Challenges of Groups and team members
Introduction
Perhaps most of the people have become part of specific groups during the school days until they become a part of an organization. However, being a part of the group is very challenging as there are other factors to be considered like the aspect of communication, collaboration, and conflict management. Primarily, the goal of this paper is to provide examples of communication, collaboration, and conflict management that challenges me as a member of the group.
Using the Team Work Plan in Enron
One of the most talked-about issues when it comes to auditing and accounting failure is the Enron Scandal, US’s largest bankruptcy and stock collapse (Fox 2003). In this scandal, two names have been given emphasis: Enron and Arthur Andersen. Enron is a major American energy company. The occurrences that led up to the collapse and bankruptcy of began long before anyone had suspected fraud at the company. One of the problems perceived in the Enron scandal is because of poor communication and lack of teamwork among the management of the company.
It can be said that the failure of the management of Enron to communicate have been on of the major caused of having this kind of failure. Since there are conflict between the management specifically with regards to their financial accounting directors.
In this regard, to be able to solve the issue the top management must be able to instil the practice of effective and good communication within the company and the entire department. It is said that the absence of good communication along with the lack of efficient conflict management system may lead to the worsening of conflicting interests and this had happened to Enron. Because of the poor communication and lack of teamwork, the company has not been able to anticipate all the actions of their staffs, which lead to problems in terms of auditing. On one hand, there are also instances of having an underground agreement between members of the company into other industry which lead to management collapse. Hence, the stench of distrust and irresponsibility of the leaders of Enron reeks from company’s inability to work as a team.
In this regard, the team members especially the leader (shareholders and the top management) should be able to make number of considerations in order to prevent the same problem on the group from happening again. One of which is the approach it will have to use in order to obtain a favourable response from the employees through an effective conflict management. By means of effectively managing the conflict through communicating openly with other members of the team, the group was able to obtain the members full support for the achievement of their goal. The team also considered how each member will respond to this conflict management approach Furthermore, the team leader or the board of directors also considered its current relationship status with the members. Considering good relationship is another way of having good communication among members and also a sign that each member of the company will be able to collaborate well.
It can be said that in order to solve the issue, the members of the Enron team, especially when it comes to their financial management, the member of the management teach should collaborate well. Efficient collaboration can enable Enron management to develop better and more practical financial decisions. This is because the presence of more collaborated individuals in the workplace promotes results-orientedness, openness to ideas, willingness to change as well as flexibility. Furthermore, having a good conflict management is also a good way to develop better decisions as this enable the leaders of the team to become more analytical, assertive, creative, observant and spirited to take on challenges and risks.
Conclusion
The success of the group’s initiatives can be attributed to honest and open communication observed among the group members. Through this approach, employees willingly approach the group’s plan of without reducing their productivity level or causing major work disruptions. The absence of problems in the group enabled the team to carry out its plans smoothly. The collaboration of the management and the employees brought about by open communication also made the implementation of the change easier for the group.
The consultative and united approach helps in maintaining the good working relations between the team members. Through this, the members can be made aware of the group’s plans; making them part of the decision-making activities can stress the role and value the team member has for the entire group. This in turn fosters good working relationships. Communication also prevents team member’s conflicts; for instance, if the group members openly discuss its plans for changes with the employees, resistance will be prevented or minimized.
All in all it can be said that in order to successfully meet the objectives of the group, the team members should give emphasis on the communication, collaboration, and conflict management aspects.
References:
Fitter, F. (1996). Handling interruptions at work. Cosmopolitan. Retrieved August 17, 2006 from www.highbeam.com
Parnes, S.J. (1992). Sourcebook for Creative Problem Solving. Buffalo, NY: Creative Education Foundation Press.
Team Work Plan
Forming a group or being a group member does not necessarily ensure that a given activity will be successfully performed. How the group members interact is a vital factor in determining the group’s success and morale of its members towards it. At present, organizations recognize the importance of harmony among group members within an organization, be it a formal or an informal one. Team work is the vocabulary of organizational managers and members, usually connoting it on how it is used in sports, to ensure that organizational task is running smoothly. At present, the concept of collaboration does not only apply to occupational groups but to other types of group activities where collective action is needed.
One of the main issues affecting our functions as a group is diversity. Due to the personal and cultural, tensions among the members of our group had been a frequent occurrence. This in turn had been causing considerable work disruptions; moreover, assigning group tasks among the other team members had been difficult due to this issue.
In dealing with this issue, the members of the group, specifically the team leader decided to take some actions and conflict management approach.
1. Respond to the team member. If a member is constantly asking for my attention during the meeting, it is likely that we are communicating well. It is important that the question of the member is answered directly in order to prevent waste of time.
2. Communicate with other members. In order to prevent the same constant interruption from happening, I need to understand why the member is behaving in that manner. This will also help me determine if there is something unclear or upsetting in the meeting that bothers the employee. Through this, I will be able to become more aware of the members’ different emotions and moods while in a meeting. Fitter (1996) also noted that meeting participants who are fragile, nervous or annoying should be given attention; handling their problems immediately while in a meeting will help prevent further interruptions and waste of time.
3. Prevention. In order to prevent constant interruptions during a meeting, initially inform the participants that questions would just be entertained after the discussion or that they could just direct their queries through e-mail or at a certain time of the day.
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