A631.2.5.RB - Cooperation and Competition

This past module’s team assignment brought on a few unexpected situations that tested certain aspects of our team’s functioning and communication ability. The start of the first module highlighted our team’s proactive nature and ability to communicate and take initiative; however, there was a slight communication error on my part.  I had originally been under the impression that the teams were to be assigned near the end of module 1 and functioning at the start of module 2.  A misunderstanding error on my part led to a great opportunity for our team to test our strengths and weaknesses in terms of communication and problem solving.  Due to my lack of participation in the group during the first week, the communication between the other members was successful; however, I did not know that I was missing information until the last day of the module.  I felt like I let the team down in the beginning stages of our first assignment, not realizing that the group was already established.  The behaviors that were most beneficial so far related to communication using different platforms.  One of the team members emailed me on Sunday, which is when I discovered that I was missing the discussion with the team on how we should begin the Team Charter assignment.  While I wish I had not misunderstood the directions, I was pleased that one of the members did contact me in a manner that would reach me outside of the team discussion board, since I did not realize that I needed to be looking at the group page before module 2.  Problem solving in this fashion will be crucial as we continue to work together as a group and have more intricate group assignments.

            Decision-making within the group has been pretty straightforward with the first assignment. My previous experience with virtual groups has been pretty similar in the past, so as of right now, my current team seams to be on track with effective communication and task assignments.  The time spent on decision-making has been adequate for the projects.  We have begun setting up functions like the calendar and utilizing organizational techniques to streamline the communication process easier.  If we get the main functions and goals of the team established first, such as our weekly participation and individual due dates, we can have a more clear and focused understanding of what is expected of each member.  One aspect about the virtual teams that I have noticed is that we generally all work effectively as self-managing teams.  We are able to assign leaders every week, as each person feels responsible for taking the lead and rotate those leaders for each assignment given each individual’s strengths and weaknesses.  I have also discovered that when other individuals are depending on you to complete the assignment, or are interdependent, it is important to maintain effective communication throughout the duration of all the modules. (Brown, 2011) In order to do this, we have decided in our Team Charter to elect to have due dates for our drafts each week to be submitted.  This process will be helpful for us in maintaining our current interdependent structure, while also being able to effectively brainstorm and share ideas and thoughts before submitting the final assignment.  This is also reassurance for whoever is the team leader that week that we all back the work that will be submitted. Establishing the function of the calendar and being more organized will also continue to make these communication efforts easier and more straightforward for our group.

            Overall, the team worked very effectively in encouraging each members and agreeing on different ideas. We have brainstormed together well, with one member making a suggestion and another member offer up a follow up that is built off of the original suggestion.  The methods we are using to communicate with each other have been effective thus far, and I really feel that by developing a good foundation for how we are going to achieve our team goals and assignments, will really help us continue to communicate and collaborate effectively.  The team members do not seem to be feeling in source of conflict or disagreements in a manner that would cause a communication breakdown, so I think as long as we continue to keep our foundation organized and functional, we can easily adjust and make changes as we see fit throughout the duration of this course. 

References

Brown, D. (2011). An Experiential approach to organizational development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Hall.

A631.1.5.RB - EcoSeagate

Team development and leadership training has become increasingly more important and relevant as technology advances and organizational processes change.  It is important that companies are aware of the shifting changes in society and the new methods for communication and idea sharing.  With this shift in the way organizations operate, comes a need for developing stronger and more meaningful team building strategies.  Seagate Technology, a computer hard drive manufacturer with more that 2,00 employees worldwide, has tried to combat the “negative responses to prior leadership in the company that instilled fear in everyone by utilizing the idea of team development by using outdoor experiential laboratory training.  Every year, Seagate spends $2 million dollars on this outdoor lab experience, called EcoSeagate, in the hopes of developing stronger, and more adaptable employees who can help strengthen and grow their teams around the world.  While Bill Watkins, current president of Seagate, stated that he has not been able to provide in real positive measurable results from this experience, he claims that the benefits are obvious. 

            The value in the EcoSeagate experience may not be measurable in the numbers, but it may benefit the team development process at Seagate, but there are also areas that may very well not be benefiting from the experience.  As Watkins stated when asked about the benefits of EcoSeagate, “if you do nothing, then nothing will happen, and nothing will change”, these activities have the potential to play a developmental role on the attendees of the event.  The experience, if planned accordingly, can “provide participants with insights into their leadership and interpersonal styles…allowing the participants to learn how to improve their teamwork back on the job.” (Brown, 2011)  In order for this experience to actually make an impact on not just the participants, but also their teams back in the work place, it is crucial that Seagate Technology has an establish plan and expectation for the participants. 

