Individual Assignment: Small Team and Group Paper

A group of 10 professionals employed to maintain operations in one residential apartment building comprised of 700 rental apartments and five retail stores, the property is 900,000 square feet in size. Each employee has specific duties associated with his or her respected positions all are to work together as one family with the successful operation of property in mind. The respected roles are Landlord, Property Manager, Chief Technology Officer, Leasing Coordinator, Leasing Representative, Administrative Assistant, Assistant Property Manager, and Apartment Director. Most significant change in behavior by the entire group can be seen after a new property manager was hired. First the entire group was motivated by the in property managers verbally obnoxious behavior. As time went on the personality and antics of property manager did not subside the obnoxious behavior turned into verbal abuse causing a gap in communication of all group members. First, other group members said nothing but as the antics and abuse persisted it was clear that the property manager’s behavior was affecting other group members personally causing tension in the entire group. Problem came to a head when an e-mail chain started by property manager and went back and forth targeting a specific group member - the comments made by property manager were unprofessional and demeaning, it was seen by the landlord. The follow workday landlord called a meeting of all group members and notified everybody that as of this moment all matters relating to leasing are to be done through landlords office and not property managers’ office. The group encountered a problem within the leasing representative sub-group; one member was an aggressor, “Deflates or disconfirms the status of other group members or tires to take credit for the works of others” (Bebbe, Beebe, & Ivy, 2009, p. 15). The problem was addressed in e-mail format and sent to landlord for review after which point a meeting was decided; the aggressor and member who the sent email were asked to be present along with landlord and property manager. The solution provided to both group members was to treat one another like professionals and work together instead of against each other. Influence of leadership to solve the problem was helpful at best; leadership was preoccupied, less than happy to have this type of meeting. Harmonizers’ position was felt briefly so was orienters’ position. Both team members were not given their moment to say what was bothering them; this was a major discussion to have because without knowing why both members were developing issues the landlord could not solve problem only temporarily bandage it. Better results may have been found if landlord asked the correct questions and directed them specifically to each group member’s this result may have allowed the landlord to coordinate better results for members so their professional relationships would be to work together rather than against one another. The landlord started the meeting off incorrectly by saying what our meeting is about today is stupid and should not be happening. Opening comment created a barrier on landlords part because it was clear there was no feeling or interest in hearing why one member thinks they are upset about treatment and behavior of other member. Meeting should have started by a humble statement calming tension in the air this would have shown genuine interest on landlords’ part and allowed clear open emotions to come from both group members. The entire group was effective because at the top of the company was a gatekeeper. This person always asked for one’s opinion just when that member thought he or she were a shadow on the wall. A special person recognizes when there is a problem or when a group member simply has internal issues the norm within the current group is to let verbal abuse continue keep the head down and do what you were hired to do. This type of behavior is unacceptable by the property manager, if verbal abuse is a norm then landlord must be turning a blind eye and it is only a matter of time until someone stands up for him or herself and say to property manager STOP, the way I’m being spoken to me is unacceptable either speak professionally to all of us or we are going to file a complaint. The problem is ongoing therefore a definitive answer about solving the problem is premature. Technology and diversity gave the group its ability to band together and realize that each member was not a specific target rather, entire group was experiencing targeted abuse. It can been seen on email correspondence and face-to-face communication with property manager. Email correspondence played a small role in identifying the verbal abuse because nobody knew if that member would go ahead and forward the email to property manager who would have resulted in massive verbal abuse and possibly harassment. Face-to-face communication played a larger role in identifying and communicating among group members regarding what was being said that day and how group members thought about being verbally abused day in and day out. The resolution was taking away some seniority but nothing had been said regarding verbal abuse believed by all group members. When a baby is born up until the age of five they, are like sponges - babies absorb everything around them from what you say to the color of your automobile. Same thing happens when a new group member begins his or her first day of work he or she are absorbing ground rules, norms, roles and how goals are accomplished within the group. The group members were less eager to stand up and tell property manager to act professionally and communicate in a tone of voice not demeaning and offensive to receivers. The group solved a portion of the problem by bringing it to the attention of landlord - overall communication problem with property manager still exists because none of the group members directly have communicated his or her feelings and emotions to the landlord. Nature takes its natural course creating norms; sometimes it takes a little longer for the common good to come through, overtime until nature works itself out the group members need to band together and say to each other it is not correct to be spoken down too or verbally abused only then will the groups true feelings be seen.

References: 1. Bebbe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., and Ivy, D. K. (2009). Communication Principles for a Lifetime Volume 3: Communicating in Groups and Teams. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.