Team Work

Team Work

Communication can be categorized into verbal and non-verbal communication. The two are vital in ensuring that a message is sent and received by the parties involved. They are, however, perceived differently. It is, therefore, essential to have them all in coordination to ensure communication is made effectively. Research by Dr. Mehrabian in the 1960s concluded that interpretation of a message is 7% verbal, 38% vocal and 55% visual. As such, nonverbal communication takes up 93% of any given conversation (Smith, 2020).

An excellent example of the two types of communication, varying communication is the following. You report to the office and find your colleague slouching on her “hair. Instinc”ively, you ask her,””Are you okay?” and sh” responds, “Oh yeah, I am alright.” The response that she gives can be interpreted in two different ways, depending on the non-verbal cues involved. If she responds with a broad smile on her face and a brilliant face, then it is right to deduce that she is indeed alright. However, if she responds with a sad face or a dismissive tone, chances are high that she is not okay and probably has a problem with you.

Chapter 6

The Functional Model of Decision Making is one of the most highly applied theories of group communication. It was developed by Gouran and Hirokawa in the 1980s as a mode of guiding group communication and decision-making (Gouran & Hirokawa, 1996). It has five main steps:

1. Understanding the problem. This stage involves the members brainstorming and eventually identifying the problem to be addressed, to grasp the its fine details. Doing so involves asking many questions and describing issues.
2. Identifying criteria to come up with solutions. The next step is to identify, in line with alternatives to be developed in the future, the bare minimum features that any alternative should have to be considered by the group.
3. Suggest relevant alternatives. The members then generate various alternatives that they are confident could solve the given problem. In this stage, it is important for all members to be involved, to ensure that all possible alternatives are generated.
4. Examine the alternatives using the previously developed criteria. This stage involves analyzing the given alternatives, based on the previously developed criteria, eliminating those that do not meet the minimum requirements and maintaining those that do.
5. Select the most suitable alternative. The last step is to settle for the alternative that is agreed upon to be the most suitable. This particular step is important as it determines signifies the end of the mode and the beginning of applying the alternative.

There are two steps that I consider crucial in this model. First, is step 1; understanding the problem. If people do not coherently understand the problem that they facing or they end up identifying the wrong problem, it distorts the entire process, as the solution they opt for will be incapable of changing the situation. It is very crucial.

The other one is step 3, generating alternatives. The group members need to suggest as many alternatives as possible. If members fail to suggest alternatives or the leader insists on identifying them alone, it means that a pool of diverse and therefore viable alternatives is not created, which means that not enough solutions will be arrived at.

Chapter 7

Arne Dietrich, a neuropsychologist specializes in topics such as the neuroscience of creativity and consciousness, came up with four types of creativity that have been widely accepted across diverse fields. They are:

1. Deliberate and Cognitive creativity. This type of creativity is located in the prefrontal cortex, which is at the front part of brain. People who belong to this creativity are purposeful in their efforts. Their creativity is characterized with a great amount of knowledge in a particular field. They also have well-developed skills and capabilities owing to the significant amount of time that they spend daily, attempting to develop new solutions. A good example is Thomas Edison, the man who invented the light bulb.
2. Deliberate and Emotional creativity. This type of creativity is located in the amygdala and cingulate cortex parts of the brain. The amygdala harbors and processes human emotions while the cingulate cortex is responsible for learning and processing information. The creativity of persons in this category is a product of deliberate emotional thinking and logical solutions. They are both logical and rational in decision making, but are also highly emotional and sensitive (Bhasin, 2019). They value quiet time and often take personal time to reflect.
3. Spontaneous and Cognitive creativity. This type of creativity is a product of the function of the unconscious mind. Persons in this category possess the knowledge to solve a particular issue, but are unable to come to it. During an unrelated moment when they are not thinking about the issue, an idea or inspiration spontaneously comes to their mind and the get the solution th”y were “ooking for. This is their “Eureka!” moment; similar to what Isaac Newton experienced when he discovered the law of gravity.
4. Spontaneous and Emotional creativity. This type of creativity is one of a kind. It takes place in the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for emotions. It happens when the conscious mind and prefrontal cortex are resting. It is most popular among artistic persons where an idea pops up in the head or they undergo an epiphany that allows them to come up with a brilliant concept. Notably, it cannot be attained through learning.

