MBA+521-+Team+Performance+Memo


 * Strengths **

There are several strengths that we have as a team. Something we definitely excel at is how respectful we are of one another. This can be seen during our meetings (in person or over the phone), especially when others share their ideas. While working on team assignments, we do not have the option of taking what everyone says and including it in our memos. In addition, not everything that each person says is totally relevant to the memo. Even so, we listen to what everyone’s opinion is on each task and never degrade anyone for suggesting something that may not be useful in the final draft of an assignment. Respect is an important quality to have when working with a group, especially for an extended period of time.

Our group also started off strong by choosing a widespread range of meeting times. We meet in person before class on Tuesdays (and often after for a few minutes), and we also hold phone conferences on Thursdays and Sundays. While once in a while someone does miss a meeting, we have stayed relatively consistent. In addition, these meetings add up to more than the required meeting time set by our professors. This makes us a stronger team because it shows our dedication, willingness, and commitment to the team’s performance.

The diversity of leadership styles, strengths, backgrounds and experiences are all principle building blocks of who we are as individuals and who we can become as a team. This collage of talent that is brought to the team provides the opportunity and skills to look at issues from multiple perspectives. This ability allows us to challenge each other and shape our discussions and conclusions in a well thought out manner. We force each other to step out of our comfort zones, engage in discussions and develop conclusions that are joint conclusions.

In addition, our group is very good at data analysis. This is especially true when working on our case assignments. As a team, we can look at a case and pick out the major problems. When approaching the assignment, we utilize individual skills of our team members to complete it. For example, we have a few group members who understand the financials of a company and can explain them. On the other hand, a couple of the members are very skilled at editing and rewriting.

Another important strength that we have is that we work well at the last minute. We are able to pull a quality paper together, even though we often have little time to do so. While doing something last minute can be frustrating, often projects in the work place must also be completed under stressful conditions and a strict timeline. Having this skill is essential to our success both as a student and as a professional.

When discussing our strengths and weaknesses initially, we thought that we did not exhibit many team characteristics. After reviewing The Discipline of Teams by Jon R. Katzenbach & Douglas K. Smith, we learned that this may not be the case. When looking at the table describing the characteristics of a team as opposed to a group (see Exhibit A), we decided that we can apply the team ones to Seal Team Six. More specifically, of the seven qualities listed, three of them Seal Team Six is definitely exhibiting. These are: shared leadership roles, collective work products, and individual and mutual accountability. In terms of the other four qualities: specific team purpose that the team delivers, encourages open-ended discussion and active problem-solving meetings, measures performance directly by assessing work products, and discusses, decides, and does real work together, the team is on the right path to achieve them. Generally speaking, none of the group characteristics applied to us.

Finally, the team has worked very well in sharing on an academic level. Weekly homework case questions are answered by team members in a shared documents through Google Docs. We also have a Wiki devoted entirely to communicate and collaboration on projects. In many ways, we are exemplary in the way we have shared information, ideas and knowledge.

** Achievements **

These strengths have led to many achievements for Seal Team Six as a team. We have shown a lot of resilience and ability for individuals to step up to the plate and volunteer when necessary. We also have never failed to accomplish the goals set before us by our professors so far. Despite varying perspectives and individual personality differences, we are a team that can pull together and make things happen.

Seal Team Six has established a strong start with the program. Assignments for both 520 and 521 have been comprehensive and detailed to reflect a thorough thought process and high quality of effort on behalf of all team members.For the first group memo, the team scored one of the higher grades in the class. This showed that our final output is of high quality. We have also pulled together a very thorough team charter.

We have also come to realize and accept that we are all different, which is an important achievement. This will offer challenges to us, but it also offers opportunities. The realization of our differences and acceptance of it puts us in a unique position to use that to our advantage. We have the ability to challenge each other, assist one another and provide an internal organization that will never allow us to fall into the “groupthink” trap.

** Challenges and Weaknesses **

Consequently, we have come across challenges and weaknesses during our first few weeks of this MBA program. For example, while, as was mentioned before, we have picked a range of days to meet, our meetings are not always productive. Usually, a good portion of the beginning of the meeting is spent figuring out how to approach the conversation. This is a weakness of ours because, as a team, we could get a lot more done if we figured out a better way to be productive.

Generally speaking, we also struggle when it comes to open communication. While in the recent weeks this has improved, overall we have had some trouble. This can be witnessed during our phone conferences. When someone suggests something that another person does not like, instead of discussing it and coming to an agreement, the person who does not agree tends to shut down. On the other hand, when the group is at a disagreement and we are generally split in half, we almost never make a choice during the call. Instead, we decide to revisit it at a later time. This shows a certain weak aspect to our confrontation and communication skills as a team.

