Discuss vicarious effect and how it can affect the interaction within a team
Vicarious effects can be described as the negative changes that employees or workers will witness over a given period of time in relation to other people’s needs and suffering. This is a process that takes time and therefore continues to unfold as time goes by. There are members of a team who can be transformed positively but vicarious effect lays more emphasis on the negative aspects. The negatives that we are talking about here revolve around the costs that will have to be incurred in caring for others (Wheelan2010, p. 23).
There are costs of caring for others and this can be looked at in relation to those people who have been hurt. From a broad perspective, the vicarious effect can be termed as the change that will happen to members of a team because they are caring for others who have been hurt. This is because they will feel obligated and committed that they are supposed to help them.
In the long run, such changes are likely to have an impact on individuals’ wellbeing. These changes can be either physical or psychological. It is therefore quite obvious that this can affect interaction within a team. Members of a team will be affected because they will have difficulty in trying to connect with what is going on around them (Barbee, 2009, p. 34). This is because of the feeling that some of them might have that they were supposed to do something to help others.
The way members of a team act or interact can also be affected by these incidences. Most of the assignments that members of a team are not prepared to do well will ultimately be affected by a broadway. The general personal reaction to others can lead to guilt thereby leaving other members obligated.
Explain ways to keep the team on the task or focused to complete the project
A team is supposed to be kept on a task or focused to complete a project and this means that there are various approaches that can be used to accomplish this. In this case, there are ways that can be used to keep a team focused. This is necessary to keep everybody on track for long term sustainability. When a team is having problems concentrating on tasks, the manager should come in and assist them to find creative solutions.
The best way to keep members of a team focused is by determining routine tasks that are supposed to be undertaken by the team (Wheelan2010, p. 46). This will make it easy to assign tasks and thereby enhance the accomplishment of goals. Concentration should be enhanced because there are occasions when a team might have underdeveloped skills.
Members of a team should be encouraged to set up informal deadlines that will act as a basis by which they are supposed to accomplish a given task. Nobody can be extremely sharp in a team and this means that members should be encouraged to work together for long term sustainability. Mutual understanding should be encouraged as the best way to keep individual members of a given team focused (Barbee, 2009, p. 79).
A team should be focused on tasks that are at hand and this will enhance the prioritization of goals. As a result, project impediments can be easily identified as time goes by. Team members should occasionally be reminded about the value of the task that they are undertaking which will enhance commitment. Final activities have a large impact and they should be monitored to produce the best results.
Reference list
Barbee, D. (2009). 97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know Collective Wisdom from the Experts. Beijing: O’Reilly.
Wheelan, S. (2010). Creating Effective Teams: A Guide for Members and Leaders. Los Angeles: SAGE. Print.