There are two of these types that can effectively be applied in an group setting. For instance, if a team comes together, attempting to come solve a computer program issue, such as management information systems, they might need the Deliberate and Cognitive creativity. If the problem is finding a way to merge the functions of a department with the systems, the presence of a well-experienced software engineer might be helpful. He would come up with an effective model of combining the two because he is skilled, knowledgeable and creative.

Another example is when a group of filmmakers are brainstorming on the best idea to create a movie. Then, the director suggests that the group breaks for a week and resume the discussion since no viable idea has been developed. During his morning run, observing people an nature, an idea comes into mind and he stops running and calls up the entire team; he has the idea. This is Spontaneous and Emotional creativity.

Chapter 8

Diversity has the following benefits and challenges.

Benefits

1. Diversity in a team allow access to wide-range alternatives. Diverse teams have people from all sorts of backgrounds be it professional experience, country of origin, culture, race, age and education. These people have diverse divergent perceptions to a common problem and therefore provide a wide range of solutions where the team can pick.
2. It creates synergy. Having a diverse team means that they are abled and skilled differently. This difference or variation in capability enables the members to contribute their unique competencies to solve a particular problem in way more effective than a team with similar characteristics.
3. It increases productivity. A diverse team has sufficient resources in terms of skills and ideas to solve many problems effectively. It makes the team perform excellently, thus creating opportunities to grow and handle more challenging tasks in a productive way.

Challenges

1. Ineffective communication. The differences in a team, especially cultural, language and perceptual variations become barriers to productive communication. Each person seems to want to be heard, but give no opportunity to hearing others out, leading to ineffectiveness in communication.
2. Increased conflict. Due to varying perceptions to common issues, diverse teams experience conflict because everyone is convinced that their ideas or approach is most suitable. Further, people tend to involuntarily offend each other more often, as they try to understand each other.
3. Low morale. When persons in diverse teams find out that they all have different backgrounds and therefore cannot relate with each other on many levels, they end up feeling demotivated and doubting their role in the team.

Despite the challenges, Diversity is an important element in any group and workplace. The benefits that they offer to a team and an organization cannot be underplayed, as they are essentially the key features that are need in processes such as decision-making. Further, they are key to the success of any team. The challenges that are experienced in a diverse group are significant too, but can very well be solved when the deeper problem is understood. Communication for instance is a concept that can be taught to the team, to enable them become more effective. Conflicts can be solved by the group itself by allowing them to know each other and respect diverse opinions. Lastly, as the group progresses, each member can be given responsibilities, to make them feel part of the team, thus boosting morale. The benefits on the other hand cannot be achieved in another way, apart from through diversity and as such, it should be adopted whenever possible.

Lencioni – Five Dysfunct”ons of a Team Discussion Question

“Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both bec”use it is so powerful and so rare.” Patrick LenLencioni’s This phrase from Lencioni’s book, Five Dysfunctions of a Team is aimed at emphasizing the importance of a functional team. In the book, Lencioni identifies the role that a functional team plays in an organization by using the fictitious DecisionTech, which was experiencing low performance. The start up had sufficient resources in terms of funds to run it operations, it was a Silicon Valley firm, therefore was well advanced technologically, but the team still encountered challenges in its performance. It was only after Kathryn become the CEO and identified the problem; dysfunctions within the leadership, that the situation changed. She was able to transform the organization into a profitable and more stable firm than before, by simply fostering teamwork. As such when an organization has a formidable team heading it and the culture trickles down to the employees, the organization achieves a competitive advantage that other organizations, with more advanced technology and more finances does not have. People “It’st the heart of any business.

“Idon’ts simple as this. When people don’t uthey’veheir opinions and feel lwon’they’ve been listened “o, they won’t really get on board.” Patrick Lencioni

This is a quote from the second dysfunction of a team; Fear of Conflict. A team with this dysfunction, also experiences the first one, Absence of Trust. When people do not trust each other, they are afraid of appearing controversial or airing divergent opinions. In regard to this quote in particular, organizations that censor divergent or seeming divisive views, are dysfunctional. These are teams where a member is requested to air such views in private or away from other people. As a result, it makes people uncomfortable saying anything controversial, thus end up not being sincere or participative. They do not feel comfortable speaking out their truth, because they do not trust each other and their leaders. The result is a group that performs poorly because m “mbers are not open or involved.

