The presentation analyzes professional communication following the reviewed scenario of a panel discussion brainstorming on Imagine You’s annual fundraiser campaign. The evaluation describes issues faced during the panel discussion, the methods to overcome them, and team leadership effectiveness. The discussion panel in the scenario would have accomplished its purpose as a team if they were prepared and encouraged to communicate effectively. From the scenario, four panelists were involved, and three issues can be highlighted during their interaction.
Firstly, there were challenges in selecting the team of panelists because one of the panelists seemed not to have the corresponding competence. Team member competence is critical to the teams’ success (Wu & Cormican, 2021). Essentially, Nan was not competent enough considering her limited experience; she had never taken part in planning fundraising events. Nonetheless, Morrison-Smith and Ruiz (2020) stipulate that even with limited experience, every panelist can bring their area of expertise to boost decisions. Secondly, Nan was out of control in that she was in disregard of the ideas raised by others, namely Jim and Laura. Team communication requires understanding and high listening skills; a team cannot succeed with members who disregard the contributions of others (Eisenberg et al., 2019). The scenario depicted the importance of valuing the ideas and contributions of others like Laura and Jim did other than disregarding them as not necessary as Nan did.
Ultimately, the moderator (Jim) was rendered ineffective because he could not intervene when the other panelist became rowdy and stormed out of the discussion. During the discussion of possible options, Nan showed dissatisfaction with opinions and stormed out of the meeting. Team leader effectiveness is measured by controlling and guiding the team towards the intended goal (Wu & Cormican, 2021). Jim was supposed to contain the panelists to ensure they engage without dissatisfaction which the moderator failed to do, causing one to be loud and even leave without concluding the meeting.
These three issues identified can describe the effective and ineffective characteristics of the displayed team behaviors. Observing the panelists’ behavior, the three actively participated and exchanged ideas well, which is a depiction of effective teams. Nonetheless, team ineffectiveness was evident when Nan was in disagreement with others, and there was no effort from other panelists to ensure she understood the discussion and contributed equally. Ineffective team communication is associated with poor team cohesion, rendering discussions unyielding (Eisenberg et al., 2019). Though there were issues, this team worked effectively together as they valued each person’s idea and tried to incorporate all vital contributions into a concrete conclusion.
Since some issues affecting team communication were identified, three suggestions can be proposed to enhance professionalism. Significantly, the moderator should consider when, how, and where sense is made to encourage participation. Being formal can help the panel to engage with professionalism, especially identifying whether ideas are making sense to every member and interpreting to ensure buy-in is critical. Second, encouraging people to speak and listen with respect is key to professionalism in team interactions. Meanwhile, active listening will boost cooperation and conflict resolution during the discussion. Finally, building rapport and relationships with panel members is a proper way to encourage professional engagements among teams for more professional interactions.
In the observed situation, Jim was right to take on team leadership. Jim’s experience coincides with the panel’s subject matter, and the fact that he is a project manager in a large firm implies he is experienced in broad-based leadership roles. The way he talked and presented himself, like maintaining eye contact and welcoming participation, depict excellent leadership skills. Thus, none of the three remaining panelists would have been a better leader for the scenario.
Leadership is essential for any team involved in a program or activity. The team leader sets the pace of the discussion and ensures all raised ideas are aligned to the original goal of the discussion. Moreover, the team leader ensures that each member is incorporated and engaged while making submissions and coming up with workable ideas. Nevertheless, when the leader is ineffective, the team might fail to accomplish the primary goals of the discussion. According to Morrison-Smith and Ruiz (2020), team leaders are necessary, but they are often challenged to accomplish their tasks. As seen in the scenario, there are always concerns about team leadership.
The panel clearly shows that managing teams comes with various problems; working together can be problematic during interactions, especially when the leader has not been allowed time to build trust with the members. Additionally, there are concerns regarding the proper handling of different perspectives. Team conflict has, in most cases, been a result of differences in perspective among team members. A leader’s role is to harmonize these differences; otherwise, it could make the discussion or team uncomfortable. For instance, storming out of a meeting signifies that conflict has not been effectively managed.
In this situation, it is vital to ensure a short time to talk to each member and informally interact with them before the actual panel. Thus, a leader will have an opportunity to understand how to deal with each member during serious discussions. Three strategies can be implemented for productivity when working in teams. One primary strategy is setting communication standards for the team, which guides on how and when to communicate while encouraging interaction to boost productivity for each member. The second is understanding how the team operates; it will assist in implementing strategies for better communication, interaction, and productivity. Lastly, productive teams need limited interruptions to concentrate on achieving daily objectives. In summary, effective teams need appropriate communication strategies to ensure they yield intended outcomes. In other words, for any team to thrive, members must get timely communication.
References
Eisenberg, J., Post, C., & DiTomaso, N. (2019). Team dispersion and performance: The role of team communication and transformational leadership. Small-Group Research, 50(3), 348-380. Web.
Morrison-Smith, S., & Ruiz, J. (2020). Challenges and barriers in virtual teams: A literature review. SN Applied Sciences, 2(1096). Web.
Wu, Q., & Cormican, K. (2021). Shared leadership and team effectiveness: An investigation of whether and when in engineering design teams. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. Web.