In addition, we fail to stay on track and there is little order to the way the team meetings are run. Thus, we are not as efficient as we need to be. We have written a charter. It needs to be followed in terms of timeliness, attendance, and assignment and function of roles. We have roles, but have not instituted them for each of the projects as of yet.

While most of us had boot camp weekend to get to know each other we did have one group member who was added after that weekend. We all need time to fully bond with him and form a good relationship with him. Face to face meetings will really help with the bonding. Time, patience and effort placed into bonding with all team members including our newest member will improve the way in which we work together. A team that allows time to mold into one working team instead of a group will be a powerful one.

** Improving Our Team ** To combat these weaknesses, it is important for us to develop our organizational skills. We always have the best intentions, but democracy takes over, causing discussions to go off track and waste time. A more formal structure is needed with the team, but that can only happen if all of the team comes to grips with the issue.

== Honest, open and direct communication is an essential element to the equation for any team defining and maintaining its success. As we have seen in multiple case studies, such as in the "Eric Peterson" and with "The Team That Wasn't" cases, that without open lines of clear and concise communication, neither group can achieve their potential; and groups, such as the "Mt Everest Team" with their practice of failing to openly talk and express their ideas and concerns, limited their ability to see the "real picture", putting themselves, and their team as a whole, at great risk. It is about appreciating the fact that having the nessecary tools and skills of communication, will only aid a group of individuals to transform itself to be a team; for without it, the group is almost guaranteed to fail. Our team understands this and does not want to fall guilty of following the paths set by the aforementioned cases. We have learned, both the good and bad, of having or not having direct, open and honest communication. We appreciate that we are only in the early stages of building relationships with one another and we acknowledge that that we do not yet have nor have we earned that level of trust, respect and comfort that we seek with one another; for we understand, that like in any relationship, this is not something, if genuine, that occurs over night. A true and valued relationship, based on trust, respect and admiration, is something that takes time. This is a process that will compromise of many interactions and events that through time, will create, develop and strengthen the bonds that we share and have as a team. It is through these bonds and experiences that we we will develop the ability to truly engage our communication practices, transforming our ways we approach each other, developing our methods of interaction, both inside and outside the team, and producing a culture that we hope to only build off of for both the rest of our tenures here as part of our team Seal Team Six and as members of our future teams in our future endeavors. ==

== // We see many examples of failed communication, Erik Peterson, RO Argyris and Schon's model II concept "communicate openlypublicly test assumptions and beliefs, Four Interpretations of Organizational Processes, Communication concerns "tranmititng facts snd information (Structural), exchange information, needs, and feeling" (Human Resource), influence or manipulate others (Political) and to tell stories (symbolic) // ==

The team can avoid falling into a group by further improving on the last 4 skills of a team that was previously mentioned. The first team skill “specific team purpose that the team delivers” requires each member to work on their dedication to the MBA program and to Seal Team Six. We all have agreed on how we want to handle assignments and who will lead each one. This is a huge step towards our purpose of achieving our MBA. The second team characteristic that needs to be worked on: “encourage open-ended discussion and active problem-solving meetings”. The team had a couple of meetings that were tough. We followed these meetings up with our face to face Tuesday meeting. We all spoke open and honestly. A direct result of this meeting was the last two phone conversations were very productive. As long as we continue down this path this team characteristic can be considered as met. The third characteristic that needed to be worked on was “measures performance directly by assessing work products”. We had not seen grades for our first two group papers until the last two days. We were not sure if the team was putting on solid papers. The grades on both were excellent. That boosted our confidence. The next group memo due for MBA520 is very impressive. We can consider this characteristic as also being achieved. The last characteristic of “discusses, decides and does real work together” has also been met. A few days ago we couldn’t have said that we could meet these four characteristics but we have proven that we can. The last couple of sessions have been very rewarding. The main point that one can gather from this analysis is that every few weeks the team should have a heart to heart to air any concerns. A suggestion is to do this every other Tuesday in our face to face sessions. This will help make us closer.

We can also improve as a team by coming prepared to each and every meeting. This should consist of the readings completed, notes taken, and thoughts gathered. We should also start taking meeting minutes. This way we will have a record of each and every meeting. These minutes should be posted within 24 hours of the meeting. It is also important to arrive to meetings on time and be willing to meet additional times if the team feels it is necessary.

All of our weaknesses should be our focus when it comes to areas of development. In order to minimize our disagreements and become more productive, it would be a good idea for us to develop an agenda before each meeting. This will help keep us on track. Furthermore, it would be a good idea for us to develop a plan of how we want to approach the assignments before actually discussing them.

** Conclusion ** We have dedicated ourselves to a journey not only of discovering business and the course content, but also about ourselves. Based on this assignment, we have learned that we must openly discuss issues with each other and also be open to taking constructive criticism. We must understand that we are only human and accept each other’s failings. We are here to grow as whole individuals as well, which means learning humility. We must each be willing to look at ourselves honestly and change in positive ways to become better people.