Michael Buzzinotti
BA 321
22 October 2012
Reflection Paper 2
Team work is one of the most important concepts of everyday life. A team is a group of individuals who strive to work together in order to achieve a common group goal (Janasz, Dowd, Schneider, 2012). The ability to be a team player can be applied in the business world, as well as many other aspects of life. Henry Ford once said, “Coming Together is a beginning; keeping together is a progress; working together is a success.” In my opinion, this means that there is a process in working collaboratively to reach an objective. Coming together and staying together are insignificant unless you’re able to work together and meet your objective. The first two parts of the quote are merely preparations in the process that will eventually lead to success if team work is demonstrated. Whether it is in my current social life or in the workplace, I’ve experienced team work on a daily basis. My most vivid memory of having to be a team player was in high school when I participated on the golf team, and eventually ended up leading it. I made varsity team as a freshman and was on the starting roster. Professional golf might be an individual sport, but in high school, it’s as much of a team sport as football or baseball. Not only did I rely on my team to do well, but they relied on me. There was always a team mate by your side during a round of golf, so strategies and advice were constantly being thrown back and forth to one another, in striving to meet our goal of beating our opponents. In my later years of high school, where I was promoted to leader of the team, I had to demonstrate leadership and team work to be successful. I organized golf practice sessions to work on our game as a team, and to offer advice to one another so that our team could be the best that we could be. I believe that this experience has enabled me to become an effective team player. The workplace is another example of where team work is present in my life. As a cashier at Shop N Save, my duties and responsibilities revolve around the concept of team work. Some tasks are individually-based, while other jobs are done more efficiently through the help of another co-worker. For example, we have night time duties which consist of washing the register, collecting the garbage and taking it to the back, vacuuming the store, and also returning items back to the shelves. Obviously one person could do all of these things, however it would take a great amount of time and would be a lot for one person to do. This is where team work is used, by dividing the tasks and duties equally among a couple workers to get the jobs done more quickly and efficiently. Another example of team work that I demonstrate at work is helping other cashiers bag their customer’s groceries. It’s a great amount of work ringing up a large order and then having to bag it all by yourself. Many of the cashiers appreciate this, especially the elderly ones, whom even specifically mention to me how great of a team worker I am. There are many group activities in school where teamwork is used to achieve a common goal. One major benefit is that you can build friendships with those people in your group. Additional benefits may include increased creativity, higher quality decisions, global competitiveness, increased quality, improved communication, and an increase in employee morale (Janasz, Dowd, Schneider, 2012). Ideas will also be shared between each other, outlining each student’s outlook on the topic. New concepts and ideas will be brought up, which can help the group reach a solution in the most effective way. According to a Stanford journal of management, diversity within groups usually leads to faster new product development efforts (Cohen, Bailey, 1997). Group projects give students the opportunity to express their own perspectives and learn from each other’s ideas and thoughts. Throughout my high school and college years, I’ve been involved in numerous group projects and team work settings. According to a Stanford University journal article, team work is what leads to better decisions. Groups with people who share different viewpoints are more likely to make better decisions, compared to groups who continuously agree with one another. This is because different viewpoints make the majority think more open-mindedly and complexly (San Jose Business Journal, 2004). I know for a fact that I’ve been guilty of being a group and just nodding my head to agree with everyone, regardless of whether I had a different idea to share. Usually, I’m afraid of being judged or of being wrong, which is why I don’t share my thoughts. I have no problem expressing myself on subjects that I’ve very comfortable and knowledgeable with, but with one’s that I’m unfamiliar with, I tend to feel nervous and I end up being a follower rather than a leader. Another important aspect of team work is equally distributing the workload. In every group project I’ve ever been involved in, I made sure that the work was divided evenly among the members. There was one instance in my life where this wasn’t feasible. When I was at Penn State Behrend in Erie, I was in a group for an economics class, and this project required an extensive amount of dedication and research. One member would always show up late, sometimes not show up at all. When he did, his work was usually incomplete and inadequate. The other group members and I had a talk with him about how much it affected us and how we didn’t appreciate the burden of the workload being put on us. This was the only time in my schooling career where team work was an issue. In conclusion, you have to be willing to adapt and work hard, in order to be on a successful team. Team work is present in everyday life, regardless of whether you decide to get involved or not. I’ve shown through examples that I’ve had various encounters with working as teams. I try to become better at being a team player each and every day, by learning from mistakes and past experiences within groups. I believe all of this experience early in my life will only make me a stronger team player for my future business career. Like I mentioned in my introduction, team work is a building process. There’s a starting point, middle point, and an ending point. A strong team will make it to that ending point, which is their ultimate goal.

Work Cited
Cohen, Bailey. (1997). What Makes Teams Work: Group Effectiveness Research from the Shop Floor to the Executive Suite. InStanford.edu. Retrieved October 22, 2012, from http://www.stanford.edu/group/wto/cgi-bin/docs/Cohen_Bailey_97.pdf de Janasz, S. C., Dowd, K. O., & Schneider, B. Z. (2012). Interpersonal Skills in Organizations (Fourth ed., pp. 215-227). New York, NY: Paul Ducham.
Stanford: Teamwork produces better decisions. (2004, August 18). In San Jose Business Journal. Retrieved October 22, 2012, from http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2004/08/16/daily27.html