This essay is a reflection of my personal experience whilst working in a team for the group presentation on managing a leisure centre; the main aim of this task was to reduce the annual expenditure in operating the organization and increase the use of the leisure Centre. This essay describes the complexity of interaction I experienced whilst working with my team members, the concept and the skills aspired by my team inspired me on analysing my work and my role as a team player, it enabled me to compel different ideas by subsequently building on my practical knowledge with working in a team. After working with my team I consider it obligatory to re-examine the decision I have made and how it will impact on my future chosen career path if pursued. The principle purpose of this reflective essay is to find out if I am suitable to work in a diverse team of different cultures and background, and if I possess good leadership and team work skills. I will also emphasise on my individual role as a team player.The History Of Conflict Management Essay

Before analysing my individual performance I will briefly describe the critical events and summarize the overall situation that happened in my team, being a member of my group was a challenging but interesting learning experience, In joining my team I realise that I naturally showed some leadership skills, I portrayed some relevant skills in coordinating and influencing the team on how the presentation should be done. My decision of taking charge of the task ahead was to achieve the goals and objectives of the team assignment; this role I naturally played describes behaviour such as driven to deliver, credibility and a skilled influencer. A skilled influencer try’s to engage rational persuasion and identifies the crucial way to communicate within a team (CIPD, 2009).in other words a leader should be able to influence its team members or employees positively in making the right decisions.The History Of Conflict Management Essay

one of the key issues I experienced within my group was the lack of communication, on the first day of the group meeting there was a misconception about how the group work should be done, my group consisted of three Nigerians including myself and a Chinese who struggled a little in communicating with the rest of the group, however this did not stop him, I noticed he used his hands and also body movements to try to get his point across but understanding him was difficult, According to Muchinsky(1977), It becomes a challenge if there is lack of convenient communication between team members. This was evident in my team because Adapting to the Chinese accent was a challenge; I got impatient because I wasn’t familiar to working at such very slow pace. Communication is very essential in any given organization It enhances interaction among different working levels, which is crucial in encouraging team work within an organisation (Muchinsky, 1977). Managers who are oriented to increasing the growth and prosperity of the business focus first on communication. Similarly; understanding how to communicate and work with people from different backgrounds and ethnicity is a crucial skill in today’s business environment (Lawson, 2009). My impatient towards the Chinese student’s accent discouraged him from working with me, In order for me to manage people of different ethnicity within an organization I have to learn to be patient and encouraging by listening attentively and speaking audibly, this would motivate team members or employees to contribute and deliver their best towards achieving the organization goals.The History Of Conflict Management Essay

Due to past experiences I rarely rely on others with the delivery of tasks; I believe I am the only one capable of delivering any authentic workload to my satisfaction. Within my team I immediately took on the specialist role and as a specialist I tend to focus narrowly on my subject of choice (Belbin, 2010).this was evident because I took upon most of the workload for the team exercise by doing the research and preparing the slides, this could be considered a strength because organizations expect mangers or team leaders to be responsible for their teams productivity. However, I have realised from working with my team members that if I must gain the collective trust of others, I must learn to assign responsibilities to them and trust their delivery. This can be established by the self-exploration approach of the psychoanalytic group theory. This states that what transpires on the inside of us determines to a considerable degree how we as humans perceive, experiences and communicate cognitively and emotionally with the world (Mullins, 2010). I perceived myself as a good team player and leader and didn’t acknowledge the fact that taking charge of the assignment could be in any way offensive to my team members but in a team with different personalities and ideas there are bound to be conflict.The History Of Conflict Management Essay

Secondly the other key issue I experienced within my team was conflict, when a team is formed, different personalities who have different views, power, experiences and opinion are put together, and all this are elements which can instigate conflict (Brooks, 2001). I am a timid extrovert and when surrounded with new people in a new environment, I have to familiarise myself with them before unveiling my true personality during the first group meeting I welcomed all of my team members ideas towards the assignment, but didn’t trust there delivery I went back home and did what I believed was the right answers to the questions. During the next meeting I pitched my answers to the rest of the team they thought it was a good idea but wanted to contribute towards the assignment, the extrovert in me unfolded immediately, because despite the team members having different opinions and viewpoint about the assignment none of them had started working on the task and there was very limited time left. A shaper is a member of a team who pushes the team to improve, by aggressively pursuing the objectives of the team (Belbin, 1993). I was best suited to this role because I flared at the whole team for not considering the effort I put into accomplishing the assignment. Experiencing this conflict made me realise how aggressive and temperamental I could be, my fear about my outspokenness was displayed during this conflict but after some deliberations and discussions the conflict was managed and the team came to a suitable agreement. During this process I learnt that to develop my self-awareness, I have to be open to new ideas and perspectives while working in a team.The History Of Conflict Management Essay

