 2013), he outlines six myths that are ubiquitous and perpetuated by many people. Here is a short examination of all six.
Teamwork is a vital aspect of the public and community services. These services consist of groups of people working together to achieve a mutual goal/aim. Teamwork is a key element for having a successful and efficient team. The way a team works together influences how successful they are and how efficient and effective they can be in achieving their common goals/aims. This essay will evaluate various teamwork theories, that explain the stages of forming a group and how it develops into a well established team. Examples of these theories include: Tuckman's theory of team development, Belbin's team roles, conflict theory, pluralism, trait theory and social learning theory. This essay will consider Tuckman's theory of team development, trait theory and social learning theory.