Managing Individual Performance Work teams are vital to many companies' work structure. Some companies' success relies on excellence in team performance. A high performing team is well designed in its selection, development and management. While there is no perfect formula or recipe for the best possible team, there are guidelines or criteria by which a team leader can select the team members. In identifying strategies to be used to develop the most effective teams, Nurick (1993) suggests that informed selection, skill development, conflict management and leadership appreciation are crucial in the foundation of team development. Interpersonal skills are important when considering potential team members. Since in most cases teams are assembled based on individual technical expertise, team members must be open and tolerant to receiving new information. They need to be able to have an appreciation for a variety of perspectives. These interpersonal skills will be valuable in minimizing team conflict and supporting the need for mutual respect. Fowler points out that a team's "members should have a variety of personal styles in order to fill the different roles that are involved in effective teamworking." (Fowler, 1995. Specifically, the following skills and talents should be represented in an effective team: good listening and communication, especially active listening; assertiveness; collaboration; innovation; willingness to expand beyond status quo, and a positive attitude. Many companies today use the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) to help understand the relationship between various personality types. Employees can better understand how they process experiences based on their personality makeup. Managers, using the MBTI in team development can better appreciate what motivates different types of employees and may predict performance. According to Gardner and Martinko (1996): Psychological type theory proposes that people have preferred modes of perception (sensing [S]/intuition [N]) and judgement (thinking [T]/feeling [F]) as well as "attitudes" which reflect their orientation of energy (extraversion [E] and introversion [I]), and their orientation toward the outer world (judging [J], perceiving [P]). (Gardner & Martinko, 1996, p.46) Personality type can be a helpful indicator of the potential strengths and weaknesses of employees within a working environment. How an employee derives his or her energy helps to understand whether he or she is an extravert (E) or introvert (I). Extraverts typically enjoy interacting with others, likes variety and action, developing ideas, and learning new tasks by doing and talking. Authors Opt and Loffredo (2003) suggest that extraverts are often better communicators, exhibiting more qualities of dominance, openness, and relaxedness in their communication styles.
Over several years, psychologist and other scholars have studied the personality types of a variety of people in many different environments. Much of the studies emphasize how different personalities effects humans within their daily lives. These personalities have been divided and revealed as Extravert or Introvert, Sensor or Intuitive, Thinking or Feeling, and Judging or Perceiving; all of which can be classified in sixteen different personality types. In this study you will find the personality of a woman whose dominant preferences are Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging. This paper will further provide an understanding of how an ESTJ woman finds ways to understand one’s self and communicate better in her personal life and professional
The following information can be found in the “Results and discussion” section: “The analyses reported above show that MBTI items fail to form the factors hypothesized by the test’s authors” (Saggino, Cooper, & Kline, 2001). The information I found in this study complimented the conclusion of the other article I reviewed. They both concluded that the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator had many faults and was not reliable nor valid as far as solid science is concerned.
Personality tests help identify an individual’s characteristics, provide employees and managers information about the individual to use for discussing individual differences, promote conscious knowledge of one’s character, feelings, and motives, and provide a starting point for group discussion (Passmore, 2008). Employers that uses workplace personality tests for development purposes look for tests that are “less psychological and have more positive language, such as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)” (Lloyd, 2012). The MBTI is one of the most used personality tests in businesses today. It was developed over 30 years ago by Katherine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. They generated their test based on Carl Jung’s theory personality types. Jung proposed that there are two psychological types of the basic personality traits—introversion and extraversion, and four functions (thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting). He also believed that everyone has aspects of both introversion and extraversion; however, one of those attitudes is seen more consciously and the other is more unconsciously. Myers and Myers-Briggs added two more functions to Jung’s theory (judging and per...
Our personality traits are unique indicators to determine how people perceive the world and make decisions. The test consist of a series of questions that measures an individual’s temperament and personality traits. After taking the test, my four letter type is ESTJ and my two letter temperament is SJ. According to Jung’s and Briggs Myers theories of personality types, ESTJ stands for Extravert, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging; meaning extraverted thinking with introverted sensing. David Keirsey associated the different temperament types with the different personality types. ESTJ falls under the SJ group, “The Guardians”. The Guardians main objective is known as seeking security. Although, I don’t think the test is a good measurement of one’s personality traits, because there are many factors that could influence an individual response to the test. It is possible that people conform their thoughts to make themselves feel
Seven tasks must be included in consideration of team dynamics and structure. The first of which is defining the goal, mission or function of a specific team. The team must know what it is being asked to accomplish. The second area of consideration is assessing what skills, abilities, knowledge or potential to acquire such would be needed amongst selected team members. Identification of potential team members should include an assessment of the skills, knowledge and abilities or the potential to acquire such so that ultimately the team has the building blocks with which to succeed in its mission, goal or function. This assessment must include an understanding of realistic potential contributions by potential team members with the included assessment of whether or not the acquisition of skills and knowledge can be made available through research and analysis.
As the processes and systems used in business have become more complex, teams, not individuals, have become popular in many organizations. Teams are made up of individuals from an organization brought together to solve a problem, improve a process or implement a new process. “A major advantage that a team has over an individual is its diversity of resources and ideas” (Burns, 1995, p. 52). However, this diversity can cause conflict within the team. The success of the team is strongly influenced by the team’s ability to recognize the causes of, manage and resolve conflict.
