Communicationadn_Collaboration_Strategy

Communication and Collaboration Strategy Bill Morgan University of Phoenix Teams are made of individuals and team members want, appreciate and retain different ideas, different actions and different levels of knowledge, often at different rates, so how does a team of uniquely talented people become one cohesive unit' This question has been asked by companies, military units, sports teams and families for many years. Many of these teams have succeeded, but many have failed; not for lack of trying but because the individual talents the members possessed were not recognized for their value to the team, or their learning styles were not recognized and utilized to reach the members' full potentials. As a leader in my organization it is absolutely necessary for me to seek out and recognize these individual talents, traits, learning styles and personalities in order for me to succeed at my job and for my teammates to reach achievement also, and I do not walk alone in this endeavor, so why is it so difficult to achieve group harmony and success. Probably because we are all so unique. Learning styles and personalities vary just like music or clothing styles do; the variety is endless. Learning is also tempered and advanced by individual strengths and weaknesses. In order to use the strengths fully and improve the weaknesses, we must first define what what they are and how can we incorporate the right learning styles with the right personalities to create a productive team, that continually communicates well and grows as a unit. We also must pursue the follow up portion of team concepts and conflict resolutions, for sometimes behavioral patterns of one style can trigger stress in others. “Howard Gardner a Harvard University professor, changed the way people perceive intelligence and learning with his theory of “Multiple Intelligences.”(2) This finding is important because it gives names and characteristics of these intelligences that are descriptive enough to understand. Professor Gardner finds there are eight or more intelligences that people carry, and I would venture to say that number can increase given the right circumstances and the ability to tap into that portion of an individuals mind. As we move into teams, these strengths that are carried by the individuals can be amalgamated to create a chain each members strengths overlapping others strengths and filling the gaps of the “less developed intelligences”.(2) I believe one of the most sought after abilities from a company stand point is the verbal-linguistic intelligence. To possess the abilities to speak to audiences, write standards, bulletins and other documents and to be a great listener is of the utmost value especially in a team environment. This individual may not comprehend numeric data well, but their ability to communicate verbally what they need will strengthen their opportunity to learn from the logical-mathematical members of their team and hear the traits of others. It is these logic using, numerically driven people that bring the data to life; it is inarguable and irrefutable evidence to them. They can bring the root of the information to the surface with their direct approach to the answers. So far our combination from an intelligence standpoint looks strong, but the element I see missing is the Visual-Spatial intelligence. Someone needs to have pictures, graphs, charts and other visual cues and aids, this intelligence is the harbinger of the flip chart drawings and the brightly colored laminated mission statements or bulging family photo archives. With this combination of intelligences, regular and mediated meetings are a must. It would be easy for each of these intelligences to go off on a tangent that is completely out of line with what the goal was. Regular meetings to check progress, compare written and mathematical data with the visual pictures will ensure keeping on track or at least not allowing any sector to get too far off track. With this trio of intelligences how could a team go wrong' Well I have left out another key component to the intelligences that either create strong bonds within a team or tear it apart quickly, the personality types. Work done by Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers along with David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates created a personality spectrum that helps identify interactions and other personalities that are more or less comfortable for individuals to relate to. Now this is interesting because anyone who has ever left their home or who has other people living at home with them should have figured this out already, but as I stated before this assessment gives names and descriptions behind the names that allow people to color the world around them, albeit sometimes the hue is wrong. I am building my dream team in this paper so bare with me. One of the personality types is the thinker according to Keirsey and Bates. This personality fits beautifully with the logical-mathematical intelligence. The thinker has rational, logical, technical and quantitative characteristics to name a few, but I get from my experiences with these personality types and from the described characteristics, they may have difficulty expressing emotion and become unwilling to work with it or hear it. The second personality that I will discuss is the organizer. I believe this personality fits best with the verbal-linguistic intelligence. This personality is tactical, detailed, controlled and disciplined. When one speaks to influence or to educate these traits are tantamount to the right message being delivered and understood, they also play, not against those of the mathematical/thinker, but to that style. I give my final attention to the adventurer personality. They are active, original, spatial, imaginative and competitive all components that share space with the visual-spatial intelligence, but with a bit more flare, more color and will be the team member to stand up and make a statement to resist the status quo and be willing to fight that fight,figuratively speaking of course. Ownership needs to be encouraged and revisited from the beginning to the end in team environments. Without agreement from the different perspectives of their roles it is unlikely “buy in” will occur for the duration. Is there room for conflict with any and all of these combinations or with the ones I did not mention' Absolutely, but conflict shouldn't be ostracized from the team, but embraced as a mode of survival, of the birthing of new ideas, of shaking off old habits and learning new ones. In an article in 2008 from Director vol 61(8) pg. 40 it states “Conflict can even improve team effectiveness, when it stimulates discussion, promotes critical assessment of problems and options and leads to better team decisions." In conclusion, there are methods available to attempt to find the fires that burn inside of team members and keep them lit. It is probable that each one of these traits can be specified to individuals but are most likely shared by all to some extent, and bringing them out requires a great deal of communication and flexibility. We are all very diverse, yet share similarities that some view as strength and some not so much, in either case it is important to know who you are and be capable of sharing that with others. George Bernard Shaw wrote for a scene in the movie My Fair Lady, “ The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's treated.” The key to dealing with different styles, and conflict are the same, treat people with respect. References (2) Phoenix University E-Book Collection, Keys To College Studying: Becoming An active thinker,2e Chapter 2; Learning Styles, Majors, and Careers: knowing Your Talents and Finding Your Direction pg 3 of 38,