Management Leadership Team, Essay Example

In the past, have you generally preferred working independently or in a group?

Historically I have preferred to work independently as opposed to being in a group. Whilst this has certain advantages there is no doubt that group work is infinitely more powerful. Within the group context you have the dynamics of multiple minds and creativity at work. I was a member of a team that placed the ‘Corelogic’ social care system for a Scottish Local Authority. This was a small team of five people which comprised a number of subject matter experts, mainly on the IT technology side and two members that were social care workers representing the business user side of the team. The team also had a number of other key business interfaces that included the Police, Emergency Services, and the regional Nurses and Doctors from the local Hospital. The objective of the team was to place an IT business solution that would use IBM Hardware and Oracle Relational Database Technology (RDBMS). This system would provide the means of providing the Authority and its important interfaces with a flexible reporting and management system. It would become a holistic business solution that would service the local Authority, the Social Workers and the medical support services.

Proper leadership would be vital if this project was to succeed. A transformational leadership style was required in order to harness the group dynamics of the team. A Transformational leader and identified by the characteristics of a person with vision, a strong sense of purpose and very goal oriented. He believes that people will follow those who inspire them. Hence, goal attainment is by inspiring your subordinates motivating them by enthusiasm and energy. Working for these types of leaders can be a great experience as they derive a great deal of passion about their work and genuinely want you to succeed. Such leaders start with a clear identification of a vision. Leaders of this type are quick to exploit the vision by sharing it with their team. Such leaders are often seen to be using mind mapping or brainstorming sessions with their subordinates.

How did The Wisdom of Teams affect your perceptions of teamwork? How can teams benefit even the most rugged individualists?

The team worked within a co-operative learning environment. This approach enables small teams a strategic framework in which to operate and allows them to learn from one another. The advantage of this method is that the student participants learn the subject matter but equally help one another to succeed (positive reinforcement). This in turn builds and promotes an environment of trust and improved learning. The concept of building synergy within a group dynamics environment. Within our team, the subject matter experts were responsible for teaching other important technical aspects of the system. The social workers responded by integrating their business knowledge and user interface knowledge into the systems development process. This vital interaction in the group dynamics was highly instrumental in the creation of a cohesive team. This approach has the following advantages:-

• Individuals gain complimentary learning skills
• The ability to celebrate the success of the group achievements.

Teamwork benefits most individuals by having the ability to share and discuss creative ideas. It provides a discussion forum for brainstorming and facilitating the decision making process. The use of group dynamics also facilitates a better balance of idea and concept sharing leading to a better overall result. Teamwork also helps in the development of additional skills like that of effective listening and empathetic learning. Teams also provide the basis of sharing ideas in a collaborative environment.