PERSONAL, PROFESSIONAL AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT
TEAM SYNERGY - REFLECTIVE ACTION
Background
The ability to develop viable teams/groups and enhance their performance is a rare capability sought after by employers.
This assignment gives you an opportunity to experiment and critically reflect upon your contributions when developing effective teams.
Your agility to enhance the team will require active reflection on the needs of individuals as well as the collective. As an agile leader you will collaborate, compromise and follow other people's vision as well as offering your own suggestions.
Preparation
You will need to:
1. Attend the webinars on Group & Team Dynamics
2. Identify a suitable group or team project which requires you to meet frequently and work intensively together (this could be a virtual project)
3. Upload 5 active reflection log sheets onto BB and make reflective notes in your Learning Log. (You may wish to upload the first reflection sheet after your initial meeting and then at even intervals during your work together. The intention is to allow you to reflect upon the evolving working relationship and to consciously consider how you wish to act.)
4. Engage in wider reading beyond the core text & the online debates
NB
The MBA Group Project is a helpful example where you have to work together without pre-set roles or formal positions for a reasonable amount of time to allow working relationships to evolve
This is an individual assignment and does not require you to inform others of your reflections though you may find it helpful as a shared learning opportunity
Your uploaded reflection sheets will chart the dynamic changes in relationships & your perceptions of others over time. It is therefore helpful to initial or use a number to indicate who is who for the different individuals. This allows you to track how relationships change over time. Your uploads will be treated as confidential by internal staff, e.g. markers.
If you have deferred an element of your MBA it is possible to complete this exercise using a workplace team if you are unable to use the MBA Group Project or similar activity as the learning vehicle
Assignment
The ability to develop viable teams/groups and enhance their performance is a rare capability sought after by employers. Given your reading, models, team experience and five reflection sheets: What insights have you gained about your ability to build viable relationships and effective teams?
Word Limit: 2,000 Words. (This excludes references according to the Harvard methodology -details are in the Resources link on BB.)
Ensure that you, at a minimum, consider the following aspects:
Theory: Appropriate models for analysing team / group dynamics (Tuckman; Lewin; Belbin; Thomas &Kilmann; Schultz; Grossman; etc.) Please ensure that you use these in an integrative manner and not as an eclectic smorgasbord.
Personal Insight: Think about other teams you have been a member of. Compare and contrast these experiences. What do these experiences say about the kinds of team you would be most/least effective in?
Personal Awareness: What are your core strengths as a team player and how well did you establish trust with others?
Situational Awareness: Culture and power relationships
Action: What are the areas that you need to work on to enhance the viability & effectiveness of team/groups?
At this point in your studies, I expect you to take a critical evaluative stance regarding the way you adapted and sought to enhance your team's viability and effectiveness as you completed the reflection sheets.