Team_Members'_Roles

What are team members’ roles' Why are they necessary to the team' After defining each person’s role on a team, what are their responsibilities' Can a team have dual roles and responsibilities' Does your personality have to match your role on the team' What are the benefits and advantages of working within a team' These are all questions that are not clearly defined in the beginning. This can cause the overall scope of the project to be difficult, lack of communication between team members and can result in conflict among team members. As members are placed, the first task is to determine the overall mission of the team. Each member should feel comfortable to voice his/her strategies for the overall purpose. Members must have equal say on the scope and consideration of their ideas toward the success of the project (personal communication, December 2005). After defining the overall objectives, the team must decide on the implementation of shared responsibilities. Shared responsibilities of the team would include scheduling project meeting times, determining when to meet, how often to meet, where to meet, who will be responsible for scheduling meeting request(s), who will be responsible for preparing and sending out agendas routinely, who will be responsible for taking and publishing minutes, and status updates for periods in between the scheduled meetings. The team could also focus on document review deadlines and approvals for the project. There are various roles a team must outline within the team for success in completing a project. According to the web site for Team Technology (2007) there can be several role descriptions for a team, they are as follows: 1. “Coach – one who tries to create harmony by creating a positive atmosphere, motivating everyone else on the team and building a great rapport. 2. Champion – one who brings ideas and thoughts to the team. This person often brings out the priorities and focus of the team. 3. Explorer – one who uncovers better ways of doing things; an improvement. 4. Innovator – one who uses their imagination to dream up new concepts. 5. Sculptor – one who brings things about to get to the goal of the team. 6. Curator – one who brings clarity, asking questions to get a full understanding of what the goals and scope of the team project are. 7. Conductor – one who organizes things into a systematic structure. 8. Scientist – one who analyzes and gives explanation of the team’s goals or projects (Team Technology)”. Usually a team member may already perform some of these roles defined above, but may perform more of one role as opposed to another (Rocine and Irwin (Oct 1994). Members may also carry out what is known today as a dual role. A dual role means taking on two roles at the same time. Based on the roles defined above, the coach and champion can be the same individuals. The coach’s life experience most likely contributes to his role as a team player or champion. For example: being a champion and having a passion for what you love, after your career in a particular team setting is over, you are wanting to go forward and teach others what you know. This would go into the coaching aspect of the role. In every champion there is a future coach, and in every future coach there is a champion. After determining the roles that exist for each team member, the team must decide which member’s personality matches a particular role. “If you take an individual’s personality that is warmhearted, conscientious, and cooperative; one who wants harmony in their environment, works with determination to establish it; likes to work with others to complete tasks accurately and on time; loyal, following through even in small matters; notices what others need in their day-by-day lives and tries to provide it; wants to be appreciated for who they are and for what they contribute” Myers, Briggs and Myers (1980/1995). This personality type would be a great coach. Once the roles and responsibilities of each team have been defined, there are several advantages and disadvantages for working on a team. Some of the advantages would be cross-training, greater cooperation and possible discovery of new approaches to a particular task. Some of the disadvantages for working on team would be time management issues, possibility that members’ may think it is less motivating or that it may not be conducive for various roles within a team. As a team leader in the Order of Eastern Stars, there are many members under my leadership. These members trust my judgment, integrity, fairness, and knowledge. My primary duties are to protect the interests of each team member and the overall chapter. The advantages are that my position provides that opportunity to assist and aid each member, help the overall community and allows me to be a strong driving force for humanity. Some of the disadvantages of being viewed as a leader are that the responsibility comes with a heavy burden, being viewed as the fixer who takes on all individuals’ tumultuous issues and trying to come up with the best solution regarding the problem at hand. The greatest burden can be the inability to separate other people’s issues and problems from my own. References Myers, Isabel Briggs with Peter B. Myers (1980, 1995). Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type. Retrieved October 20, 2007, from http://myersbriggs.org Team Technology Company – UK. (2007). Working out your Team Role. Retrieved October 11, 2007 from http://teamtechnology.co.uk/workingoutyourteamrole.com Blinn, Carla K. (1996) "Developing high performance teams." Online 20.n6 (Nov-Dec 1996): 56(1). General OneFile. Gale. University of Phoenix. 11 Oct. 2007 Rocine, V., & Irwin, D. (Oct 1994). Make team members responsible for team effectiveness. CMA - the Management Accounting Magazine, 68, n8. p.28(1). Retrieved October 11, 2007, from General OneFile via Gale: