...Assignment 2 – Report – 30% of Final Mark Report Focus: Write a report reflecting on your experiences of the Everest group simulation exercise this semester with reference to concepts and theories encountered in this course. Executive Summary Everest, a virtual game designed by Harvard Business School and Forio Business Simulations, forces players to challenge problems that arise and conquer them as a team. After viewing a frightening video that portrays the mountain climbing experience, students are arranged in groups of five and assigned different roles with varying description and goals, ranging from ambitious athletes to preservative environmentalists. Confronting numerous challenges such as oxygen scarcity, unpredictable weather and volatile health conditions, teams progress up the mountain, with the ultimate goal of reaching the summit. The game is intelligent in its simplistic design – it gives different goals and information to each player. The physician has knowledge on numerous diseases, but is unable to use it if the marathoner fails to announce her critical health condition – a probable situation as the game encourages players to hide the information. In hindsight, our team was given two attempts to complete the simulation. The first simulation was conducted with little experience and understanding of group members and roles. Formation of conspiracies led to discomfort due to conflicting personal goals, limited resources, differing opinions...
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...EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Everest group simulation was an exercise which encouraged five students to play a unique and vital role on a team of hikers, attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest. The simulation powerfully encapsulated the concepts and theories learnt in this course, illustrating the power of groups. The purpose of this report is to reflect on the experiences encountered during the Everest team experience and identify how these experiences related to the course. It comprises of a description and analysis of the Everest Team experience, a critical analysis of the team’s performance and results and a critical analysis of the team’s communication interactions. Upon taking part in both the simulations, it was discovered that the team score was dramatically improved, from 46% to 83%. This improvement was attributed to the team’s enhanced performance, due to progressing through the team development stages, as our performance was superior in the ‘norming’ and ‘performing’ stages rather than the ‘forming’ and ‘storming’ stages. Another factor which enhanced the team’s performance and thus, team score was the alterations in group structure. By assigning roles to each team member, a defined structure was associated with a distinct change in direction. In addition, changing from directive decision-making to analytic as well as collaborating instead of forcing and accommodating to resolve conflict revealed improved team dynamics leading to an overall better result. ...
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...The Company I have selected for the organizational behavior and communication paper will be Cisco Systems. This company I have directly purchased a great product of theirs. In this paper, it will evaluate the organization's philosophy, mission, and vision and or value statements. Further, it will explore the organization culture and how their communication process presently works. The paper will attempt to see if the organization follows what it states and does regard its organizational behavior. Further research will try to discover any present conflict within their organization communication system. Cisco is a provider in the IT communication networking systems. Communication technology is what they sell to their customers. Communication is a big part of their organization worldwide. Cisco Systems Mission Statement as directly stated "Cisco enables people to make powerful connections – whether in business, education, philanthropy or creativity. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible-providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time."2 Cisco organization has completely reorganized during the downturn in sales in the middle of the 2000 decade. The culture bases on my finding did not change during the reorganization. The company has an informal organization that continues to want to be entranced deeply for the customer advocacy. A pattern of unofficial and informal relationship...
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...interoffice memo to: New manager from: exiting manager RE: Group communication Date: [ 9/13/2014 ] Team Members * April Lusk Elizabeth Kline Mianca White Calvin Walk Shayla Williams Communication is the exchange of information between individuals for the purpose of gaining a response in the form of actions or thoughts Beebee & Masterson (2006). Communication among a group of people is more complicated that communication among two individuals. This memo is designed to identify barriers in group communication, techniques to overcome those barriers and enhance group communication, and the role of conflict in effective communication. Barriers to Effective Group Communication One of the many barriers in group communication is related to us as a team at this moment. Being that we are spread out over the US, and none of us lives in the same city, we have a physical barrier. You can’t be as effective in most cases if you are not speaking face to face. Sure we have emails, phone numbers, and a forum within the classroom, but nothing is the same as physically seeing a person when you’re talking to them. It irritates me when you try to reach people to ask a question or to get feedback, and it takes them a long time to get back with you. Then when they finally get back with you they don’t understand what you’re asking, or they don’t give you the answer that you need. You have to go back and ask in a different way or explain what it is that...