.”Consensus is horrible. I mean, if everyone really agrees on something and consensus comesthat’s quickly and naturalisn’tell that’s terrific. But that isn’t how it usually works, and so consensus bec”mes an attempt to please everyone.” Patrick Lencioni

This quote, is in reference to the third dysfunction, Lack of Commitment. It also builds up from the first two dysfucntions, if there is no trust, no confclict is involved and as a result, people do not commit. In this stage, the team has successfully repressed any form of conflict, which means that people have been forced to go with alternatives that they are not in for, as they are unable to sincerely express their concerns because they do not trust the team. As Lencioni reveals, consensus is rare in a functional team. There is often debate going back and forth as people express their views and fears of different alternatives until, they agree to take a certain direction. This agreement is still not agreeable to everyone, but it enables the team to buy in to the idea, to simply see how it works. Consensus on the other hand, is an attempt to please everyone, which ends up creating an insincere team, which fails to take personal responsibility, even though, everyone seems to have agre”d upon a particular alternative.

“Members of great teams improve their relationships by holding one another accountable, thus demonstrating that they respect each other another’shigh expectat”ons for one another’s performance.” Patrick Lencioni

This quote is in reference to the fourth dysfunction, Avoidance of Accountability, which builds up from Lack of Commitment. IN functional teams, where Lencioni is implying the above statement, people understand what they need to do and are committed to ensuring the team succeeds in its effort. They are also close to each other and their level of trust is high. As such, they will hold their peers accountable for their actions and inactions, which have the impact to harm the team. They will openly and discreetly criticize their coelleagues for commprmsing the psiton of the team, therefore ensuring that every member is on board and on course. Dysfucntional teams have no trust, no commitment, no commitment and no accountability, thus threatening the success of its efforts significantly.

Successful teamwork is not about mastering subtle, sophisticated theories, but rather about combining common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence. Ironically, teams succeed because they are exceedingly human. By acknowledging the imperfections of their humanity, members of functional teams overcome the natural tendencies that make teamwork so elusive. Patrick Lencioni

The above statement seeks to suggest an alternative approach to team work. Lencioni acknowledge that teamwork is not easy but neither is it impossible. It requires the important aspect of understanding and accepting human weakness that is common with every person and instead of giving on teamwork as a result, using it to the advantage of a team. It allows people to accept each other and themselves, and work towards an appropriate solution to common problems, amidst their weaknesses. Further, he also asserts that the success of a teamwork is not based on understanding key concepts of theories and models to teamwork. Instead, it only requires combining common sense with high levels of discipline and persistence: a simple solution that is difficult to achieve. When that happens, teams become functional and are able to accomplish the challenges that they undergo.

Ethical Dilemma

The main problem here is that I am relatively new and have not gotten effectively accustomed to the processes in this company. I still feel like a stranger, which makes me doubt my contribution will have any impact.

My lack of participation is unethical. The whole point of working as a team is to have more people address a single problem that may have otherwise proven difficult, to solve individually. It therefore calls for everyone to give their best, which I am clearly not doing, thus compromising the effectiveness of the team.

If I were to speak up, in this kind of setting, either of two things can happen. One, is that they will include my suggestions on the flip chart and when it comes to selecting the et option, will give it an equal chance with the rest. Two, is that they will listen, but dismiss it, simply because I am new and they are yet to be used to me. If I do not speak up, the team will be several suggestions short, and might not pick the best alternative. Additionally, they will not recognize my presence and the impact of my contribution.

Regarding whether I would, change my answer if I were more experienced in the company is dependent on two factors. First, if I have observed that the team is functional and all contributions are valued equally, then I would opt to contribute and give us a chance to pick the best alternative. If it were otherwise, I would still not speak up because I already understand, from experience this time, that my voice is not important.