Building Team Relationships by Communication - Essay Example

Research -Academia 13th April 2008 Building Team Relationship by Communication The inter-school debate competition was on the head due in June. Thirty schools were participating in the competition, which was expected to be fierce. Carmel high school always remained in the limelight in this competition with records of winning the trophy for last 10 years. But this was year was different. All those students who picked up awards and trophies had passed out of he school. There were no such identifiable students in the school who could be trusted to win the next competition. The principal of the school was worried about this. He threw the challenge on students to develop a new team of winners from the school to carry forward the school image ahead. The meeting was called to identify them. In the meeting the onus to find and hone up the winning debater was given to two senior students of the school. One of them was James a very aggressive and vocal student who was the leader extracurricular team of the school. The other was John known for his intelligence but agile and reserved personality. They were given the responsibility to select five students in each team to be groomed as the new winning team for the forthcoming debating competition. The committee on Extra-curricular Activities headed by the principal of the school was finally to decide two students to be sent for participating in the competition. James and John had different concept about a 'good winning debater' and therefore they acted differently to locate their team members. The selection process started soon. James started picking up students from the senior level classes. He gave out the clear message "I want students who are highly assertive in their approach and who could argue over any subject and defeat the opponents with ease" He prepared a team of ten such students mainly from senior student group and asked them to participate in debating programs scheduled in the school for training them and asked every participant to prepare for effective presentation. He prepared a schedule for the program and informed students to participate without fail. John distributed a notice to all classes inviting students: "Students who have debating skills and killing spree through convincing arguments are invited to join the winning team for further grooming Students must be versatile, flexible knowledgeable and presentable. Early record of debating will be a plus point" James received 20 applications from all classes. Every one was encouraged to join for the grooming sessions. Grooming sessions were divided into nine debating sessions. Each session had different subjects to debate on. All participants were divided into four groups of 5 students each. Two winning participants from each group of James and John who would be sent for final presentation to the sports selection committee would be given letter of appreciation from the principal. The final two winners would get the chance to represent the school in the debating competition. The winner will get a silver trophy and reward of $10000 dollars as scholarship. Both James and John clearly spelled out the objective to their team members. "We have to groom ourselves to be the winner in the next debating competition and stand out with the winners' image the school had earned through ages" " Are you committed to this pious objective" Unanimous reply was "Yes Sir" The first grooming session started on 15th April. James was with team members sharp at 9AM in the hall. Only seven students were present. It was alarming for James. The team of seven had grueling debating on assorted subjects and no one was ready to give in. At the end the team expressed satisfaction that the super seven had the real fighting spirit. In another hall James and his team of twenty assembled to have the basic knowledge of debating. James had managed an old school alumni Anderson who had once won the Inter-school competition to groom the team members. He talked with everyone of the team and tried to understand his or her spirit of debating. Everyone participated with individual contribution toward raising a true team who could win the race. He talked about fine points of the rule and encouraged students to have basic knowledge on assorted subjects and how to weave convincing arguments around any subject and win over the opponents. He selected nine distinct subjects on economy, politics, social issues, co-operation, foreign affairs, democracy, human relation, war& peace and environment and asked students to prepare on each subject carefully. The session ended with great moral victory for the team as the Anderson promised to be present in each session to guide them. The subsequent grooming sessions continued with both the team showing satisfaction with progress. Whereas James emphasized on the aggressiveness, assertiveness and strong arguments on any subject John's team asserted on knowledge, logic, convincing arguments, flexibility and other fine points. The only irony of the fact was that James sessions were marked with growing absenteeism and strife. The team members of James were overconfident about them and did not care about the instructions whereas the team members of John carefully listened every point of the guide and improved upon. In the final day of the grooming program John reviewed the participation and discussed the whole program. He convinced the participants about their role and the shortcoming or improvements. The names of final five were announced with smile on everybody's face. The whole team stood by the decision John thanked every one and the guide for active participation and successful attempts to find a winner team. In the last session number nine Anderson was invited by James to deliver some finishing touches to the team. He studied the aggressive attitude of the team and commented, "It is not bad to be aggressive in the argument but arguments can't win a debate. You have to learn how to win others and not fight. This is possible by convincing the other end by logic and understanding other's view as well" When the session was over one of the team members commented, "Is it not surrendering to opponents!' The final day of selection came. Two students from each team were presented before the selection committee. The principal interviewed them and finally offered them a subject to debate " If I were the leader of a country having atom bombs and gone on war with the other country having bombs too I would attack them first and win the war" The team member of James seconded the proposal but the of James said "If you hurl bomb on us we would not garland you with roses" The selection committee selected two students for the forthcoming inter-school debating competition from the team of John. James asked the principal why his team members were not selected The principal calmly replied 'We are looking for students who would win a debating competition and not a war' Your team members are all spirited and maniac to win only but debates requires spirit to defeat by logic. Your team doesn't have this skill'. Anderson tried to convey this message to your team but none followed it though everyone listened the message. From the very start you communicated a distorted view about a debater who could win by arguments and assertion. You dictated your selection and concentrated to a particular type of students. That was a bad beginning. James adopted a truly democratic ways to invite willing and deserving candidates with ability to be groomed from a wider network of students from all senior and junior sections. He behaved like a professional and brought a professional to communicate with the group. The team members were willing and capable to listen and follow guidance of an expert and groom themselves. You did not bother about experts. You yourself considered to be expert and asserted you attitude on the group. Because of the rigid attitude the team members did not bother to follow a good piece of advice from Anderson, an expert. Your team remained overconfident about their ability to win and was not serious about attendance. They often quarreled on issues. Their task and programs were not well defined and well communicated. John did not commit this mistake .He clearly defined the task and communicated effectively with his team members allocating nine subjects to work on in nine sessions. He reviewed the programs to find that the target is achieved. He made others to accept his selection willingly. Those not selected remained emotionally behind the team. Effective Communication can do miracle provided it is used to motivate those who are attuned to listen by commitment to objectives. The team leader must build a team relationship based on emotions that can influence behavior. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and effectively communicate with people who are equally emotionally charged. Here the emotion was about the age-old image of the school earned through competition. James could carry this emotion forward and build up his spirited team of winners. Reference: willf@u.washington.edu; or Mitchell at (206)543-6779 or trm@u.washington.edu http:// tilt.psu.edu.com Penn State Schreyer Institute handouts. www.acel.team.com Team building Read More