Thinking Back - Essay Example

Thinking Back Thinking Back Working in a team has actually been experienced on both personal and professional perspectives since one recognized that being part of a group has its benefits. An early personal experience could be remembered in terms of playing in a group, where one team competes with another with the ultimate goal of winning. In academic pursuits, teachers have encouraged collaboration and participation among groups and being a member entails realizing that there are roles and responsibilities that assist in achieving group goals.

Likewise, in organizational settings, aside from being gauged on an individualized performance scale, employees who are effective as group members are usually duly acknowledged and eventually, the exemplary performance of outstanding members pave the way for promotions into leadership and managerial positions. Given these, the following questions are hereby addressed:1. What behaviors in the team were successful? The observed behaviors that were manifested to generate successful teamwork are: collaboration, cohesiveness, effective communication, recognition of an effective leader – follow relationship, acknowledging the need to attain a common group goal.2. Describe one of the stages of team development for the situation.

There are actually different stages in team development as revealed by Stein: forming, storming, norming, performing, and ending or terminating (Stein, n.d.). One relevant stage is the forming stage where members get to know each other, share backgrounds and information that are deemed necessary for the accomplishment of expected tasks. Likewise, during this stage, members get to assign roles and responsibilities to enable them to design appropriate strategies towards achieving their defined activities on a more orderly and structured way.

Aside from knowledge being shared, members get to be oriented on the skills and abilities of members which would contribute to the achievement of group goals.3. Describe the type of interdependence in this team. During the forming stage, the type of interdependence is still being slowly established as members have not yet settled on their roles, responsibilities and in confirming how the defined goals would be achieved. However, through identification of roles and assigning responsibilities, a sense of interdependence is being established to ensure that each member justly and equitably works towards performing, as planned.4. Describe the team’s cohesiveness.

Did the cohesiveness relate to the team’s performance? According to Martires & Fule (2000), “in a cohesive group, members are attracted to each other and engage in frequent social interaction” (p. 111). Based on experience and in theories, there is a relationship between cohesiveness and performance. As emphasized, “when standards of performance are high, performance is high, if the degree of cohesiveness is high; and medium performance if the degree of cohesiveness is low. But if standards of performance are low, performance is low whether the degree of cohesiveness is high or low” (Martires & Fule, 2000, p. 111).5.

What could the team members count on you for? The team members actually count on each other members’ equitable contribution towards the assigned tasks and responsibilities which are specifically assigned and which are expected to be performed accordingly. Thus, team members count on each other members conformity to do the assigned tasks and activities towards goal accomplishment.6. How could you have improved your contribution to the team? One could improve contribution to the team by doing not only what is expected but by assisting other team members who need help.

Likewise, by evaluating the performance of the group on a regular basis, one would determine if the activities have been complied as planned. If there are deviations from the plan, one’s willingness to address weaknesses would assist in contributing towards the successful achievement of the objectives that has been explicitly defined. ReferencesMartires, C., & Fule, G. (2000). Management of Human Behavior in Organizations. Quezon City: National Bookstore.Stein, J. (n.d.). Using the Stages of Team Development .

Retrieved from MIT Human Resources: http://web.mit.edu/hr/oed/learn/teams/art_stages.html