The most crucial teamwork problem happening in a team member’s present work environment is the lack of collaboration from teammates. Teammates are not engaging in the necessary conversations and activities to ensure that tasks and goals are being met promptly. This lack of collaboration can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and, ultimately, failure to achieve the desired outcome.
Analysis of the Problem
The lack of collaboration from teammates is a significant problem that can have a variety of causes. Lack of trust, undecided roles and responsibilities, and lack of cooperation and communication are major causes of lack of collaboration. These issues can lead to a lack of collaboration, resulting in decreased motivation, poor performance, and reduced satisfaction with the team’s work (Gonzalez & Melo, 2019). The effects of a lack of collaboration can be seen in the team’s overall performance. With cooperation, tasks may be completed on time, or the group may be able to achieve its desired outcome. This can lead to low morale, decreased motivation, and an overall decrease in the team’s productivity.
Five Practices of High-Performing Teams
High-performing teams are associated with unique practices that ensure success and effectiveness. Some of these practices are; Establishing trust between team members: Establishing trust and open communication is essential for successful collaboration. This can be done by setting ground rules, providing support, and encouraging team members to express their ideas. They also Assign clear roles and responsibilities: Assigning clear roles and responsibilities can help ensure that team members understand their responsibilities and expectations (Gonzalez & Melo, 2019).
High-performing teams encourage open communication: Open communication is essential for successful collaboration. This can be done by encouraging team members to ask questions, provide feedback, and voice their opinions. They as well foster collaboration: Collaboration is critical to successful teamwork. This can be done by providing opportunities for team members to share ideas and brainstorm solutions to problems. Finally, they establish a commitment to the team’s goals: A clear commitment to the team’s goals can help ensure that team members work together towards a common goal (Gonzalez & Melo, 2019).
Solutions to the Teamwork Problem
Below are three solutions that can be implemented to address the lack of collaboration from teammates. First, teammates can establish ground rules: Establishing ground rules can help ensure that team members agree and understand the team’s expectations. This can be done by establishing norms for communication, setting clear goals, and outlining the roles and responsibilities of team members (Başoğul, 2021). Teams can also Encourage open communication: Encouraging open communication can help to ensure that team members are free to express their ideas and opinions. This is achieved by providing a safe space for team members to share their thoughts and by encouraging everyone to participate. There can also be the implementation of team-building activities to foster collaboration and build trust between team members. This can be done by providing opportunities for team members to work together, brainstorm solutions, and celebrate successes (Başoğul, 2021). By implementing these solutions, teams can achieve their goals more effectively and successfully.
My experiences while working on a virtual team project
Working on a virtual team project for school can be a challenging and rewarding experience. It requires the team members to be organized, collaborative, and communicative. It also allows team members to understand better how to work with each other, manage conflicts, and make decisions. In this essay, I will discuss my experiences working on a virtual team project for a school (Morrison-Smith & Ruiz, 2020).
Strength and Weakness
While working as a team, it is significant to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of every member. The strengths of one team member can have a positive effect on the team, while the weaknesses of one team member can have a negative effect. In my experience, one team member had excellent problem-solving skills, allowing the team to approach tasks with clarity and focus. This strength benefited the team by allowing us to make decisions quickly and efficiently. On the other hand, another team member needed help with time management, which caused some tasks to take longer than expected to finish (Morrison-Smith & Ruiz, 2020). This weakness was detrimental to the team as it caused us to fall behind on our timeline. To mitigate this weakness, we discussed strategies to help the team member manage their time better. This allowed us to create a plan of action and set realistic goals.
Evaluation of Communication Practices
To ensure effective communication, team members must be able to solicit individual feedback and communicate among team members. In my experience, we communicated mainly through a group chat. This allowed us to easily share ideas and discuss potential solutions (Srivastava, 2020). We also had weekly meetings where we discussed our progress, assigned tasks, and provided feedback. Additionally, we used a shared Google Drive to store our documents and collaborate in real time. This allowed us to easily access and edit documents, which was especially helpful when working on the same project. To solicit individual feedback, we utilized surveys and polls to gauge our team member’s opinions and ideas (Srivastava, 2020). This allowed us to consider everyone’s thoughts, further improving our communication practices.
