I, like most of us, have participated in many teams.
Growing up, I was on sports teams. In high school and college, I was divided
into many different teams for group work. There have been times as a
professional that I have been asked to be a part of a team to solve a problem
or accomplish a goal. I have even been part of a team to help clean up an
apartment that was damaged by a fire. Before this week’s readings, I never gave
much thought about the different roles that members of a team could play. Many of
the sports teams I was on had a leader, either the coach or the best player,
and the rest of the team worked to help the team win. The school assignments
also consisted of a leader and the rest of the team trying to finish the
assignment. I never considered that the other members of the team were
performing a role that was just more than helping accomplish the goal or
mission.
This week I learned that team members could perform
task-facilitating roles or relationship-building roles. According to Whetten
and Cameron (2016), task-facilitating roles help a team accomplish the goal or
objective. When I thought of teams, I pictured the followers all being task
related. What can we do to help the team win, get the assignment turned in, or
accomplish a professional task? But, team members can also be a relationship
builder. According to Brown (2011), relationship builders “help the group grow
and improve its members’ interpersonal relationships” (p. 201). As I learned
about the two roles of team members, I began to ponder which role I usually
chose.
I generally lean toward task-based roles, but occasionally
act in a relationship-building role regarding team activities. I have mentioned
in several posts that I am an achiever and a preparer. These two qualities can
be extreme at times, so I must be aware of my actions while in a team setting.
I am the type of person who likes to work hard on projects to make sure they
are correctly completed in the allotted time. Whetten and Cameron (2016)
mentioned that direction giving or trying to clarify goals or missions is a
task-facilitating action. I have never been comfortable with giving directions.
I have always seen myself as the follower in team situations. But, I do possess
many of the qualities of task-facilitating roles.
Brown (2011) stated that elaborating is a function
of task-facilitating roles. Though I do not usually have the initial plan of
action, I find myself elaborating or building on the ideas expressed by the
other team members. Whetten and Cameron (2016) stated that monitoring and
process analyzing are both task-facilitating roles. Monitoring involves
progress reports and helping to maintain accountability for the group, where
process analyzing involves evaluating processes and procedures to help improve
efficiency. Recently, I completed my first team assignment as a graduate
student and offered both monitoring and process analyzing to the group.
Though the team worked together perfectly and turned
in the assignment before the due date, I sent several emails asking for
opinions and ideas about the steps needed to complete the assignment. The
achiever and preparer took over to help keep the group on track. I recently had
the opportunity to take a management assessment test offered by NextSteps
Research. The survey showed that I was an introverted logistical leader and I
feel I am the same type of teammate. According to the results, I am concerned
with meeting schedules while completing tasks, which is in line with process
analyzing and monitoring.
Though the majority of my actions lean toward task-facilitating
roles, I also work to improve the team cohesion and collaboration. Though I
know conflict and tension can be pros in a group or team setting, I do not work
well in tension-filled situations. I once took a survey that declared one of my
four leading styles to be leading with harmony. According to Rath and Conchie
(2008), “people strong in the harmony theme look for consensus. They don’t
enjoy conflict; rather they seek areas of agreement” (p. 175).
Whetten and Cameron (2012) stated that energizing is
another action of a relationship-building team member. I noticed that I do try
to make other team members feel like their comments are helpful. I do not like
when others feel like their thoughts are not heard or appreciated.
In a team environment, I believe I am more task
driven because I like to make sure assignments or goals are reached, but if the
team becomes too conflicted, the harmonizer inside me must make things kosher
before finishing the tasks.
References
Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization
development (8th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.
Rath, T. & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths based leadership. New York, NY: Gallup Press.
Whetten, D. & Cameron, K. (2016). Developing management skills (9th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson.
No comments:
Post a Comment