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...Professional Healthcare Communication HCS/350 January 9, 2012 Personal and Professional Healthcare Communication Personal and professional health care communication is critical in a professional working environment rapidly changing. Communication collaboratively is more effective than individually. Relevancy of effective personal and professional healthcare communication with others benefit and contributes to a better health outcomes. The lack of personal and professional healthcare communication contributes to poor outcomes. Theories and principles of therapeutic communication greatly benefit the healthcare setting, patients, and the healthcare professionals. Define Healthcare Communication Healthcare communication is defined as a process that facilitates interdependence among members of a healthcare group or unit. Communication has multiple meaning and comes in many ways, and this process enhances the shared ideas within the healthcare setting. Healthcare communication is important, it is narrow in scope, and it concerns the individuals with healthcare related information. Healthcare interaction between individuals that communicate can be verbal, nonverbal, oral, or written. Communication can be personal or impersonal issues dealing within healthcare settings. “In health communication, the focus is on specific health-related transactions and factors that influence these transactions” (Northouse & Northouse, 1998, p. 3). Healthcare communication is not only just with...
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...Results 2011 | Please Bring: Copy of Survey Results Report, Agenda, Pen and Paper | | | | | | | | | I | Open Meeting | | Subject: Communication Strategy | Objective: Job Aide for Managers | | | | | | | | | III | Agenda Topic | Presenter | Duration | 1 | Review of company issues to be reported to senior management | Carrie Rainbolt | 30 Minutes | 2 | Department Concerns | Department Managers | 10 Minutes each | 3 | Q&A | Carrie Rainbolt | 30 Minutes | 4 | Issue Log Review | Speaker from each department | 10 Minutes each | 5 | Additional Questions and Wrap Up | Carrie Rainbolt | 30 Minutes | | | | | | | | | Communication strategies and their value in various meeting situations Meetings are an important tool used by corporations and organizations of all sizes and configurations. Different scenarios and situations call for different types of meetings. The one thing all meetings have in common is the need for communication. Meeting situations range from standard everyday project status updates to disciplinary matters between an employee and his or her manager. While the need to communicate is the same in each meeting; the method of communication changes with each situation. The role of communication in creating and leading small groups and teams in...
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...Framework of a Successful Team There are many criteria necessary in building an effective team. Specific steps can be executed for a productive team to emerge. We can examine the framework of a successful team to see how this can be achieved. Critical Elements to Creating a Team When establishing a team it is important to consider several attributes that help to facility a high performance team. Effective Leadership - Every team needs a leader to drive the team to success. To be effective the leader must allow input from the team members. It is important to keep the individual input organized for everyone to keep the direction clear. An effective leader will need to make decisions and assign tasks to team members in line with the team goal. It is the responsibility of the leader to steer the team’s direction in an atmosphere where the environment allows open communication, everyone is involved, individual skills are used to benefit the team, and the goals remain clear. Clear Direction - Every team needs a clear goal to embrace and be empowered with. Teams are challenged with the different backgrounds, experiences as well as personal goals or objectives they wish to achieve in the project. The direction must be clear enough for the team to understand what is required for success and what each team member must do to achieve that. Cooperation and Empowerment- It is not enough that a team is composed of skilled members. The key to team dynamics is being able to work...
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...of cultures in businesses creating diverse working conditions in companies large and small. Therefore in management it is vital for leaders to be diverse in their management and communication techniques. Because each individual is uniquely different, it is essential that managers understand their role in creating peaceful working environments with effective communication, compassion and understanding for each worker’s background. This paper will outline topics such as; the importance of effective communication, employee development and coaching. It will also analyze different management styles and discuss why each manager should mix several management styles together in order to be effective in dealing with such diversity. According to dictionary.com, communication is defined as the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing or signs. It is not only important for managers to understand how effective they can be based on their communication techniques but also understand that each team member or subordinate will respond differently to each form of communication. In the workplace, managers can communicate with their teams via e-mail, telephone, web casts, text messages, instant messages and face to face. Being a great manager is about learning which communication technique works best for each individual. One mistake that managers make when dealing with a wide range of employees: believing that what works for one individual will work for all...
