Team Dynamics

The effectiveness of the team is observed to play a significant role in the success of achieving a common goal. The team work in the modern generation is a notable aspect and the complexity level of the tasks is seen to be less in effective team setting (Salas et al., 2015). However, the effective team work in the modern generation is significantly affected by various factors like the cultural differences, the improper interpretation of the cases and the difference in the understanding of the situations among the member of the organization (Morse, 2014). A team which is having individuals from different country, rituals, backgrounds and cultures, is seen to have noble differences in the various aspects of the value dimensions and at the same time, the differences among the members of the team in the aspects like the social belief, values and ethics becomes visible as well (Levitt, 2015). The paper is focused in the elaboration of the issues that we faced as a team during the preparation of the PowerPoint presentation of the recommendations on the given case study. Along with this, the paper also produces in depth analysis of the activities that went well for us as a team. In addition to this, the paper provides notable insights regarding the group dynamics of our team.

We had seven members in our team belonging to different countries like China, Somalia and India. As the team included individuals of different backgrounds and cultures, the dynamics and the cohesion in the team were observed to be bit affected (Levitt, 2015). The team was able to experience some differences in the various aspects of the value dimensions of the members. Majorly the team experienced notable differences in the approach of the team members. It was visible that my team mate from India was significantly collectivist in the preparation for the presentation. However, I was more of individualistic person. The other members of the team belonging to China, were following even more of a collectivist approach in the preparation of the presentation (Hagger, Rentzelas & Koch, 2014).  Hence the difference in the approach of seven of us was notably visible. Apart from this, the preparation of the presentation was a major part of our course work and that is the reason responsible for the production of the utmost focus from our part. In the aspect of providing utmost quality in our work and becoming the top performers in the course work, the intensity of all the members were pretty high (Si et al., 2015).

Positives

In the previous assignment of our course work, we had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation after evaluating a given case study and through the presentation, we were asked to provide appropriate recommendations for the case. During the conduction of the task, we faced a number of obstacles and situations that did not go well for us. The first barrier that the team faced, is the incapability of three Chinese members in preparing a professional presentation. The Chinese members were observed to lack the sufficient skills and the competencies for the production of a good looking presentation. This was significant in the generation of the dissatisfaction and stress among those members as the incapability of them in operating efficiently was posing notable threats. The successful completion of the course work was of great significance for the future of us and that was the main reason of the generation of the concern of the mentioned Chinese students (Thompson et al., 2015). My Indian teammate took the initiative to lead the team and the first activity of my teammate was to provide the much needed motivation to those Chinese members by providing effective sessions for the improvement of their skills to make sure that they do not face tremendous stress issues.

Along with this, the members of the team faced notable amount of difficulty in the achievement of the effective supporting knowledge to evaluate the case. The proper understanding of the case was much needed for us in providing appropriate and efficient solution in the form of the recommendations. After effective consultation with the all the team members, the leader of our group was seen to focus on the planning and organizing the techniques for the efficient finding of the supporting study materials for the proper evaluation of the case.

The list of the things that did not go well for us was pretty lengthy. As our team was formed with the participation of the members belonging to different countries, the communication was observed to be a significant issue. The different languages of the members of the team were notably decreasing the effectiveness (Mira et al., 2014). The efficient flow of the communication was seen to be interrupted as the existence of the communication gap among the members of the team was evident. The communication gap was able to affect the effectiveness of the sessions of our leader as the Chinese members who faced the challenges of preparing the presentation, were unable to achieve the knowledge effectively. We faced the same issue during the identification of the supporting materials for the assessment of the case as well and that was also a major reason behind the excessive consumption of the time.

Negatives

The preparation of the presentation in the course work was one of the first major group assignment for us. Hence we had to face notable amount of preliminary issues during the preparation of the presentation. One of the major issues for us was the excessive consumption of time from our part in managing the various parts in the formation of the presentation (Murzi, 2014). As the course work was time bound, the excessive consumption of the time was a great concern for the team. The search of the supporting materials for the effective understanding of the case given to us, was consuming considerable amount of time as the entire process was pretty new to us.

