Managing and building teams

Résumé du document

Working in a team is like a box of chocolates – you never know who you are going to get, but each one is filled with goodness inside. As an exchange student, I can say with full confidence that if Sauder left me with one skill, it is how to work in teams. With only two final exams but several group projects presented during this term at UBC, I can truly attest to the ups-and-downs and the dos-and-don'ts of teamwork. “What is the most important aspect to a successful team?” is a common interview question that I have always answered with “shared vision and accountability”. This is echoed by Katzenbach and Smith's (1993) definition of a team as a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to as common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

However, my last teamwork experience this semester, during the Managing and Building Teams course, made me realize that two key aspects need to be added to my own definition of a team: communication and trust. In this paper, I will be reflecting on my experience in teamwork, and how I grew as a team member during my experiences in this course. Finally, I will try to commit to further developing my existing skills and talents in order to make teamwork more effective, productive, enjoyable and successful for me and the teams I represent in the future.

Extraits

[...] I decided to take part in the editing, and to do the presentation's PowerPoint. I did not realize it straight away, but all the other members of the team appreciated my honesty. Eventually, we managed to explore who is best suited to each task as well as how individual roles will come together. In-class experiences Throughout the course, there were a lot of opportunities for each team members to get to know each other more. The very first one was about showing one thing what we cared about very much. [...]

[...] I really appreciated receiving such honest feedback and I think this exercise built trust among team members. As Polzer (2008) says, discussing feedback as a team increases members' trust in one another, allowing them to raise potentially awkward issues relating to perceptions and performance. The feedback I received made me reflect about my contribution to the project and at the end of the day, I decided to send everyone an email apologizing and clarifying the reasons for my lack of contribution, and committing to further make efforts in taking an active part during the meetings and group discussions. [...]

[...] Lack of fluency represents one of the four challenges that can be faced by multicultural teams (Brett, Behfar & Kern, 2006). Indeed, in the first couple meetings I had with my team, I would rather stay silent instead of speaking out my mind. Those first meetings, to me, were rather unproductive: some of us were absent, some others were late, and most important, we had no clear agenda or objectives for the end of the meeting. I remember that our very first meeting came down to a situation where several people sitting next to each other were just looking at their own computers. [...]

[...] We began as a working group and became a team. And teams and good performance are inseparable: you cannot have one without the other (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). What I have learnt from this experience One first important thing that I have learnt through teamwork during this course is to put trust in others. Without trust, the team environment can be toxic. And in order to build trust in a team, I will further try to: - Be open to different opinions and perspectives - Be honest to my team members to establish accountability with one another - Be assertive and make my voice heard in order to make my team members respect me and value my input - Be humble humility goes a long way in a team environment Apart from trust, I think another critical block of effective teamwork that can positively or negatively affect the outcome of a team is ability to communicate constructively. [...]

[...] Finally, I will try to commit to further developing my existing skills and talents in order to make teamwork more effective, productive, enjoyable and successful for me and the teams I represent in the future. Team “JAMAICAN ME excited for My experience thus far working in teams is challenging and also rewarding. I do enjoy working with other people. There is nothing more blissful than working with people who share the same vision as you, have similar working styles and great communication abilities. [...]