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...Leadership JAT Task 2 Dawn Power WGU E1. Goals Goals are important to the success of a group. Goals are a major factor in motivation. Goals must provide task direction and help to achieve desired results. Goals should give a team something to reach for and align with the team’s mission and strategy. Goals must be specific and challenging and not general or unrealistic to accomplish. Our team realized the importance of goals in the beginning and that is why we were able to achieve every goal that was set in the initial meeting. The following were our goals that we set for the group: 1. Be prompt for all calls-each team member usually arrived 10-15 minutes early for every call that was scheduled. 2. Respect for each other’s time by communicating to the team leader if unable to participate in the calls-each member of the team made every call that was scheduled. 3. Everyone was expected to participate in the calls-every member of the team actively participated in the calls providing feedback when needed. E2. Motivation Strategies Motivating a team can be more challenging than motivating one person because each person within the team has different personalities, values, beliefs and goals. If a team can capitalize on each team member’s positive traits that they bring to the group, it will enable the team to be motivated and achieve more. Every team needs some form of motivation to accomplish its goals. Our team effectively established motivation...
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...Describe the different types of groups and the five stages of group development. A group is two or more interacting and interdependent individuals who come together to achieve specific goals. Formal groups are work groups that are defined by the organization’s structure and have designated work assignments and specific tasks directed at accomplishing organizational goals. Informal groups are social groups. The forming stage consists of two phases: joining the group and defining the group’s purpose, structure, and leadership. The storming stage is one of intragroup conflict over who will control the group and what the group will be doing. The norming stage is when close relationships and cohesiveness develop as norms are determined. The performing stage is when group members began to work on the group’s task. The adjourning stage is when the group prepares to disband. 2. Explain how external conditions and group member resources affect group performance and satisfaction. External conditions, such as availability of resources, organizational goals, and other factors, affect work groups. Group member resources (knowledge, skills, abilities, personality traits) can influence what members can do and how effectively they will perform in a group. 3. Discuss how group structure, group processes, and group tasks influence group performance and satisfaction. Group roles generally involve getting the work done or keeping group members happy. Group norms are powerful influences...
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... Introduction (p5) Part 1: 1.1 Primary roles, functions and activities of different management levels including their interface with organisational behaviour. (p5) 1.2 Concepts of organisation and behaviour and the characteristics of organisational culture (p7) 2.1 Individual contribution and assessing alternative approaches to personality and its measurement. (p9) 2.2 Process of perception and any distortions that may arise. (p10) 2.3 The concept of attitudes and the problems of attitude change including solutions like the learning process and its key theories. (p11) Part 2: 3.1 Comparing and contrasting need theories, behavioural models and process approaches. (p12) 3.2 Problems of motivation and the implications for management of the different theories. (p12) 3.3 The main approaches and recent developments in improving job design.(p15) 4.1 The concepts of morale and job satisfaction and their relationship to performance. (p16) 4.2 The sources of and reactions to frustration and alienation at work. (p17) 4.3 Analysing stress, appreciate its links to personality and recognise how best to handle stressful situations. (p18) Part 3: 5.1 Distinguishing formal and informal groups and their effects on behaviour. (p20) 5.2 Key characteristics and functions of effective workgroups and the process of group development.(p21) 5.3 Roles or skills associated with effective teams and explore the nature of team spirit.(p23) 6.1 Distinguishing...
