Reflective Essay on Team Building Skills

Reflective Essay on Team Building Skills Writing a reflection is comparable to that of using a Pensive, in the direction of reliving the already lived experience with the objective of learning from the past matters to enhance future performances. This reflection will closely practice (Gibbs,1988) Reflective Cycle. First stage will begin with a description of what happened, followed by feelings about that event or experience, further evaluating and analysing towards arriving at a conclusion along with making of an action plan for performing in a more efficient manner if a similar situation arises in the future. To begin with, in our course Managing Organization and People, Our Professor helped forming the teams by a structured process, he also encouraged to break the ice between the team members, by making us do a very exciting team building activity. Soon after, we were briefed about the case study on decision making; the job was to make a presentation on the given case. My team comprised of 5 members, and four members out of five were from the same country and common native language, I was the one who added country diversity to our team. Since other four members shared one common native language, with English as their second language, it appeared to me that they will be more comfortable communicating in their first language rather than English, which was our course language. In our first meeting we had dialog around the over-all plan, which we will follow to accomplish the goal of making our presentation. Division of the tasks was done, but there was no concrete discussion over how we as a team would check if individuals work is aligning with the overall schema or not. I was feeling confident to have a team with dedicated and friendly members, although few concerns were there, which arose after our first group meeting. The concerns were, communication, trust, fear of conflict, leadership. At the subsequent meeting the worries turned out to be true, instead of progressing we were in retrograde motion. The other four members preferred interacting in their first language rather than our course language not just this, but also everyone had a different point of view concerning the most essential question of the case study, we were asked to state organizations problem and opportunities clearly, but no one was ready to accept others view point, dissatisfaction was fumed and question was left unanswered. Other than Professors first team building activity, no other such activity was performed to better build the relationships and trust amongst the team members. In the absence of a strong connection between team members, we couldnt debate plentiful about how we will resolve this state of disagreement and if a leader was needed to facilitateand direct us in such circumstances. The bright side was that in terms of accountability, commitment, result oriented approach our team seemed standing strong. I felt quiet uncomfortable in this situation and tried taking the step of simplifying things by making everyone indulge in talks and making them to participate more. To ease the situation, we decided that everyone will stick to the chosen parts and at last we will add individual work to arrive at a better collective result. The situation was very challenging, but taking a call of not interfering in each others work till we complete, seemed the best possible way to avoid disagreements. However, the study by (Clark Clark, 2015) proved that team with better individual skills can be outperformed by team with more synergy, and in absence of synergy it was implied that our teams productivity was not going to be the optimum. It is often claimed that by engaging in team building à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦any group can transform itself into a high-performing team (Shandler Egan, 1996 as cited in Riener Wiederhold, 2016) and the study by (Riener Wiederhold, 2016) concluded that members who engage in team building tasks give better efforts than who dont.   Whereas our team never positioned team building activities in high importance ranking. We should have engaged in more team building to help us develop a good bonding. It was a major step missed by our team for turning out as a high performing team. Advancing to other key interconnected issues related to team structure were: Self-managed or leader driven, which best suited us. Avoiding arguments or shaping them to healthy discussions. Well defined by (Phillips, 2001) Whether a team is leader driven or self-directed; higher level of productivity and greater results are desired in a team, we as a team had the same goals of achieving higher level of productivity and our team was a self-directed team with no leader present, I think with the type of team mix we had, there was a leader required to reduce the differences between team members to help us in achieving higher productivity. Discussing more about a leader and importance of a leader in team, as stated by (Hamlin Jennings, 2007) Leaders influence both the mode of interaction and outcome of these interactions, therefore, in presence of a leader with right approach, our team interactions which were whirling as never-ending arguments, could have been shaped to fruitful debates, instead of it our arguments were gradually shaping to conflicts, again the big question; conflicts are helpful or obstructive for a teams productivity. There have been different views on this, The Study by (De Dreu Weingart, 2003) tells that conflicts adds tensions, increases gap and troubles between team members, therefore they should be treated as obstructions in any teams progress. Whereas, the study by (Amason, 1996, Cited