Utilization of Strengths
Communication skills play an essential role in running any organization. As far as my assets are concerned, the primary skill that I possess is the ability to listen. I have utilized this asset effectively in gathering information from team members. Without effective listening, understanding the viewpoints of others would be difficult. In the team, I always ensure that I listen to other related departments’ concerns so that improvements could be introduced and the efficacy of performance could be increased. Failure to listen to the problems facing other departments is detrimental because it might cost the organization financially. The team’s central principle is to listen to others’ pleas before moving on to making any decision. An additional strength that received a high score in the evaluation course was my willingness to attend the meetings and participate in various activities. Many people face a significant challenge in becoming a part of the team, while others have a problem arriving on time. The issue of attendance and time management has threatened the group’s effectiveness on several occasions because the chances of the team achieving its desired goals without full participation and punctuality are minimal.
Improvement of Weakness
The team insisted on continuous improvement throughout the application of new strategies. However, the lack of a proper leadership strategy is still one of the weaknesses; without specific directions, the project cannot succeed. Time management is another concern; having little idea of arranging a schedule, the team cannot progress. However, time management issues were not the only weaknesses of the project. Apart from that, my leadership skills left much to be desired; to be more exact, the necessity to address the issues related to finances, R&D, marketing, and other areas I am not quite competent in frightened me. There were good reasons for concern since the specified issues could jeopardize the entire project. To address this problem, I will have to reconsider my leadership approach, switching it to the transformative model; thus, enhancing the team’s performance and planning its operations will become easier.
The transfer to transformative leadership principles may herald a new stage in both the team’s progress and my evolution. There is no secret that motivational issues are the fundamental problem that a leader is likely to face on their way to the project implementation. More to the point, the development of conflicts, which are unavoidable in the specified setting, will require a specific strategy. Therefore, the significance of effective leadership lies not in conflict prevention but in the ability to locate a constructive approach to conflict management and search for an appropriate solution. A leader needs to incorporate both the skills of inspiring their staff and the ability to promote professional responsibility among them and enhance the significance of corporate ethics. Therefore, with transformative leadership strategies in the workplace, a more responsible attitude towards responsibilities and roles that the staff is supposed to take and perform can be expected.
The staff members must be provided with a clear example of the expected organizational behavior, and building a model that they can follow is the task of a leader. Incorporating the basic tenets of the transformative and charismatic leadership theories, the head of a project or a company is most likely to successfully promote a specific standard of organizational behavior. Naturally, incentives should also be provided for those staff members who have attained success within the shortest amount of time; thus, the organization’s competitive spirit can be maintained. However, it is the corporate ethics that must be in the limelight for a transformative leader.
My Role in Developing the Production Process
Before the team was created, each member was assigned a specific role, and mine was production and finance. Like any project, this one required that everything is done procedurally, and my first assignment was to set up a research and development department before formulating marketing strategies. The other role concerned helping to make decisions on production. This role entails reconciling the research department’s findings with what goes on in the marketing department based on the decisions made and the efficiency of the marketing team. The choices made in the more extensive finance department had to be found on the outcome of the research and development processes. Before making any decision, conducting thorough market research was critical because of the difference in the production specifics, demands of the target audience, etc. Moreover, the team was thinking about acquiring loans and new stock, requiring detailed analysis. Therefore, my primary role concerned the automation of purchases and production systems as a crucial step to be taken before making decisions.
Strengths of the Team
The ability to identify an adequate strategy and put it to use, thus, attaining impressive success, clearly is the most vital asset of our team. By choosing the Niche Cost leader strategy, we managed to develop an efficient approach towards the technological and financial aspects of running our business. As a result, reduction of overtime expenses and the costs associated with second shifts become possible. The group is obviously devoted to the company and shares the vision that the organization has. The readiness for cooperation, which the team can also be characterized by, is enhanced by the provision of communication technology; thus, conference calls and WEBEX meetings are part and parcel of the company’s operations. The approach described above helps maintain cooperation between the team members and the coordination of their actions.
Weaknesses of the Team
As far as weaknesses are concerned, the inconsistencies with responsibilities distribution due to the loss of one of our team members must be mentioned. In addition, our group members were extraordinarily insistent, which made the discussion process somewhat complicated, and it took time to steer it in the right direction. Primarily, the team made decisions based on a majority vote in situations where more than 50% of the group was present or able to support the decision. However, in cases where there was less than 50% member participation, a consensus was required, which put much pressure on the team.