Evaluation of Team Collaboration
For a team to be successful, it must be able to build strong collaboration. In my experience, we used brainstorming activities and group discussions to develop innovative solutions. We also assigned roles and responsibilities to each team member in order to ensure that tasks were completed in a timely manner. Additionally, we used a shared Google Drive to collaborate in real time. This allowed us to easily view and edit documents, which allowed us to make sure that everyone was on the same page.
Evaluation of Conflict Management
When working as a team, it is important to manage conflicts in an effective and efficient manner. In my experience, we used active listening and constructive criticism to resolve disputes. We also used mediation techniques to ensure that everyone was heard and respected. Additionally, we discussed our expectations and guidelines early on in the project to ensure everyone was on the same page.
Team Decision-Making Process
When making decisions, it is vital for a team to understand its goal and the process. In my experience, we discussed the goals of the project and the timeline at the beginning of the project. We also used a voting system to make decisions. This allowed us to consider everyone’s opinion and reach a consensus (Kocher et al., 2020). Additionally, we discussed the pros and cons of each decision to ensure that we were making the best decision for the team.
Stages of Team Development
In order for a team to be successful, it must go through various phases of development. Based on Tuckman’s model, these steps involve forming, norming, storming, and performing. In my experience, our team went through the forming stage first. We discussed our expectations, assigned roles, and responsibilities and created a timeline during this stage. During the storming stage, we discussed potential solutions and identified potential conflicts. During the norming phase, we established guidelines and procedures to ensure everyone was on the same page (Patterson, 2022). Finally, during the performing stage, we worked together to achieve our goals and objectives.
Power Bases and Influence
A team must utilize power bases and influence to achieve its objectives and be successful. According to Raven’s Power Bases and Influence article, five power bases can be used to influence others: legitimate, reward, expert, coercive, and referent. In my experience, we utilized the legitimate power base to ensure that everyone followed our guidelines and procedures. We also used the reward power base to motivate our team members and ensure that tasks were completed on time. Additionally, we utilized the expert power base to get advice and feedback from our team members with more experience (Kovach, 2020).
Strengths and Weaknesses
Overall, our team had many strengths and weaknesses. Our strengths included communicating effectively, collaborating, and managing conflicts. We were also able to utilize power bases and influence in order to achieve our objectives. Our weaknesses included our lack of organization and our lack of transparent decision-making processes. To improve our overall performance, we could have implemented better organization strategies and discussed our decision-making process more thoroughly. We could have also utilized more surveys and polls in order to get individual feedback from our team members. Justifying these recommendations would involve discussing the importance of organization and communication when working on a team project and the need for personal feedback to make the best decisions.
In conclusion, working on a virtual team project for school can be a challenging and rewarding experience. It requires the team members to be organized, collaborative, and communicative. It also allows team members to understand better how to work with each other, manage conflicts, and make decisions. In this essay, I have discussed my experiences working on a virtual team project for school. These experiences have taught me the importance of recognizing strengths and weaknesses, communicating effectively, building collaboration, managing conflicts, making decisions, and utilizing power bases and influence.
References
Başoğul, C. (2021). Conflict management and teamwork in the workplace from the perspective of nurses. Perspectives in psychiatric care, 57(2), 610-619. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ppc.12584
Gonzalez, R. V. D., & Melo, T. M. (2019). Analyzing dynamic capability in teamwork. Journal of Knowledge Management. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JKM-08-2018-0478/full/html
Kocher, M. G., Praxmarer, M., & Sutter, M. (2020). Team decision-making. Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, 1-25. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_124-1.pdf
Kovach, M. (2020). Leader Influence: A Research Review of French & Raven’s (1959) Power Dynamics. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 13(2), 15. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16184742.2020.1780459
Morrison-Smith, S., & Ruiz, J. (2020). Challenges and barriers in virtual teams: a literature review. SN Applied Sciences, 2(6), 1-33. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42452-020-2801-5
Patterson, D. (2022). 4.6. In-depth Look: Tuckman’s Model–Five Stages of Team Development. Strategic Project Management: Theory and Practice for Human Resource Professionals.
4.6. In-depth Look: Tuckman’s Model – Five Stages of Team Development
Srivastava, P. R. (2020). Communication, Collaboration & Trust: Interpersonal Challenges in Virtual Collaboration Team. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 5(4), 1273-1278.
https://www.academia.edu/download/64635296/COMMUNICATION,%20COLLABORATION%20&%20TRUST.pdf
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