Seminars as Essential in Promoting Conversational Skills - Essay Example

?EFFECTIVE TEAM AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT of Introduction Seminars have been utilized traditionally by universities in various ways. For instance, they have been used for content reinforcement in order to identify if the students understood what they were thought in class. The students are always grouped in various teams whereby they are expected to solve various problems through participating in various activities. Seminars are significant in developing students’ ability to synthesize evidence and viewpoints on a certain topic. According to Malaysian (2002, p.1), seminars bring students together for purposes of discussing about a certain subject. The students need to have an interest that is common for purposes of understanding and expanding on an idea, a painting, a book or an activity. Seminars allow participants to share their views. The views are then improved, expanded and deepened. Additionally, seminars are essential in promoting conversational skills, habits that are complex while dealing with people in a group. A successful seminar is achieved only if individual group members work collaboratively to achieve the aims and goals of their seminar activities. Conflicts should be solved professionally and each member should be active in opinion giving. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to write a reflection on the seminar activities I took part in. In that case, I will reflect and describe upon all the seminar activities. In addition to that, I will describe and reflect upon my group experience with my team leader and other fellow team members. I will also provide alternative courses of action for the problems experienced during the seminar activities and finally I will write a conclusion on what I learned while participating in the tasks and why it is relevant to my professional life. Reflection The seminar activities thought me a lot in my journey to become an authentic leader in future. We had to group ourselves in order to come up with a team. My team consisted of six members unfortunately all were male. These members came from different nationalities. Among the six group members, one had to be chosen to become a leader for the group. After deliberation, two group members were identified. Since only one individual was needed to head the group, the best among the two was selected based on his competences. In that case, one with perfect presentation and speaking skills was chosen. In addition to that, the identified leader was very flexible and ready to listen to everyone’s’ opinion. According to Gardiner (2005, p.99), the principal components of authentic leadership are such as, self-awareness, relational transparency and moral perspective. Self-certainty and self-knowledge are conceived as integral success to authentic leadership (Shamir & Eilam, 2005). In addition to that, speech and being determined in ones actions are key attributes of a leader (Levy &Bentley, 2007). This is what we observed in choosing a leader to head our group. Seminar activity one was lost on the moon exercise. The exercise was based on choosing the best items among 15 in order of their significance. This is because, the survival of our crew largely depended on accessing the mother ship so that we would be able to select the most critical items among the 15which were available for our trip. As such, each and every individual had to make a decision based on what he perceived to be of great significance. The group members were very corporative apart from a few who were very stubborn and rigid. At first, I was very shy to give opinions but eventually developed self confident as our team leader presented the exercise to us and each individual was allowed to give his or her opinion. The group leader was very nice as he acted as a team member rather than a manager. Bakken (2007, P.1) claims that, teams that are efficient, productive and cohesive and enjoys working together do not exist by accident. As a result, teams that are successful are cohesive as members of the team works collaboratively to achieve a common goal using similar resources. Furthermore, team productivity not only results because individuals in the team do not disagree, but because they have come up with a variety of ways to deal and resolve their conflicts whenever they emerge. Our leader ensured efficient performance of our team by assigning tasks in a manner that took into account the interests and skills of each member rather than allowing the team to be subjugated by aggressive, most popular or most verbal personalities. Members clashed on what should come first between two 100- pound tanks of oxygen and food concentrate. As a result, there existed heated debates whereby everyone had to air his opinion by giving concrete points to support his opinion. New ideas were welcomed by each group member and finally a consensus had to be reached. Decision making is essential in individual’s life whether you are a leader or not. However, it is essential for individuals who wish to inhibit extreme leadership roles. As a leader, one has to utilize every available resource to come up with the best decision (“Decision Making” 2012). Our group leader used our opinions to enable us come to a consensus whereby we agreed that priority was to be given to two 100-pounds of oxygen followed by food concentrate