However, the lack of one of the members was not the only weakness that the team had to overcome. Apart from the necessity to redistribute the roles and responsibilities among the members, it was also necessary to address the unwillingness to cooperate that some of the team members displayed, as well as the conflicts that ensued. For a team to work efficiently, a specific strategy for conflict solving must be developed based on the specifics of the group, the temper of the team members, etc. Taking the individual features of the participants into account and being able to find a compromise, therefore, allowing the parties to come to terms, is an essential skill that had to be applied on a number of occasions in our team. It is crucial to learn to draw lessons from these conflicts; however, unfortunately, without the proper experience, neither of us could make conclusions about the nature of these conflicts, which resulted in keeping the root cause of the war, i.e., the lack of personal and professional responsibility, in its place.
Team Interaction
Due to the application of WEBEX and frequent use of conference calls, the meeting was carried out quite successfully and delivered peculiar results. WEBEX was used as the critical tool for perfecting the process of communication and allowing for mutual understanding. Moreover, WEBEX was utilized as the means to represent visual information; consequently, the adoption of WEBEX as one of the useful tools for communication increased the efficacy of the decision-making process carried out by the R&D team. Notably, the unit sales for the next round were identified during the meeting by the advertisement department. As far as the program for manufacturing and the approaches that could be adopted to improve the quality standards is concerned, the production department handled the topic, whereas the finance department suggested lean manufacturing as the strategy for cutting losses. The final decision was confirmed via WEBEX.
Overcoming Personal Challenges
Being a part of a team means having to handle conflicts once in a while, and our team was not an exception. The fact that the team lacked one of its members did not help the situation, either; as a result, it was necessary to consult the course mentor. With the introduction of a proper conflict management strategy based on compromising, we managed to become a strong team and handle the workload.
Overcoming Team Challenges
Another concern that we had to deal with, creating a simulation, which would help us experience the environment of the global market and evaluate our chances for succeeding in it, was also handled in a relatively efficient manner. Hours of practicing allowed for designing a simulation strategy that would become viable in the realm of global marketing and tough competition. By defining the preparedness level of our competitors, we managed to assess our chances for entering the market with one of the team members missing. A study of the target market has shown that strengthening the team, enhancing communication, and improving our cooperation will help us attain our goals.
Recommendations to Other Teams
In order to complete a business project, the members of the team must distribute the responsibilities and tasks among each other and maintain cooperation. It is also essential to make sure that the supplementary materials provided by the capstone are studied and analyzed carefully. Moreover, it is vital that all team members should participate in the project and be ready to contribute to it fully. Finally, each team member must be assigned with a set of specific responsibilities and tasks. Unless each member of the project has a clear perspective of what they are going to do, attaining success is hardly possible.
Teamwork and Its Significance
As has been noted above, cooperation between the members of the project is a must for the successful implementation of the plan. However, it should also be born in mind that teamwork presupposes dealing with considerable pressure, not to mention the fact that conflicts are bound to occur once in a while. In addition, the simulation helped us realize how significant the analysis of feedback from peers is; until every single issue is settled, it is impossible to carry out essential transactions and process information productively. More to the point, it is crucial that every single member of the team should be able to improve their skills together with the rest of the participants; thus, the opportunities for learning are used fully, and each participant may fulfill their potential. Finally, it is noteworthy that the learning process itself can be described as multi-dimensional since relevant information concerning a range of domains, including finance, logistics, R&D, etc., was acquired on a regular basis.
The lessons learned in the course of the project have been of great help to me in terms of improving my professional qualities and working on my major weaknesses. First and most obvious, these lessons have shown me what qualities I need to develop in order to become an efficient leader. Another critical piece of information acquired concerns the issue of conflicts in the workplace. I have finally realized that conflicts are unavoidable and, therefore, should not be feared. In other words, a true leader should foster an environment that contributes to the efficient resolution of conflicts instead of trying to avoid conflicts at all. Knowing how to handle specific problems means being able to tackle even significant confrontations between the project members. Moreover, I have realized that a true leader must motivate the staff by providing them with a model to follow. This information has spurred my professional growth and helped me train the leadership skills that I used to lack.