by Brockmann, 1996)has a different view anddivides conflicts into two types. Type one is cognitive conflict, which aims at issues, ideas or process, it is constructive and useful for a team, whereas the second type is affective conflict which aims at people, emotions and values, it is harmful to a team and is destructive conflict. As a self-directed team, when we were not able to manage conflicts, a leader with positive influencing approach was required to route our teams destructive conflicts in direction of cognitive conflicts and we could have better responded to the case study question of stating organizations problem and opportunity. (Claus Langfred, 2007) suggested that Self-managing teams when cannot manage conflicts; tend to reform themselves in an inefficient structure, and with higher conflicts the trust level decreases. It was well reflected in our response to conflict, we decided to work on individual tasks without much interference and with greater autonomy we built a greater level of trust. Trust is a crucial factor for team performance (Erdem, 2003, cited by Aki   Mila, 2012) and with the developed trust we started performing slightly better. Cooperation followed by trust is what we gained next, which also resolved the perception of imbalanced diversity that I had in my mind. (Mitchell Boyle, 2015) concluded that Professional diversity could be good for innovation if team members have openness, Though initially, I was bit concerned that our team is not very diverse as all members except me were from the same culture and same language group, which was different from our course language, but later I realized that we all were very diverse in our professional experiences and fields; with openness to suggestions, creative thinking did prosper in our team and after divisions of task and developed trust, team members were very cooperative and communicated in English only. The five characteristics of a dysfunctional team stated in (Lencioni, 2010) are: lack of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, inattention to results, we were able to overcome four out of five characteristics by having a team with trust, commitment, result oriented approach and accountable members but we could never reach a stage of having a healthy conflict. We knew our presentation was not going to be the best, but it was time to feel motivated and deliver our finest with the available resources. Conclusion If given a chance to go back to the time, when teams were formed, definitely I will make the team indulge in more team building activities for achieving a greater bonding, which would have further helped us to sensibly handle and shape the conflicts into cognitive conflicts. Although, every member of the team worked with dedication and commitment, but we failed to understand the importance of synergy, thats how collective effort could have helped us to accomplish the given task with distinction. Our team achieved the required coordination, trust, communication, but we were too late to reap the benefit of these gears, so time management is one another important aspect we missed at. Action Plan This team project experience is one key asset that will help me in future to grip better the alike situations, and being a business student such teamwork situations will certainly come again in my professional career. Learnings which I have gained from this experience are that when working in a team conflicts are essential for success, but only if teams are mature enough to be self-managed or there is a right leader appointed who can shape conflicts in a positive direction to help teams achieving the synergy. which is the most desired element of team performances. Therefore, I will never shy away from such situation rather I will take first move to make team talk about it. References Aki, S., Mila, H. (2012). Building Trust in High-Performing Teams. Technology Innovation Management Review, Iss June 2012: Global Business Creation, Pp 38-41 (2012), (June 2012: Global Business Creation), 38. Brockmann, E. (1996). Removing the paradox of conflict from group decisions. Academy of Management Executive, 10(2), 61-62. doi:10.5465/AME.1996.9606161555. Clark, C., Clark, B. (2015). Is the Sum of the Parts Greater Than the Whole? Skill vs. Synergy. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 14(2), 23-35. De Dreu, C. W., Weingart, L. R. (2003). Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4), 741-749. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.88.4.741. Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford: Oxford Polytechnic Further Education Unit. Hamlin, A., Jennings, C. (2007). Leadership and conflict. Journal of Economic Behavior Organization, 64(1), 49-68. Langfred, C. W. (2007). The Downside of Self-Management: A Longitudinal Study of the Effects tf Conflict on Trust, Autonomy, and Task Interdependence in Self-Managing Teams. Academy of management journal, 50(4), 885-900.doi:10.5465/AMJ.2007.26279196 Lencioni, P. M. (2010). Overcoming the five dysfunctions of a team: A field guide for leaders, managers, and facilitators (Vol. 16). John Wiley Sons. Mitchell, R., Boyle, B. (2015). Professional diversity, identity salience and team innovation: The moderating role of openmindedness norms. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(6), 873-894. doi:10.1002/job.2009. Phillips, C. (2011). Managing team conflict. Center for Human Systems. Retrieved from http://www. chumans. com/human-systems-resouces/managing-teamconflcit. Htmlip. Riener, G., Wiederhold, S. (2016). Team building and hidden costs of control. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 1231-18.doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2015.12.008

