Jacqueline Nock – Team Reflection This week I learned about strategies to help develop effective groups and teams as well as resolving conflict within organizations. This week I also learned about resolving conflicts. An interesting thing I learned about conflict is that it can be either functional or dysfunctional. I learned that conflicts can be resolved by using a mediator, an arbitrator, a conciliator, or a consultant. These are impartial third-party people who are trained to help others resolve their conflicts (Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011), p. 475). I felt comfortable with all the topics discussed this week and didn’t struggle to understand any of them. I work for the local utility company where we have teams to accomplish our projects. In very simple terms, when new gas or electric service is requested, I handle the initial paperwork for new service, another person does the pricing and billing and a technician goes go to the job site to install the meters. As a team, we all do our separate parts to get our customers the utility service they need.
Mari Lowry – Team Reflection I thought determining strategies to develop groups and teams were an easy rational way of creating an effective team. Developing groups are a different rational because they are not working towards a common goal but for self-interest only; whereas, a team finds a cohesive path to completing a goal (Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011), These strategies are very close in meaning and repetition from the contextual and composition component to the process component (Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011), This was difficult for me to understand at first and then it all came together for me. The strategies for resolving a conflict, which can be either functional or dysfunctional, within the organization will depend upon the employees chosen to achieve the goal. I also learned that conflict should not be left to “simmer” but must be taken care of immediately. In my position there was an employee that didn’t like anyone who had their own opinion, we all met with her separately and quashed the conflict which was dysfunctional.
Chelsea Ybarbo – Team Reflection This week I was most comfortable with the discussion on groups. I was comfortable with this because I am able to identify with groups more so than teams. In my everyday life, me and other parents go out for coffee some mornings after taking the kids to school, this would be an example of an informal group, (Robbins & Judge, 2011). Also in my work experience we mostly work in groups and not teams. I feel we should be working as a team since the goal is to provide support to our customers, but each individual is working towards a different goal.
Sonja L Shirley – Team Reflection In Week three, we discussed a lot about the difference between teams and groups, but in speaking of teams and groups, we also referred to the most important part of those teams. The part that makes a team a team to begin with: the individual. Without individuals coming together, a team can never be a whole. A team is a group of people who play for a same sport or play together in competitive organizations of individuals such as soccer teams where they all work together or like rifle teams where they shoot for individual scores but also combine scores. A team at work creates a positive synergy through efforts worked together to help one another meet certain goals within a company. The singular efforts of each member results in a quality of performance which is greater than the combined sum of the individual team members (Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011).