Team Research Paper

 Set limits on what members can do  Teams perform better.  Understand individual strengths and weaknesses  Optimistic role on diversity  Smaller teams are more effective  Effective with just enough people to complete task  Gives an option  Allows to have high and low performing teams  All members must share workload  Delegate responsibility  Allows teamwork

In the article of Polzer (2003), it was stated that choosing the appropriate team members could be the trickiest part of designing a team yet it is also of great importance. For a team to work, the right mix of individual should be selected. There should be a right mix of technical and interpersonal skills between team member together with the right level of diversity, and everyone’s roles are clearly differentiated (Polzer, 2003). Team size, individual skills, diversity, defining formal roles, and formal leadership should be taken into consideration during the selection process. Team size is the “most fundamental starting point for choosing team members” (Polzer, 2003, p.7). It is not always the more, the better in this case. The leader during selection should consider the task they need to accomplish, the skills of the members, and the deadline of a task. As an example, it will be easier to relay information to five people than twelve people as it could take twice the effort in doing it. However, as mentioned earlier, it always depends on the project, task, goal, time, and the people involved.

A team is a group individuals with various skills and assets working together towards a common goal. The goals of the teams come in various aspects and forms that require the skills of all team members. Team building is the process of enabling ones team or group in order to reach their goals. Reaching the goal will consist of the Team’s leader involvement in the few stages of team building. Within the team building stages are sets such as clarifying the goals to the team letting them know what the main priority is. The second stage is the Identification of all of the problems that can push back the team delaying them from reaching the goals. Addressing the problems and enabling the goals to be completed. Bringing the team together is essential when building a team this includes getting along with the team and understanding one another as well as knowing their strengths and weaknesses using certain activities.

In our house winter is basketball season and, while I'm not a rabid fan, I do watch my fair share of games. The thing I like about basketball is that it is such a clear picture of teamwork. Only five players on the court, each responsible for both offense and defense, each with an assignment, but all that really matters is getting the shot. In the end, it's about making more shots than the other team.

A team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members. Members of a team seek out certain roles and they perform most effectively in the ones that are most natural to them.

Every day in our life we come across challenges. It becomes imperative that we find solutions to them. Some problems we need to face alone and some we need to encounter as a team. I worked in several teams all my professional life and I believe that any task can be easily completed when there is coordination between the members of the team. In this reflection paper I would like to present my views on the importance of defining roles, advantages of being with the same team, challenges in a diversified group and the significance of trusting team members.

Teamwork and cooperation have been part of my life from a very young age. I have played sports and been involved in clubs and community organizations throughout the last 30 years of my life. I learned early on that my success is not only defined by my personal accomplishments, but by how I am able to help those around me and my teams accomplish their goals as well.

Clear responsibilities and roles, the structure of the team, job descriptions, competencies, accountabilities, resources, tools and equipment should all be provided. Problem solving, communicating, managing conflicts, tasks, planning meetings, performance evaluation, managing change and decision making should follow clear procedures ensuring effective team working. Positive relationships, mutual respect and trust, continuing support and inclusion, valuing diversity and listening to feedback can overcome challenges to effective team performance. A strong credible leader with clear expectations can also overcome challenges to an effective team.

The Financial Post (2015) stated teamwork is key to success; this is true in the context of building careers as at some point you will have to work in a team, which is sometimes challenging. Steve Jobs also believed in the importance of teamwork “Great things in business are never done by one person they’re done by a team of people.” (BusinessNewsDaily, 2013). There are many different aspects of teamwork for example; skills, team conflict and group size. This essay reflects on my personal experiences of working in a team. First I will talk about the literature of Belbin, describing key elements about teamwork. Then I will assess how accurately the literature reflects my experiences of teamwork. Lastly, I will look at what I have learned from the experience, by putting the literature and my experiences into context. I have various experiences in team projects, which I will be relating to the project that I recently took part in regarding leadership.

Teamwork cannot be demanded. Everyone involved must discuss and understand what the goal is and what is required of them. Teams should have traits such as goals and objectives, empowerment, trust, authentic participation, innovation, creativity, risk taking and leadership. (Temme and Katzel, 1995)

In order to deliver a positive team performance, the leader has to balance the each of the three elements. In general, an effective leader normally will keep all three elements in balance and attends to all three at the same time. However, it is not easy for a leader to keep all three in balance. Sometimes, the leader has to break the balance due to different objective conditions such as time limitation, characteristics of the task, unexpected problems and etc. The following parts will analyse the two example tasks separately, which had positive outcome and negative outcome. So the differences can be easily identified to explain why it is important to maintain the balance.

Introduction To Teams. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2009, from University of Phoenix Web site: http://www.apollolibrary.com/LTT/download/IntroductiontoTeams.pdf

A team shares workload, responsibilities and help each other while working together. All members are given work according to their capabilities and field of interest. The output thus results in faster and efficient results.

A variety of definitions can be found in literature on the subject of teams. Teamwork has been defined by Hageman, (1995) as a way to produce permanent and constant clarifications to the crisis, collectively with people who decide together in joint decision-making. People are motivated through innovative and participatory methods in teamwork. If team members cannot be motivated sufficiently in line with the targets of growth and development, the members of the team cannot exist in an efficient and productive working environment. One of the key motivational factors is a person's sense of belonging to a group and a goal.

In order to build a productive and effective team for my business, I would select people from different backgrounds, skills, and talents. A diverse group will be ideal because they will excel in different areas and solve problems effectively. Each member of my team should have different traits: communicator, strategist, critical thinker, administrator, task oriented, and an innovator (https://statushero.com/blog/7-types-of-people-you-need-on-your-team/).