The Onion Rhetorical

With the use of criticism, this press release is used to satirize how advertisement is degrading to Americans, and to mock the ordeal methods used by marketers to sell products to consumers as absurd. By using obvious fictional fads, and somewhat surprisingly effective persuasive writing skills, this article is humorous and completely irrelevant. However with the correct use of persuasive writing techniques, mixed with irrelevant, and unrealistic factual information the authors create a humorous satirical scene.The mocking starts right away in the first paragraph of the piece. The first sentence â€Å"stressed and sore-footed Americans everywhere† starts off the first part of hyperbole with the word â€Å"Everywhere† indicating that they are exaggerating how many American’s have sore feet for not EVERY American has a sore foot. It provides the reader a sense of exaggeration in the piece. In attempt to establish the need the authors use â€Å"Americans everywhere are clamoring for the exciting new MagnaSoles..† This provides the audience with the fact Americans are too caught up with having the new latest item.Next the author uses the diction choices â€Å"stimulate† and â€Å"soothe† to describe the action the magnaSoles will have on the wearer’s feet. This gives an irrelevant outcome for the words stimulate and soothe are not related at all and have different definitions. Towards the end of the paragraph the authors use unrealistic diction choices and sarcasm to make their claim. The word â€Å"Pseudoscience† is used to describe the type of â€Å"5 forms† of science used to make the MagnaSoles. The authors use the word â€Å"pseudoscience† for the word â€Å"Pseudo† means fake, allowing the reader to see that they are talking about fake science.They do this in hopes to have the readers think on the advertisements they watch and how much of the information on those advertisements are a ccurate and true. The authors used â€Å"which stimulate an soothe the wearers feet using no fewer than five forms of pseudoscience† as a form of paradox to help support the idea that they are creating for the audience.The purpose changes throughout the piece. The second paragraph changes purpose compared to paragraph one. In the next few sections/paragraphs the writers are mocking the archetypal use of â€Å"Expert† testimony to authority to  convince consumers of the inaccurately fictional product. The first Rhetorical device used is Testimony to authority, starting with the first sentence. They use â€Å"expert† quotes from the made up Dr. Bluni.The doctor tries to explain how different the insoles are by stating â€Å"what makes MagnaSoles different†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Then as he continues the author uses sarcasm by stating â€Å"harnesses the power of magnetism to property align the bio magnetic field around your foot.† The author uses these inaccurate and fictional â€Å"smart words† to show the audience the illogical information used on today’s advertisements is believed by such gullible consumers. As the second paragraph goes on the authors are in hopes to convince their audience to realize that they believe in whatever someone says as long as they are using bold words.In order to do this the writes use another diction choice â€Å"isometrically† which is a made up fiction word. As the piece progresses on the authors use sarcasm to convince the readers that consumers’ are believable to marketers as long as they are using â€Å"scientific-sounding literature†.The authors do so by adding â€Å"according to the scientific- sounding literature trumpeting the new insoles†. Another piece of sarcasm and paradox used in this paragraph to again show the guillableness of the consumers and stupidity of the advertisements in today’s era is â€Å"reflexology.. Establishes correspondence betw een every point on the human foot and another between of the body..†The diction â€Å"Reflexology† is another fictional word the author uses to show how gullible the audience is because it sounds scientific so â€Å"it must be true†. â€Å"Correspondence between every point on the human foot and another between of the body..† is incorrect information. Lastly in that sentence to prove the point the author is trying to get across he also adds â€Å"enabling your soles to heal your entire body as you walk† . With this entire paragraph put the way it is so sarcastically it allows the readers to see how foolish they are when they don’t see past the improper evidence the marketers give off.Moving into the fourth paragraph, which still contains the same purpose as the second paragraph, the authors use paradox to get the claim across to the audience. Such as â€Å" MagnaSoles utilize the healing power of crystals to restimulate dead foot cells with vibrational biofeedback..† The author uses this paradox to show the MagnaSoles â€Å"appearance of usefulness†. As the  satire continues the authors continue to use mocking fiction words such as â€Å"pseudoscience†, â€Å"terranometry†, and â€Å"pseudoscientists†.The authors add in sarcasm in lines 35-38 to help the audience visualize the â€Å"top† science that are issued for advertisements are most likely fakes. Such as â€Å"..developed specially for intergraded products by some of the nation’s top pseudoscientists† . starting line 39 another fictional word is added in to help the purpose of mocking the ordeal methods used by marketers to sell products to consumers, and the word is â€Å"Terranometry† which is the mockly said to be discovered by Dr. Frankel who â€Å"Discovered† Terranomtry.This sets up imagery for the audience to see how the Fake scientists â€Å"discovered† the research for the prod uct and â€Å"Developed the research† for the products in real life are just lying their way through the marketing agencies and the consumers.Lines 43-45 gives off more untruthful information that the writers purposely wrote to help the readers gain more of an understanding that the commercials and advertisements they see day to day have non trustworthy information on them in order to sell better because of the desire for greed. The authors write â€Å"if the frequency of one’s foot is out of alignment with the earth, the entire body will suffer† this helps the author’s claim that they are trying to make. Throughout this paragraph unrealistic diction choices such as â€Å"terranometry† and â€Å"kilofrankels† are used to let the reader see the marketer’s desire for money is so strong that they are willing to lie their way into consumers mind to get a sale.Moving into the final section of the piece the authors use Testimony of authorit y and sarcasm to help the reader see the stupidity of the consumers and to finalize the logic that the science to develop most inventions are false, the need is false, and the product is false. The authors add in a sarcastic quote â€Å"I twisted by ankle something awful†¦ but after wearing MagnaSoles for seven weeks, ive noticed a significant decrease in pain..†This allows the audience to indicate the logic of the consumers gets mentally disrupted by the customers thinking the â€Å"product† healed them when in all truth it was nature. It pushes the reader to understand that when they see a smart looking man advertising a product that they are hypnotized into thinking that the product is useful and effective when it could just as well be junk and fake.Another Rhetorical device the writers use is  Testimony to authority, and the authors use is a quote from a back-pain suffer saying â€Å" why should I pay thousands for therapy when I can pay 20$ for insoles cle arly endorsed by an Intelligent looking man in a white lab coat† This once again lets the readers see how consumers think so little as to what the product actually is and will buy anything as long as the man looks smart or is â€Å"an intelligent looking man in a white lab coat†.The authors try getting the audience to see that the appearance of the man on the advertisement doesn’t mean the product is correct. You can dress up the appearance of a teacher, but the info they say will still be the same. The authors are trying to be paradoxical to try to argue with the illogical audience to have them change views of their own logic, and to not be having faith in unbelievable foolishness.

