WORK EFFECTIVELY WITH OTHERS

Q1a. Describe the group scenario.

As per the views of Raime et al. (2018) Working effectively with others in a team is likely to develop effective or innovative insights amongst the team members to work effectively thereby produce positive results to the leaders. Certain challenges are likely to take place while working in team due to diversity at workplace, however development of effective strategies could be helpful for team members to overcome their weaknesses and work properly in team as well as maintain proper workplace relations. Additional strong relations of the team leaders with team members help the leaders in building effectively motivation amongst them thereby inducing them to contribute flawless performance results for attaining targeted goals. Considering to the discussion, I need to explain a scenario where I was placed to in an organisation for managing a marketing team of 30 members. While working in the team I was responsible to develop clear objectives, with the team members, improve their motivation and make them work as per the guidelines provided. Initially, working with a team of multiple members having different ideas and opinions, I found it difficult to cope up with them. However, as time passed and I enhanced my skills with leadership styles, I was able to enjoy most productive motivated team in the organisation. 

Q1b. In what ways did you work effectively as a team?

Working effectively as a team is regarded as a key path for ensuring effective goal accomplishment. Being a team leader, I was supposed to understand what makes a good and productive team. Effective communication helped me to make each individual working in team aware of their specific roles to be undertaken, the goal of goals to be attained collaboratively in team, thereby enhance cooperation amongst them maintaining healthy relations amongst the team members. Furthermore, I also seemed it important to ensure individual development in the team for avoiding loss authentic voice of the individuals throughout collaboration. In addition, I adopted appropriate kind of leadership that helped me in enhancing the motivation level of the team members and trust of them towards my approaches. I provided equal opportunity to every member to participate actively in the decision making process by developing innovative insights productive in the taking decisions associated with the job. I helped me maintain strong relation with all members of my team thereby achieve team goals successfully. Ultimate for ensuring effective performance as a team, I maintained regular supervision of my team’s tasks, identified the mistakes committed by them, causes of the mistakes and adopted strategic solution for mitigating their errors. It helped me in encouraging the team to produce extra-ordinary results to me.                       

Q2. How did you provide support to team members to ensure group goals were met?

Having a confident and decisive behaviour helped me in managing all the risks that developed in the path of accomplishing goals in my team. I provided effective training to my team members universally irrespective of their level of expertise and knowledge. The training provided by me as team leaders to my team members helped me in enhancing the level of motivation of the team members by effectively identifying their individual needs and fulfilling them successfully. The training sessions helped me in developing innovative ideas amongst the team members to carry out their tasks effectively, increase their skills, strengths, as well as overcome their weaknesses for functioning effectively with current market trends in order to satisfy the company with their performance. Furthermore, the training sessions also helped me develop understanding and connection amongst the team members so that they could cooperate with each other help, each other and work effectively in team for meeting goals properly. In addition, I organised a grievance policy on every weekly intervals where I provided a platform to the team members to express their feelings and experience undergone in the team, the grievances they key for me to resolve and the level of satisfaction they received in working in the team. I supported me in ensuring effective goals accomplishment by my team. Being an effective team leader, I also undertook follow up of the team’s tasks and provided the productive employees with attractive rewards individuals such as promotion, bonus, and salary increment. Furthermore, I enhanced the skills and productivity with members through training and communication, and regular supervision.       

Q3. How did you contribute constructively to the group goals and tasks?