and gallons of water were identified as the second most significant. The second seminar activity was egg flying contest. This was the most amazing and challenging task. All the group members were scared and were never optimistic on whether the task would be accomplished or not. My team was challenged to select five out of the seven resources provided. The aim was to drop an egg from a distance of 2meter without it breaking. Having accomplished the first task, the second one was no such a big deal. Our group leader had to motivate trust in us by assuring us no matter what happens no one will be blamed. According to Squazzo (2007, p.18), trust is the essential element for leadership. Trust forms the foundation for the success of a team. Furthermore, the leader had equipped us with some information on how to make our team cohesive and effective. The key points were such as clarifying the common goals and purposes. The team leader made the purpose of the team clear which was to succeed in each and every activity. For instance, ensuring that the best resources are chosen and the egg do not break after being dropped from the distance of 2m. In achieving the purpose of the group, our group leader clarified each group member’s role in achieving the purpose that was common. Each and every individual was allocated a task based on his interest and skills. These greatly helped in contributing to the success of the team and no incidents of conflict of interest were reported. Furthermore, any conflict that arose within the group was dealt with professionally. According to (Molly 2011, p.671), it is normal for conflicts to occur when people are working in groups. However, if conflicts are handled well, ideas that are constructive are always produced. Sometimes members in a team may argue with one other or hurt an individual feeling in cases where opinions are given. A member may feel that his opinion is the best and protect it even if all the other members are against it. This has made me understand that honest disagreements can sometimes become heated and personal. As in the case of my group, when it came to ranking of resources in order of preference conflict often arose but through consultation a consensus was always reached. Through the group leader, I developed self-awareness/ self confident skills as an ingredient of becoming a great leader. Sivia and Duvai (2001, p.235) writes that, self-awareness results when an individual is familiar with his or her existence and what comprises that existence. Moreover, self-awareness is an emerging process rather than a destination point where individuals comprehends their unique talents, sense of purpose, strengths, desires, beliefs and core values. As a matter of fact, it comprises of having a fundamental and basic awareness of an individual knowledge, capabilities and experiences (Day 2000, George 2003, London, 2002). I never knew I could make decisions and make other people concur with them. Supporting of a decision with strong facts is what matters. Becoming a leader is not an easy thing as an individual need to have the necessary skill of controlling a group with divergent opinions. Resolving of conflicts is the most essential thing if an individual want his or her team to be successful. Conflicts make the team stronger and stronger. Delineating of duties according to an individual skills and competence is crucial in eliminating cases of conflict of interest. Keeping in mind all the traits of a good leader, our team succeeded in accomplishing all the seminar activities. Due to the interaction we had during the seminar activities, we became good friends as a team. We promised each other to emulate the attributes of our team leader in the future if we become leaders. Our aim was to become even better than him. Alternative course of Action It is clear that during the making of suggestions conflict would always arise. This is because the opinion of my team member would not be definitely the same as mine. No matter how best an individual supports his opinion, the opinion might not be the right one. In that case, a leader should ensure that varied opinions are identified from which the suitable ones are chosen. In addition to that, each and every individual in a team has distinct moods at a single meeting. As such, the leader of the group need to understand that the members mood might change any time leading to lack of corporation in the team when it comes to decision making. It is essential for each group member to register his mood before the meeting commences. The leader of the team needs to make it necessary to discuss how mood can impact on performance and attitude (Caron 2004, p.10). Next time I am allocated in a different group with different members, in case of a conflict; I will consider applying the following steps. The initial step is to define the problem. This is because; a problem cannot be solved before it is defined. Problem definition is the hardest part while searching for a solution (Miranda and Bostrom 1994, p.63). That is the main reason why majority of individuals jumps into problem solving rather than problem definition. The second step is to gather data. In order to effectively address team conflicts, data need to be gathered concerning the situation on the ground. In that case, the team leader needs to collect facts that are substantial and not opinions or hearsays. His or her intention is to collects