Reflection_on_Team_Work

NAME: omojola omowunmi Student ID: 3976896 Team work is a very cogent way to learn and it is also relevant to workplace. According to my understanding, teamwork involves the actions that members in a group take to achieve a common objective. Roles of an ideal team Dr Meredith Belbin gave nine roles of a team and they include the following Plant: creative, imaginative and solves different problems Resource investigator: extroverts, enthusiastic and communicative, develops contacts Co-ordinator: mature, confident, clarifies goals and promotes decision making. Shaper: challenging, has the drive and courage to overcome obstacles. Team worker: good listener, cooperative, mild, perceptive and diplomatic. Implementer: disciplined, reliable, conservative and efficient, turns ideas into practical actions Completer: painstaking, anxious, searches out errors and omissions, delivers on time. Specialist: single-minded, self sharing, dedicated, provides knowledge and skills in rare supply. Mullins 2010:343 This report is based on my experience from one of this term’s module: marketing in a global age. We were made to choose our teams using our own canniness. We turned out to be five members in my group and on weekly basis, various activities were carried out by various teams. We were made to conduct debates and PowerPoint presentations on topics provided by our seminar tutor. The topics were focused on different units of the marketing knowledge cast. The group’s name is the A2 ambassadors. Two members of the team are Africans while the other three members are Asians. That was why we came up with the name: A2 ambassadors. This team work has provided an opportunity for me to connect with my fellow students, learn new ideas and share some of my own ideas and most importantly, cooperate and communicate effectively with people of different cultural backgrounds and views of life. This has being a very significant experience since the commencement of my postgraduate studies. The experience has enlightened me on how to work effectively in teams to achieve goals. Our final group activity was a debate on the relevance of a long term marketing plan compared to that of a short term marketing plan. Although, there were some differences among the group members, we pulled out well as a group and arrived at convincing arguments for the debate. The level of contribution and participation in this group activity was assessed by the group leader so, all the group members were obliged to be creative, imaginative and efficient in providing useful information for the debate. At the beginning, when I met my group members, I assumed for the first two weeks that the team would not be effective and achievable because the team lacked cooperation and coordination. Each member had good ideas and information but the group leader wanted to be the sole contributor to the group work. He disregarded other’s opinions and ideas. As a team, we decided to address this issue in one of our meetings and we concluded that everyone should participate in the group equally. Dr Meredith Belbin’s theory stated the ideal roles of a team. I have synthesized my own understanding of this theory and I believe that applying the roles in the theory is essential for the sustainability and effective achievability of a team. Adhering to these descriptions helps to achieve objectives set in a team. If we applied this theory in the first two weeks, it would have helped us to conduct ourselves in the right manner. I have learnt that although I communicate effectively with people in a polite manner and I respect other’s opinions, I am sometimes intolerant of members who are not modest, polite, bad team players (inability to carry other members along) cannot keep to the SMART objectives. The smart objective is just a list a group member should set to enable him participate effectively in the group. This experience will be useful in my studies and future business. During my studies and business practices, I will meet people of different cultures and it is essential to be tolerant and be a good team player by tolerating different behaviours exhibited by people. I need to develop good presentation skills. Although I communicate effectively with my group members, in this module, we present the group work to the class as a whole and I have to be matured and confident when delivering the group work to the tutor and the class as the audience. This skill will be achieved by regular practice. Bibliography CULC advanced professional skills (APS) knowledge cast: unit 6 Laurie J Mullins, Management and organization behaviour:(2010:343)