Question

Course: Organizational Communications

1. Consider an effective team you have observed or participated in. Identify the characteristics that contributed to this team’s productivity. Provide an example of how the team enacted each of these characteristics. Then use concepts from this chapter to suggest at least one way the team could have improved.

Answer 1

I have previously worked with a team which was dedicated to achieving assigned goals and objectives. We were given the task of organizing a corporate dinner for the officials of a Multi National Company. We were successful in completing the task assigned and even got positive reviews from the company officials that we did an exceptional job in arranging the dinner, and that they were very happy with our performance.

The characteristics that contributed to the team's productivity are:

1. Good leadership. We were headed by a leader who was empathetic, but also strict enough so we don't get too comfortable. He played a huge role in delegating responsibilities and took care of us like a father. He was very nurturing.
2. Clear roles and objectives. Everybody in our team was assigned exact roles and tasks. Everybody knew what their contribution to be made was.
3. On-time. We were always on time. Time can be a huge constraint. We knew the importance of time, and so none of us was ever late to meetings. If a task had to be done by a particular time, we saw that it was completed by the given time.
4. Effective communication. The channel of communication among us was always flowing freely. We had no hassle in communicating with each other. We always kept our teammates posted about the progression of the task.
5. Team building. Right from the day we were formed as a team to the day we accomplished and finished the task, we had a good rapport going amongst us. We became good friends and so the task didn't seem like a task at all.
6. Positive atmosphere. Because we all got along very well, there was no room for competition or toxic negativity. This contributed a lot in keeping us motivated all the time thereby increasing our productivity.

One way the team could have improved:

• Though all of us got along well, we let equal sharing of duties slip. We all became such good friends that we prioritised having fun over the completion of the task. We got dependent on each other to finish up the allotted objectives. We had to struggle with this in the end because we had gotten too complacent and lost horizon of balanced participation.