Teamwork
Part 1
Here are some ways to build productive teams: * Clarify the common goals and purposes. Make the team’s purposes clear. Take the time to articulate the team’s performance goals and how the team contributes to the company’s success. * Clarify each person’s role in achieving the common purpose. Define each person’s job in terms of its contribution to the group’s and the company’s overall goals. * Pay attention to conflicts when they arise. It’s natural for conflict to arise when people work in groups. Conflict, handled well, can actually produce constructive ideas. Sometimes team members will annoy each other, step on each other’s toes, or hurt each other’s feelings. * Work out ways to resolve conflicts. Make sure each team member involved has a chance to explain the problem as he or she sees it. Establish clear ground rules so that people can have their say without being interrupted, rushed, mocked, or intimidated. * Make sure team members interact at meetings. Do team members mainly address their questions and suggestions to you, or do they interact directly with each other at meetings? Encourage team members to ask each other for help and to offer it to each other, without channeling it all through you. * Allow team members to have input into their jobs. When you can, give your team members flexibility on how they meet their work goals. * Appraise and reward the team as a whole. As with an individual performance review, compare the team’s performance to what was expected of it. Plan small celebrations of the team achieving important milestones.
Individual accountability is the measurement of whether or not each group member has achieved the groups’ goal. Assessing the quality and quantity of each member’s contributions and giving the results to all group members. That simple personal accountability definition focuses on the outcomes, which are at the END of process. In reality, "personal accountability" encompasses ALL phases of the process - the before, during, and after. Throughout the process, you must be WILLING to PERSONALLY take ownership for...Understanding and accepting the task, Taking actions to achieve agreed-upon results, answering the results obtained, regardless of the outcome. I was a team member for Wells Fargo and one day we had a team building event and my car was having problems. I spent a few minutes trying to troubleshoot the problem but could not figure out exactly what it was. Our team building event started in one hour and I was 30 minutes away from the site, I didn’t want to ruin the event by not attending. So I decided to call my father, who will always help in my time of need. I told him the problem I was having and I needed him to come get me and take me to work. He didn’t know if he could get me to work on time but he sure would try, is what he said. I also called my job to making sure that if I didn’t get a ride to work they knew the reason I had to stay behind. My father and I got there about 5 minutes behind time but my co-works decided to wait on me to make sure I didn’t get left behind. My co-workers cared enough about me attending the team building event and that made me feel really good about being a part of a team.
Part 2
As a group member, working on teams was sort of rewarding, but at times it was a little difficult and downright frustrating. A lot of people including myself understand their communication skills need improving; many aren't certain how to improve them. Some strengths and skills that I can think of are: Reliability, Communicates constructively, Listens actively, Functions as an active participant, Shares openly and willingly, Cooperates and pitches in to help, Exhibits flexibility, Shows commitment to the team, Works as a problem-solver and Treats others in a respectful and supportive manner. From the group of strengths and skills listed above the ones that I need to improve on are listening actively, sometimes I notice that am more focused on my inputs or parts of a project when am in groups. Communication, I notice that I tend to get quiet and not want to speak when my thoughts or ideas are not being listened to which leads to me not being much interested in what’s going on in the group.
My contract
1. Spend less time shopping, more time traveling.
Yes, those Jordan’s have a slightly different purple color than the ones you already have in your closet but I’d forget about those shoes in a season, and could have spent that money on a trip where I would have met new people and savored wonderful memories. Invested in an experiences, not a thing.
2. Start honoring my intuition.
You know that feeling of resistance and hesitation you've ignored all these years? Well, it's time to start listening. I've been through enough life situations and met enough people to give me intuition, the trust and respect it deserves. Next time my gut tells me something I won’t make excuses to justify it into silence and listen.
3. Remember that my parents are aging. And one day it will be too late to call, write and make time for them.
There is this innocence that comes along with youth, where you think that you're invincible, and nothing bad will ever happen to you or the people you love. But as you grow older, you start to realize this isn't the case. No matter what your relationship is with your parents, you will miss them when they are not with you. So am going to make the time now to show that I appreciate them. Learn their stories, ask them new questions and find out as much about their history as possible. "Don't wait until a crisis to discover what is important in your life."
5. Each week, do something to show appreciation for someone.
Write a card, send flowers "just because," or pick up the phone and call. Do something random to show someone I love, appreciate and care about them. Making someone feel special shouldn't be reserved for birthdays or holidays. Make proactive gestures of appreciation a part of your weekly routine.
Lastly, I won’t be so hard on myself. I do realize I will slip. There will be times where I'll be lazy and lack the discipline to follow the points of this contract. I won't self loathe when you do. Remember to be gentle with myself. Give myself permission to be soft, to not know all the answers, to be vulnerable, and most importantly, to be human.