facts that are observable, actual and measurable. This can be made possible through teleconferencing, meetings or video conferencing. As such, the group leader should have facts about the performances of the team members in terms of who is meeting the goals and deadlines, who performs tasks independently, who is good at coming with new ideas and who is ready to work extra hard to meet the goals of the group. Perfect understanding of the character traits of each and every member of the group helps in conflict resolution. The third step in conflict resolution is data analysis and diagnosis. Before this step is undertaken, a team leader needs to make sure that every detail gathered makes sense. Analyzing and diagnosis of data helps in identifying the teams’ problem. Diagnosis aids in acknowledging the dynamics of the team. In case, the conflict is as a result of poor communication, as a leader, the problem needs to be analyzed in details. As such, it is good if a flow chart and checklist are used. The remaining steps are choosing of the best solution and implementing it. The best solution is picked based on various alternatives and it is eventually implemented (Bulleit 2006, p.10). Conclusion It is not possible for a team leader to maintain a team environment that is conflict-free. This is because each and every team has its internal conflicts in their execution of duties. Nevertheless, a conflict experienced in a team is not always negative. In that case, it can either be healthy, productive or destructive. The significant thing it is how it is handled. This greatly depends on how team leaders lead their teams and help them in conflict management which can help in changing a negative to a positive (Rajshree, 2003, p.56). In some cases, conflict can coerce team leaders and teams’ members to scrutinize themselves or problems in a new way. The outcome is coming up with results and solutions that are much better than the ones originally anticipated. In such cases, conflict often acts as a catalyst depending on how it is handled. Productive conflict often results when the members of the team disagree but at the same time are ready to continue with the dialogue (Warren 2005, p.87). For a team to reach such a level, maturity and skills are needed through learning. In summary, when channelled positively, conflict results to alternatives that have not been considered, solutions that are better, a team that is focused and productive and increased capability of dealing with conflict. Authentic leadership is founded on the belief that a confidence in an individual action and speech is an indicator of strong leadership (Alvolio et al., 2004). In our group, a leader was picked based on his communication and presentation skills. The authentic leadership basic component is ethics. Ethical leaders are able to influence their group members through interpersonal relationships and personal actions. The two conducts can be channelled to his or her follower through varied means such as decision making, reinforcement and communication. Authentic leaders are often aware of themselves by understanding what they value and belief in. In addition to that, their actions are based on that beliefs and values (Chan et al 2005, p.40). For instance, our team leader was never aggressive. He was very flexible and allowed everyone to make decisions based on his judgement. The opinions were debated upon until a consensus was reached. Through our group leader, I learned that an authentic leader should be in a position to stimulate intellectually, motivate inspirationally, consider each and every individual and influence his or her followers in a manner that is ethical. Furthermore, they are very honest, believable and trustworthy (Stanley 2004, p.106). Their dealings are very transparent, ethical in their deeds and morally developed. Authenticity is the main factor that eliminates the leadership potential to abuse their style of leadership (Nichols 2008, p.4). Participating in a seminar is not an easy thing. As such, an individual requires practice for purposes of improving significantly. There are basic concepts that an individual needs to acknowledge if he or she wants to be a good participant in the seminar. First of all, participants should always keep time. As such, individuals should strive to report early and leave when the seminar ends. This is because, lateness results to missing some components of the conversation and interruptions are quite irritating. In case of serious issues, such as personality clashes, it is good if you address the problem through the seminar leader. Participating in a seminar with anger is not good as it will interfere with the objectives of the seminar. Bibliography Avolio, B J., Luthans, F and Walumba, F O. (2004). Authentic leadership: Theory building for veritable sustained performance. Working paper: Gallup Leadership Institute, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Bulleit, B. (2006). Effectively managing team conflict. Viewed 23 April 2012, from http://gclearningservices.com/assets/Managing_Conflict.pdf-concli Caron, AR. (2004). Managing teams effectively. Viewed 23 April 2012, from , http://alancaron.com/articles/MANAGING%20TEAMS%20EFFECTIVELY.pdf- Chan, A, Sean, T. , Hannah, S & Gardner,WL .(2005).Veritable Authentic Leadership: Emergence, Functioning, and Impacts. Amsterdam, Elsevior. 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