Your Role in a Small Team

* * Your Role in a Past Small Team and Group Paper * * “Whether you are one of those people who likes group work or one who finds it frustrating and a waste of time, evidence suggests that groups are here to stay. Human beings collaborate. We are raised in groups, educated in groups, and entertained in groups; we worship in groups and work in groups. ” (Beebe, Beebe & Ivy, 2013) A team is any group of people organized to work together interdependently and cooperatively to accomplish a common purpose or a goal. Everyone will come into a situation in life where they are obligated to work in a team or group setting.

The team that I am going to reference is one that I am apart of daily. As a manager at my current job I am apart of a team of higher management. There are currently four members of our management team; our store manager, and three assistant managers. As management, are duties are to ensure that everything runs smoothly and associates complete tasks. In addition, it is our responsibility to set a good example to our team of associates so that we can lead by example. Us as a management team have different qualities then let’s say a team for school or a sport would be.

All of us started at different times and at different positions. Because we all come from different backgrounds and experiences we all look at our job a little differently but we still have one goal in common. In the beginning stages of our career we were eager to learn and take on task that we had never come in contact with before. Everything was a new experience and each day was a new lesson. Now as we have progressed in our position and the basic are down some of us have lost interest in our position and feel the need for advancement.

Recently, as a team we can’t seem to work together and agree on a common goal for the business. As I mentioned, we are all in different stages of our career so some of us seem to posses more ambition and passion then others. Seeing the frustration mount, I suggested that we hold a store meeting to address any issues and express our feelings to one another. After our meeting I feel like a lot of animosity and stress towards each other and our job were greatly reduced. We were able to talk about our strengths and weaknesses individually and as a team. My store manager and myself have been with the company the longest so we are usually the ones to take on the leadership role. By us being the leaders of our team we saw that there was an issue and we knew we needed to resolve it. By us taking the lead and organizing a meeting we were able to resolve the issues. Unfortunately, the other two managers lack leadership, which does affect the team as a whole. Our team was not effective, but now it is. We did not all have a common goal among us and roles were not taken seriously.

Now we are a team that works together and learned to compromise with one another. Everyone in our team is a understanding and loyal member so that made it easier to build and grown as a team. Communication is such a huge factor in a successful team. Without communication a team will fail and cannot advance. Thanks to our teams constant communication we were able to resolve our negatives and build our strengths. Since we are all different and diverse we had a lot of different opinions among us but that was a good thing.

Instead of always thinking “My opinion is right and everyone else is wrong” we were able to hear each others argument and see everyone’s point of view more clearly. Without a goal a team has no purpose. When a team or a group has a goal in common it gives them motivation and drive to work together and get what needs to be done, done. Everyone in a team should have a role. Weather it’s a leader of the team or just a member every aspect is imperative to a successful team. It’s good to assign one team member as a leader so there is someone to provide structure and make sure assignments or projects are done on time and correctly.

According to Beebe, Beebe & Ivy, 2013 “The role of leader, a person who influences others in the group, is a special kind of role, and more than one person can assume it. ” Ground rules should be put in place to ensure everyone is on the same page. Groups and teams are dynamic. A variety of factors influence the ever-changing nature of members’ interactions in groups and teams. References 1. Beebe, S. A. , Beebe, S. J. , & Ivy, D. K. (2013). Communication: Principles for a lifetime (5thed. ).