Weekly Writing Assignment #2: Defining Team Success

1. What are some benefits I hope to gain from working as a group member this semester and how will I ensure these benefits expectations this week?

Two benefits I dream to obtain through teamwork this semester is organizational effectiveness and a higher performance. Therefore, to ensure goals and expectations are being met, I will utilize the “Team Performance Episode” table located in the book. To clarify my statement, this will ensure the “transition” and “action” processes are balanced while keeping me accountable for my goals stated above this week and for the rest of the semester (Levi, 2017, pg. 33). Furthermore, I will need to reflect my internal processes on the daily to establish cohesion individually and capture the cycle successfully. For example, journaling my thoughts will allow me to not rush important decisions, to build a shared understanding of the task, and to communicate my thoughts openly during future team meetings.

2. What are some of the group processes skills that will be necessary to ensure my group's success this semester and why?

There are two main group processes skills crucial to my group’s success: “trust” and “team learning/reflexivity”, because without these the team won’t be effective (Levi, 2017, pg. 38). If members don’t have a high level of trust, communication won’t be clear, and completion of tasks will be poor. A good example of trust will be tended through team members by providing each other support socially, emotionally during stress, and performance wise. On the other hand, my group should be constantly learning and reflecting as a student. Otherwise, if a student isn’t confident about their group’s learning and reflexivity, how will they succeed during the semester, in college, and in life? It’s ongoing and being a student is a prime example of that.

3. Why are social interactions an important part of effective groups? What are some creative ways my group could create opportunities for social interactions with each other, while keeping in mind social distancing practices?

Developing social relations among members is crucial because it builds a connection and creates a cohesive team. For example, I worked with a prior team relating to other members who added little contribution to the team by not taking on tasks. Because of this, I experienced “project burnout” (Levi, 2017, pg. 28). Even though we successfully completed the tasks at hand, I didn’t want to collaborate with them again. To ensure successful social relations among members during Covid-19, we could play a game together on Zoom.

4. What are some causes or organizations that are important to me and how could these potentially work as a part of my group's service project (task) this semester? How will I communicate my ideas to your group members this week?

Locally, there are two nonprofit organizations that are extremely important to me: Buffalo County Community Partners and McKenna’s Rae of Hope. Buffalo County Community Partners, otherwise known as BCCHP, aims to improve the health of Buffalo County by partnering with other business in Kearney. For example, some events they do includes: Prescription Takeback, Food Boxes, and Community Laptop Drive. While McKenna’s Rae of Hope aims to strike out the mental health stigma in Kearney. However, this organization only does a few events in Kearney yearly. Therefore, BCCHP would be a better option because of their variety of volunteer opportunities. On another note, my group is in the process of establishing meeting on the assignment Compact of Understanding. During the meeting, I would like to present my organizations, show their pros and cons, ask for feedback, and reflect on next steps.

5. What are conditions for team success? Do you feel that you have the necessary conditions to be successful with your team this semester? Why or why not? If not, what needs to happen to ensure you have conditions for success and what can you do about it? (Use evidence, i.e. in-text citations and examples to help support your claims.)

Success of a team depends on “four conditions”: right people to perform the task, task must be suitable for teamwork, team must combine its resources effectively to complete the task, and organization must provide supportive context for the team (Levi, 2017, pg. 29).

Because of the unfamiliarity with overall team composition, I am unable to predict if the conditions of my team will be met. For example, the only basis I have regarding my team is their personality trait results provided by the professor via Canvas. Therefore, to ensure conditions are being met and for my team to be successful, I will need to establish their “deep-level attributes” by doing a team exercise (Levi, 2017, pg. 29). Through this process, I will need to be observant of their individual attributes and how they can impact the team while vice versa.