With this he came up with two fundamental concepts in relation to the overall test. This was in tandem with the different cognitive functions of different members (Myers I. B., 1987). He concluded that there were the ‘rational’ or judging functions and the ‘irrational’ or perceiving functions. The rational functions included the thinking and feeling aspect to it, while the irrational entailed the sensation and intuition aspect (Myers I. B., 1995). This was further subdivided into four opposite pairs with a possibility of 16 other possible psychological types. They include intuition (N), extraversion (E), judgment (J), sensing (S), feeling (F), thinking (T), introversion (I) and perception (P) (Myers I. B., 1995).
As we live our lives each day we probably do not contemplate our personality types or how our types intertwine themselves in our mannerisms and actions. I recently took a personality test from the “Jung Typology Test”. The test revealed that I am an extravert, sensing, thinking, and judging which we will refer to as an ESTJ throughout this discussion. The personality test reveals your four types of personality along with your two temperaments associated with your type. As an ESTJ, I fall into the SJ (sensing, judging) temperament. In this discussion, I will attempt to explain what I have learned about myself through the personality test as well as correlate my type with my temperament. With the information revealed in tests, I will reflect
Abstract: This paper observes a particular personality trait. The ESTJ personality trait is the acronym for Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging. The paper will highlight the characteristics of ESTJ and will breakdown each letter of this acronym. This paper will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of ESTJ and observe and examine the applications of work and ESTJ in a personal example.
Working in teams provides an opportunity for individuals to come together and establish a rapport towards others within a group. Teamwork is classified as people with different strengths and skills who work together to achieve a common goal. When a team works well, specific objectives are fulfilled and satisfied. Teamwork plays a crucial role in implementing and fulfilling a common goal in a team project. Each member plays a role and takes on different responsibilities combined together. In different stages of teamwork, conflicts and arguments may occur for as members have different standpoints which need to be harmonized within the team. The key to having an effective teamwork is to explore each member's unique abilities to motivate them.
In a team-oriented setting, everyone contributes to how well the group succeeds overall. You work with fellow members of the group to complete the work that needs to be done. Having the right people in the correct roles is an important factor in measuring the success of a team, where you are united with the other members to complete the main goals. Every group is made up of definite strengths and weaknesses. Our team's 3-5 major strengths necessary to work accordingly consist of Informer, Summarizer, Orienter, Piggy-Backer, and Encourager. One of our strengths as a team is that we get input from everyone involved. Every member of our team is a leader in some way. Part of being a good leader is knowing how important it is to receive the best ideas from each member of their team. We attend group meetings where we discuss any challenges, issues, and problems. At these meetings, we often exchange ideas or brainstorm new ones with each other and come up with the best and most creative team solutions as potential answers to those perceived problems.
When we think of the word team, individually many different ideas may come to mind about what a team really is. Some may think of an NFL team (Tennessee Titans), an NBA team (Sacramento Kings), or a NASA astronaut team with such pioneers as Edwin Aldrin, Jr. and Neil Armstrong as members. You might even think of the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, or Marines as teams. In fact they all are, and they have a great deal in common as teams. However, for the purposes of this paper I will examine the characteristics of work teams, as they apply to organizations and I will supply answers to the following questions: What is a team? Where did the team concept come from? What are the types of teams? What are the advantages and disadvantages of having teams in organizations? What does it take to make a team effective?
Many businesses place an emphasis on the importance of teamwork. A good team consists of people with different skills, abilities and characters. A successful team is able to blend these differences together to enable the organisation to achieve its desired objectives.
The components of a good team should be considered. First, a high-performance team must have strong core values to guide attitudes and behavior consistent with the team's purpose. The members should know why the team is created and why he or she is on the team. Secondly, a team should have specific performance objectives. Members should know exactly what they are trying to accomplish. This also includes having standards for measuring results and ways of obtaining performance feedback. A good team will make members realize the importance of collective efforts. Third, a high-performance team has the right mix of skills. These involve technical, interpersonal, decision-making, and problem-solving skills. No one needs to know how to do it all, but each member should be able to contribute to the group....
Skills and knowledge possessed by every member is also important for a team to become high performance. Although it is among the most important factors, however, it must be coupled with a good working relationship with every team member and good collaboration with every team member. The members who possess the good skills and wide knowledge will be a useful resource to the team if that team member can share their strengths with the other team members and vice versa. It is usually misconstrued that having skillful and intelligent team members is already enough to make a team work right. This kind of thinking is the reason why most teams, despite all of those competent members they have, fail to achieve their goals. A team should establish one common goal, not to think that way and develop a good working relationship with each member. (retrieved from: http://www.strictlysuccess.com, August 18, 2005) This can be done by self awareness exercises, like the DISC assessment and other assessments or any other kind of self awareness exercises regarding communication style differences. Then these factors and important pieces of information should be taken into full consideration before the actual project is begun. These exercise or assessments can be great ice breakers and mark the difference between a group of individuals merely assigned to a team, as opposed to functioning as...