Community Service Initiative, Essay Example

In the course of the semester, my team went by the name Nuggets, and owing to the nature of the activities we handled, we always had a huge workload. As a result, we had to remain committed to the course of doing what we could and ensure we give our best. We agreed that we should always do what we can, while ensuring quality, speed, and accuracy. Our team leader served as a role model, as he always ensured he was in the forefront in doing his best towards reducing the workload.

In the forming stage, the first event was always doing a brief touch to all the members of the team. In order to ensure we remained on track, two members of our team Will and Dan were always on toes. Will was the overall leader charged with the role of holding the GPS to ensure we did not lose our way. Even so, although an introvert, Dan always ensured we were always on the right way. At this stage, team members were not fond of each other, although this changed with time (Stroh et al. 56). Additionally, members had very little to share because they were not fond of each other. Nonetheless, whenever issues occurred, members would offer their input and come up with a solution. The team leader remained vocal throughout, and encouraged members to make comments and contributions for the sake of the group. MBTI results were very helpful in understanding each other well. Through this strategy, it was easier to identify the types of personalities as possessed by each member. Specifically, I learnt that our group leader was intuitive, quick decision maker, and very sensible. The results were equally helpful in establishing trust among the members, besides identifying the most appropriate method of communication and means of solving disputes.

At the storming stage, we experienced a major conflict of the Operation Transplant. The conflict was emanating from the fact that all the team members emanate from different backgrounds and beliefs. The biggest lesson we learnt from this situation is that, a conflict in an avenue to learn from each other. This conflict opens a chance for members to show their quick reaction towards solving conflicts because we had only fifteen minutes at our disposal. Members agreed that it was for the benefits of the patients, and as such, speed and accuracy was given a priority. The dispute gave team members a chance to express their new ideas and highlighted challenges that would turn out to be chronic if ignored (Kotter & Dan 67). The collaborating mode came out as the best for all the team members in solving urgent conflicts. It did not only lead to commitment, but also improved relationships, integrated solutions of learning and offered the right perspectives. Following negotiation, the members of the team ended up understanding each other well, besides sharing value judgment. Upon reaching an agreement, a win-win situation would come in handy.

In view of the norming stage, members agreed to share responsibilities of the main project based on the strengths and weaknesses of each member. Those who showed great competency in communication skills were left to attend to clients in most situations. The major reason behind establishing a team contract was to generate motivation and expectation. Through promoting the extrinsic and extrinsic factors, we ensured each member of our team was rewarded. The equity theory engineered the contract, and this ensured members, irrespective of their position in the group got the desired respect. In the same vein, members managed to acquire proper evaluations and allow us to understand the performance appraisal.

At the stage of performing, members decided it was a good idea to join hands in order to finish the final project. This stage called for excessive constructive feedbacks and collaboration. Collaboration was very helpful in ensuring members acquired acceptance, understanding, quality and innovation. Owing to the contract, members found the TLA evaluation effective in ensuring we got the right feedback. Nonetheless, not all was one hundred percent perfect, as we had issues in planning and punctuation.

Community Service Initiative

In terms of community service, my team worked at the receptions to attract people taking the test for AIDS. In the view of community service initiatives, our team experienced a lot from the endeavor. The project was meaningful and gave each one of us an opportunity to participate in voluntary community services. This endeavor helped us to become responsible, besides making positive contributions on the life of other people. By encouraging people to know their HIV status, we felt we made a huge contribution in their life. The initiative gave us a chance to meet new people, besides understanding what happens daily in our local area. Concerning personal growth, the Community Service Initiative was vital in making us better people. Members of my group became aware of the problems humanities within our locality are facing, making us more courageous, and creative in terms of looking for solutions to some of these problems. Every time we received positive feedback from the local people, we realized that we have made a difference in their life. The people were mostly appreciating our time and effort, and showed a sense of gratitude. In the same initiative, we learnt that, it is necessary for people to come out of their comfort zones, and volunteer to assist members of the community because there is a lot that needs to be done. Arguably, the initiative helped most of us to develop skills of communicating and dealing with some daily real life issues (Gomez-Mejia et al. 45).

For each member in my group, we learnt that, volunteering is a win-win situation because there is a lot to gain from the entire endeavor. By volunteering, we did not only gain new skills, but we also improved the skills we already had, and learnt new ways of using the skills we already had. Lastly, we came to know that, the only way to make a legacy and a difference in our society is by being voluntary. In terms of leadership, we had to know who is handing the brochure and who is leading the way. The off-course experience tightened up our relationship as a team. I enjoyed the team experience and will use the lesson learned in OB222 for future.

References

Gomez-Mejia, Luis et al. Management: People, Performance, Change, 3rd edition. New York, New York USA: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print

Kotter, John P. & Dan S. Cohen. The Heart of Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2002. Print

Stroh, L. et al. Organizational behavior: A management challenge. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2002. Print