            Watkins stated “he dreamed up EcoSeagate as a way to break down barriers, boost confidence, and make staffers better team players.” (Max, 2006) The steps that EcoSeagate follows in order to achieve that goal that Watkins has set for everyone, a strong team development process must be established, understood, and followed.  (Brown, 2011) What I found to be successful about the EcoSeagate development process was that first, Watkins made sure that the playing level was on equal footing by establishing the training program in New Zealand, where the environment in unfamiliar to everyone in attendance.  Another successful area for EcoSeagate is bringing a diverse group of people together to represent different areas of the large company.  It is important to bring a diverse group of people together to help each person learn about one another from a new perspective, while also learning to appreciate the diversity and understand the different perspectives.  I also found the mini training opportunities within the program to be beneficial as well.  Brown noted that while the training programs can be very moving and motivational, if a plan is not in place for afterwards when everyone returns back to their work teams, then the motivation will wear off and the effectiveness of the program will be essentially erased. (Brown, 2011) By giving the participants opportunity to learn, share, and experience these lessons can set up a stronger foundation for interpreting these ideas when they get back to their work teams.   Watkins managed to do this by setting up smaller teams within the training program, where each member is from a diverse background and they all have different experiences.  They are then tasked with using teamwork and the lessons they have been learning to undergo different activities that touch on different learning exercises. 

            I believe that these training opportunities are necessary in a high-performing organization because it allows for a stronger understanding of each person within the organization.  These opportunities instill values of acceptance and appreciation for one another, which in turn, encourage diversity and new ideas to be shared and explored.  According to Brown, companies or teams with more diverse employees tend to have better, more effective results then teams with less diversity. (Brown, 2011)  With that said, these experiences are irrelevant if the organization does not have a proper plan in place.

            I feel like these types of activities are explored every year at different organizations I have been at, but I have noticed each time they are explored, a consensual feeling of negativity generally swarms these types of events.  I think this is the case because many employees see it as a tool that is forced upon them to participate in, generally outside of work.  If they are already unhappy in their jobs, odds are they are not going to come into the activity excited or enthusiastic about having to participate in a job related experience.  I believe that another issue that companies face is not conducting the proper team development process.  At my current organization, the idea of “team bonding” is generally focused around a group bowling activity, where the playing field is not equal, the proper research has not been conducted as to what is needed to be achieved from this experience, and the overall feeling of negativity and people wanting to back out surfaces.  For this to be an effective tool at my current organization, which I think it could be, a plan with a stated goal, as well as proper data on what needs to be accomplished needs to be established first.  By selecting bowling, it reads as a random event flung together by the senior level managers in the hopes of building and strengthening the teams. I would suggest that my organization evaluate what the current problems are within the organization, establish a goal to achieve, and develop a proper activity that speaks directly to the needs of the company.  I do think these activities can be beneficial to an organization, but the team development meetings are crucial to making sure that the selected activity reads and is understood by the participants. 

           

References

Brown, D. (2011). An Experiential approach to organizational development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Hall.

Max, S. (2006). Seagate's Morale-athon. Retrieved October 22, 2015.

A630.9.4.RB - Hiring and Recruiting

Schmidt’s description of the Google Culture does make sense to me, especially for the type of culture that Google encourages.  While I am not an engineer, I recognize that many different professions and the people working in those professions respond and work in various ways that require different management approaches and cultural needs.  At Google, the methods that Schmidt discusses as being successful tools for Google’s culture make sense because that culture functions in a way that is successful and beneficial for the employees (engineers) within that culture.  Google is a company that is focused on technology and people, so having a recruitment process and company culture that functions in a way that supports this goal is hugely beneficial in today’s global market.  It is important to match your culture with your goals and values, and to do that, hiring and recruiting becomes very important.  By providing a collaborative working environment, but also giving the employees the space they need to do their own interest benefits both Google, and their employees.  Because the culture needs to be in line with the values and goals of the company, each organization will require different tools for accomplishing that.  I don’t necessarily think this plan would work in every sector, but it’s important to note what is successful for some companies, and learn from their methods.

I think empowering employees is a new phenomena that is difficult for a lot of leaders to accept because the hierarchal approach to management just isn’t working for every company anymore.  With that said, I think Google is an organization that is paving the way for new types of organizational structures and cultures to be developed through the use of different management approaches, including employee empowerment and managing less.  There is always a level of uncertainty when a new idea or concept is applied, especially to an organization the size of Google – a lot can be effected, so I do think it takes a certain level of courage to implement these organizational changes when not many organizations are taking this path.  It’s what separates innovative companies from the slow moving companies. 

There is always a level of risk to implementing these changes, especially when there is not much to base it off of or study, so there is always a chance for it to backfire.  Google had to first establish the foundation of their company culture through hiring and recruiting and I have no doubt that they experienced problems and issues while in that process. Because they had issues, they were able to learn from them and improve, making the chances for long-term success higher. 

Overall, I think it is really important as a leader, to make sure that the foundation and root of your success lies in the culture of your company.  Recruiting and hiring is so different than it was a decade ago and the knowledge that people can bring to companies mixed with their ability to fit within the culture of the company is crucial in recognizing as a hiring manager.  I realized this for the first time when I was hired right out of college to a larger company.  I saw all of the conflicts and negativity that came with the company and realized they weren’t recruiting with the company culture in mind.  They were looking for talent, but with talent can come clashes of different opinions.  If the company hasn’t set up a strategy for dealing with these clashes, it can be difficult to be productive, which is exactly how my previous company was.  Seeing companies like Google and smaller start-up tech companies recognizing that employee happiness and engagement can be handled and encouraged through focusing on the culture of the company is one of the most important strategies that a management and leadership team can benefit from when developing a strong core.