Personal Ethic Statement Essay

VirtuePersonal Ethics Statement Personal ethics provides a foundation for an individuals’ moral scale. It reflects personal beliefs on values, morals, right, and wrong. Personal ethics is influenced by family, friends, community, religion, culture, and coworkers; and that can have a positive or negative impact. Personal ethics varies from person to person; some points may be similar whereas others will differ. Personal ethics drives actions, and to some point, emotions day by day. Depending, on the individual our personal ethics and where we stand will lead us on a path of failure or success. According to my Ethical Lens Inventory, my preferred ethical lens is Rights- Responsibility and Results Lens (Ethical Lens Inventory Games), meaning that I can think rationally and still be emotionally balanced while coming up with a solution for the greater good of the people. I value independence and individual rights while making sure everyone is treated fairly. I am optimistic and like to bring new ideas to the table that someone may not have seen before. My blind spot is â€Å"Belief that motives justify methods or your own good is good† (Ethical Lens Inventory Games). Sometimes I let people down who are depending on me. I can ignore other problems as long as mines are solved. My strengths are â€Å"Self Knowledge and Free will† (Ethical Lens Inventory Games) I believe in balancing responsibility and entrepreneurship. I believe everyone should be accountable and self-reliant because I am so I expect that from others. My weakness is once I have made up my mind about something that I can close the door on other interpretation. I also have to accept that I cannot do everything by myself and that if I do not take the time to reflect that I can fail and become exhausted. My values are Autonomy, Rationality, Sensibility, Temperance, and Prudence (Ethical Lens Inventory Games). As a result of my personal background and what I have learned, I have placed prominence on being independent but also accepting help from others. My course of action is taking and accepting responsibility for my own actions. I have high expectations and my actions will determine my level of success. I will take time out to reflect on who I am, who I want to become and how I am going to get there. I am going to do what is right and in my heart. I will not change who I am for others even if they dislike me. I will follow the golden rule and treat people how I want to be treated. I will be fair to others and avoid being biased. I will fulfill my duties for those counting on me, and be respectful and show dignity for myself and for others. I will never settle for less and try my hardest at everything that I do, and seek continued improvement. References Ethics Games. Ethical Lens Inventory Report. Retrieved from http://www. ethicsgames. com

Quantitative Research Data Collection - 1527 Words

Quantitative research involves the collection and converting of data in numerical form to enable statistical calculations be made and conclusions drawn. It provides a measure of how people think, feel or behave and uses the statistical analysis to determine the results. However, this measurement result in numbers, or data, being collected, which is then analyzed by using quantitative research methods (Byrne, 2007). In quantitative research, data collection involves the gathering of information. There are different types of data collection: personal interviewing, telephone, mail and internet. These methods can be separated or combined. However, this paper will restate the previous week research problem, purpose, and research questions.†¦show more content†¦Most organizational conflicts in Nigeria emerge due to the inability of the system to fulfill the collective agreement with the employees (Ekong, 2000). This leads to employees quitting from the job. Another source of confl ict exists between employees; arguments and competition for promotion, position and performance being the causes. Employees resigning from jobs in large numbers could lead to lower productivity and bad organizational reputation in most situations. Conflicts are a critical part of human relationships; many organizations have devised methods to resolve them in a manner that maintains cohesion, economic stability in order to minimize negative outcomes which are certain for employees unless the conflicts between them and management are successfully managed through resolutions. With this in mind, it is worth noting that employees and management of various organizations have stressed the need for fast decisions that will encourage or support good personal relationship among people. Conflict varies and come in different forms. In the organizational setting, it comes through job retention or desires to be met, employer/employee disagreements and settlement, confidentiality reports and infor mation sharing; all these leads to change in feeling and attitude. However, there are conflict management challenges facing many organizations in Nigeria. It is phenomenal, but can be controlled or managed. Notably, there seems to be growing importance of the