 

Conflict management may not always mean that conflict experienced in a team should be resolved, but it should ensure a way forward in ensuring the team retains productivity (Kenneth, 1992).The Tuckman model of team development also suggests that although conflict may be distressing for some members of the group, it is important for a team to experience conflict because it institutes an opportunity and advancement for the team to grow and function effectively (Tuckman, 1965). Experiencing the disagreement with my team members has driven me to develop, manage and improve on my conflict management skills because in the future I would be able to boost the positive outcomes of any conflict experienced within an organization and decrease the negative in order to achieve organization effectiveness. ACAS (2011) suggests that the ability for a person to work collaboratively within a team or group is an efficient skill. However the Tuckman theory suggests that for a team to achieve maximum productivity, it needs to tackle all four primary stages of development which is the forming, storming, norming and performing (Tuckman, 1965).in order words A team doesn’t necessarily have to work collaboratively to achieve results but can also undergo conflict and still be able to accomplish its goals. The History Of Conflict Management Essay. The breakdown of the Tuckman team development theory was apparent in my team, especially the storming and norming stage because after the disagreement we experienced which was the storming stage, we pushed our differences aside and worked together to achieve the team goals . The norming stage within a team is evident when the team starts trusting and respecting each other’s ideas (Tuckman& Jensen, 1977). After the conflict We moved unto the norming stage by accommodating each team member’s contributions towards the assignment and consequently moved to the performing stage by collaboratively achieving a good presentation each team member was able to present confidently, every disagreement experienced towards preparing the group assignment was not evident during the presentation.

In conclusion, the case study experience revealed to me that I can be a positive leader or team member within a team ,and that I possess some leadership skills such as being a skilled influencer, driven to deliver, Accepting responsibility and Personal competence, but I would still need to develop my creative, self-awareness and conflict management skills. To successfully achieve this, I would prevent retreating back to my traditional tendencies of being dominant, self-centred and temperamental. if I am given the opportunity in the future to lead or work in any team work presentation I will be open to all ideas by being more curious, collaborative and personally credible towards my team members.The History Of Conflict Management Essay

REFRENCES

ACAS (2011) ‘Teamwork: Success through people’. Available at http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/g/7/B14_1.pdf[Accessed 1 March, 2012].

Belbin, M. (2010). Management teams. 3rd ed. Oxford; Elsevier.

Belbin, M. (1993). Team roles at work. 2nd ed. Oxford: Butterworth; Heinemann

Brooks, Mark. (2001). How to resolve conflict in teams, People Management, Vol. 7 Issue 16, p23.

CIPD (2011) ‘The HR profession map’ Available at http://www.cipd.co.uk/cipd-hr-profession/hr-profession-map/behaviours/role-model.aspx[Accessed 23th February 2012].

Kenneth, G. (1992). Conflict and conflict management: Reflections and update. Journal of organisational behaviour, 13, pp. 265-274.

Lawson, K. (2009). Benefits of good communication the workplace. [ONLINE] Available at:http://suite101.com/article/benefits-of-good-communication-in-the-workplace-a240193. [Accessed 01 March 13].

Muchinsky, P.M. (1977). Organizational communication: Relationships to organizational climate and job satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, 20, 540-600

Mullins, L.J. (2010) Management and organisational behaviour. 9th ed. London: FT/Prentice hall

Tuckman, B. (1965), Developmental sequence in small groups. Reprinted in Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal Number. Psychological Bulletin, 63, pp. 384-399.

Tuckman, Bruce W., & Jensen, Mary Ann C. (1977). ‘Stages of small group development revisited’, Group and Organizational Studies, 2, 400- 417. The History Of Conflict Management Essay