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...Team Simulation For the benefit of explaining personal decisions made while participating in a simulation, the author has chosen to write some portions of this paper in first person. The simulation provided participants an opportunity to apply tools and information to a simulated environment. In the simulated environment the goals for participant were to “identify team member roles and responsibilities, identify the qualities of an effective group leader, and explain methods of managing difficult group members” (University of Phoenix, 2010, p.1). The simulation involved assembling a team, managing team conflict, decision-making, and evaluating decisions. The purpose of the team in the simulation was “to discover the drug trafficking organizations responsible for the flow of drugs across the US Mexico border” (University of Phoenix, 2010, p. 2). Identify Team Member Roles and Responsibilities In the first part of the simulation participants, whose role in the simulation was Special Agent in Charge, were required to create a task force. The participant was presented with profiles of the candidates. The four positions, which the special agent needed to assign, were Lead Agent, Assistant Lead Agent, Intelligence Agent, and Field Specialist. As a participant I selected Sam to fill the position of Lead Agent. Sam was selected because his twelve year career experience with a concentration in drug regulation, ability to speak Spanish and strong work ethic. For the position...
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...discussed strategies to help develop effective groups and teams. The team members also discussed strategies to resolve conflict within organizations. The discussion included topics with which the team members felt comfortable or struggled with and how the weekly topics applied to team members’ business field. This paper summarizes Learning Team A’s discussions. Strategies to Develop Effective Groups and Teams The team members discussed the difference between the definitions of work group and work team. The work group share information and make decisions that assists each member perform tasks in his area of responsibility (Robbins & Judge, 2011). The group members do not engage in “collective work that requires joint effort (Robbins & Judge, 2011, Chapter 10) like a work team does. A work group does not create the synergy of a work team. The individual is accountable in a work group but both the individual and team members mutually are accountable. Work group members provide random and varied skills, whereas work team members bring complementary skills to the joint effort. Robbins and Judge (2011) categorized the major characteristics of effective teams into three general categories: context, composition, and process. In the context category, managers play a vital role in providing leadership, structure, a climate of trust, adequate resources, and a performance evaluation and reward systems to assist teams in becoming effective and highly productive. In the composition...
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...Reflection on Team Experience Today in many industries and organizations group/team work is a tool for effective achievement of organizational goals. Understanding the way groups develop and how they impact organizational success is important to the effective use of groups in organizations. One of the most common models to describe how groups develop was described by Tuckman. Tuckman studied group development as it was seen in group therapy. This was then extrapolated to involve the development of all groups and teams that exist in areas such as those seen in organizations. In 1966, Tucker proposed that group development progressed through four identifiable stages which were named forming, storming, norming and performing. The Tuckman model for the stages of group development is one of the most cited models in the business world. Over the years there were other studies that also agreed that groups go through stages and they had identified that there appeared to be an “ending” stage as well. In 1977 Tuckman with Jensen reviewed who the stages of group development had evolved over the years since his first proposal of the stages of group development and in response to other studies they added a final stage of group development which the called adjourning (Tuckman & Jensen, 1977). The adjourning stage will not be reviewed in this paper since there was no real adjourning stage with this group. Another model for group development is the punctuated equilibrium (PE) model which was proposed...
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...Leadership Roles 1 Leadership Roles in a Small-Group Project Merlla McLaughlin Professor Bushnell Communications 102 February 22, 2004 Source: Andrea A. Lunsford (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004) Leadership Roles 2 Abstract Using the interpersonal communications research of J. K. Brilhart and G. J. Galanes, as well as that of W. Wilmot and J. Hocker, along with T. Hartman’s Personality Assessment, I observed and analyzed the leadership roles and group dynamics of my project collaborators in a communications course. Based on results of the Hartman Personality Assessment, I predicted that a single leader would emerge. However, complementary individual strengths and gender differences encouraged a distributed leadership style, in which the group experienced little confrontation. Conflict, because it was handled positively, was crucial to the group’s progress. Source: Andrea A. Lunsford (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004) Leadership Roles 3 Leadership Roles in a Small-Group Project While classroom lectures provide students with volumes of information, many experiences can be understood only by living them. So it is with the workings of a small, task-focused group. What observations can I make after working with a my peers on a class project? And what have I learned as a result? Leadership Expectations and Emergence The six members of this group were selected by the instructor; half were male and half were female. By performing the Hartman Personality Assessment (Hartman, 1998)...
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