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.
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