As a supportive and achievement-oriented team leader, I adopted several ways in constructively contributing towards team’s success. As per the views of O'Neill and McLarnon (2018) Each team members performs its activities in better way when it receives encouragement on timely basis. I provided encouragement to the employees working my team by placing their ideas over the right tracks. Regular follow up of their mistakes and helping them to identify as well as rectify their mistakes fostered me in contributively effectively towards groups’ tasks. The apparition of encouragement also helped me in feeling better regarding the situations where the things haven’t done as per the plan. Encouragement is regarded as a team-centred along with the friendly method that helped as a team leader, to support my colleagues when I think that they are likely to apply bit of boost. As per the views of Sánchez et al. (2018) Feedback is regarded as effective way of improving team’s performance. I also adopted the approach of taking feedback from each of the individual members in team in order to make sure the time when they understood or accomplished task and when they did not. Since many times I received both positively as well as negative feedback that helped me to encourage employees to do the task in same ways and from negative feedback I suggested the members to change their work approach. These approaches helped me contribute towards group task or goal accomplishment.     

Q4. Identify any instances where culturally appropriate communication skills were used.

As I worked in a multinational organisation, I had to deal with the employees belonging to different cultural backgrounds. In my team also, I dealt with Mexican, British, American, Spanish and other culture employees. Therefore it was a big challenge for me to understand the opinions, Ideas, and most importantly the language of the employs that was most key for me to communicate with them make them understand the job roles, the team goals the ways to work. Thus, I adopted effective ways to enhance communication with them. I developed a proper etiquette for sending messages to my team members and make them understand the messages effective. The use of the customer code helped me in enhancing effectively relations, with the team understand their opinions and the ideas towards a matter. It helped me to produce effective results to the management too.    

Q5. Provide three (3) examples of cultural differences, or differences in communication styles you experienced working within the group.

The first instance of culture difference that I undergone in the workplace was the differences in language that disrupted the employees to communicate with each other. This also disrupted effective communicative and relationship building in the workplace, which created a negative effect over motivation level of the workplace as every employee was engaged in working individual and not in a team. Therefore, I resolved the issue of my team members by using proper code words which could be used by all of them irrespective of their culture.

The second example of culture differenced I faced that there were certain employees with varied food habits as per their culture. For example, certain workforces were vegetarian and did not prefer eating meat. Therefore, I requested from the management to erect ad separate veg corner in the canteen for the vegan employees that helped me in bringing defective cultural diversity at workplace.

The third example is that I observed that certain employees did not prefer too closely to people as complying with their cultural policies. Therefore, maintained distance with them while making communication regarding the job or any issue faced by them at the workplace as well as instructed my other dream members to do so for protecting their interest and satisfying their needs effectively.    

Q6. Provide three (3) examples of any difficulties you encountered during the team work, and how you managed to find an appropriate solution.

The first challenge I faced was language. As I knew only my other language and English in which I usually communicated. However, it disrupted me in communicating effectively with all employees belonging to different culture. I also initially reduced my motivation as I was unable to understand my team’ feeling and opinions. Therefore, I started taking different classes that helped me to communicate in different languages.As initially I used to hesitate while keeping my view in from of the audience that disrupted my team understanding my guidance to apply in their work. Due to my deficiencies, my team initially worked ineffectively. Therefore I started reading books, attending public speaking classes for speaking confidently amongst audience. 

My poor time management and eldership skills disrupted me to develop trust of my team towards my guidance, which I resolved my adopting effective eldership classes, and making time plan for every task.  

Q7. How did you share information that was collected with the group to ensure designated goals were met?

I could prepare a manual in which all the information would be written for sharing it to the people requiring the information for performing tasks. Further, I shall also upload the information over online portal so that people could daces towards the information in a simple way. Before issuing the manual or uploading the information over website to be shared, I could professional expert to verify the accuracy of the information in order to avoid risk misunderstanding amongst the users as well. 

Q8. On reflection, after completion of the group work, what strategies or opportunities for improvement could be applied next time you take part in a group activity?

Subsequent to the completion of the teamwork, I shall be going to improve many skills further which could help me in improving my professional career thereby work successfully with others towards effective accomplishment of the targeted goals. I shall develop my research skills by reading books, articles and journals. I shall also develop my problem-solving and other leadership skills so that I could strongly lead my team further. Additionally, I also improve time management skills by taking help of advanced methods along with the communication skills.