Apart from this, the members of our team were subjected to the notable amount of cultural differences. From the formation of team, it is pretty evident that the team included the participation of the members of three different nations which are significantly different from each other in terms of the social belief, values, ethics and the frameworks of thinking. This reflected from the behaviours of the members. The integration of the members were observed to be notably difficult due to such variations in the above mentioned aspects of the culture. However, the team leader of our team was seen to try in significant manner to make sure that the impact of the cultural differences does not become a major issue for our operation. The Indian team member was observed to propose for the relevant member engagement sessions for us. However, that did not take place due to the absence of scope for such sessions. This increased our sufferings.

During the preparation of the presentation, one incident took place where one of the Chinese members was observed to perform in a significantly ineffective manner. The member was a mere spectator for a large part of the preparation activities which increased the level of frustration of others. Along with this, the inactivity was significantly influential in increasing the consumption of the time for the preparation of the presentation (Lavy, Bareli & Ein-Dor, 2015). As the deadline of the assignment was approaching, this was significant in making the other members of the team feel puzzled. This was creating such a state where the other members of the team including me, were trying to complete our analysis of the case and the task of producing relevant recommendations, in a hurry and that had the possibility of resulting in wrong assessment of the case. Hence the ineffectiveness of the mentioned member was not something that went well for us.

As mentioned earlier, we faced some notable amount of issues in managing the achievement of the supporting material for the proper understanding of the case. However, the preliminary issues were managed efficiently and we were able to achieve a proper understanding of the case. But after analysing the case, we faced the issues regarding the achievement of the theoretical base for the support of our recommendations. We were able to outline some of the recommendations which we considered to be effective and relevant, however, we lacked the theoretical base to justify them in front of someone who was not a part of our group. This was something that did not go well for us and was expected as well as this was our first group assignment with this team.

Conclusion:

On a concluding note, we faced some wide range of issues during the preparation of the presentation. Majority of the issues that we faced during the time, were because of our newness to the task. However, we were able to overcome some of them and at the same time, a small number of obstacles were not countered. These barriers which were not countered, were a lesson for us for the future and we hope to figure out better techniques for dealing with such problem in future.

References:

Hagger, M. S., Rentzelas, P., & Koch, S. (2014). Evaluating group member behaviour under individualist and collectivist norms: A cross-cultural comparison. Small Group Research, 45(2), 217-228.

Lavy, S., Bareli, Y., & Ein-Dor, T. (2015). The effects of attachment heterogeneity and team cohesion on team functioning. Small Group Research, 46(1), 27-49.

Levitt, S. R. (2015). Cultural Factors Affecting International Teamwork Dynamics. International Journal Of Knowledge, Culture & Change In Organizations: Annual Review, 13.

Levitt, S. R. (2015). Cultural Factors Affecting International Teamwork Dynamics. International Journal Of Knowledge, Culture & Change In Organizations: Annual Review, 13.

Mira, J. J., Guilabert, M., Pérez?Jover, V., & Lorenzo, S. (2014). Barriers for an effective communication around clinical decision making: an analysis of the gaps between doctors’ and patients’ point of view. Health Expectations, 17(6), 826-839.

Morse, K. O. (2014, March). International management virtual teamwork: A simulation. In Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning: Proceedings of the Annual ABSEL conference (Vol. 29).

Murzi, M. H. G. (2014). Team-based learning theory applied to engineering education: A systematic review of literature. In 121st ASEE Annual Conference&Exposition June (pp. 15-18).

Salas, E., Shuffler, M. L., Thayer, A. L., Bedwell, W. L., & Lazzara, E. H. (2015). Understanding and improving teamwork in organizations: A scientifically based practical guide. Human Resource Management, 54(4), 599-622.

Si, G., Duan, Y., Li, H. Y., Zhang, C. Q., & Su, N. (2015). The influence of the Chinese sport system and Chinese cultural characteristics on Olympic sport psychology services. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 17, 56-67.

Thompson, B. M., Haidet, P., Borges, N. J., Carchedi, L. R., Roman, B. J., Townsend, M. H., … & Levine, R. E. (2015). Team cohesiveness, team size and team performance in team?based learning teams. Medical education, 49(4), 379-385.