Working Within A Team Student Name Institutional Affiliation

15working Within A Teamstudent Nameinstitutional Affiliationcourse Nam

Working within a team refers to several people endeavoring to achieve a common goal. Given that teamwork involves people from differing backgrounds and perspectives, one might either like or dislike working within a team. Specifically, numerous factors determine whether one loves or hates working in a team. These include the team's environment, situation, feelings, and views regarding the team leader's leadership style, and how team members behave. Having participated in teamwork at my previous place of work, I have witnessed that these factors affect whether a team will deliver better results or not.

This paper delves into personal reflections on a team in which I participated at work; focusing on the team’s environment, circumstances, leadership style, general reactions of the team members, and what could have been done differently to make the team’s performance and interactions more productive, durable, and meaningful.

Environment and situation

Working together is the most crucial strength that any successful team should possess (Deering, 2021). In realization of this fact, members of the team I participated in worked together to produce outcomes. In a nutshell, my team built and maintained a collaborative environment throughout its lifespan. This environment was developed via having a common purpose, goal, purpose, and trusting (Deering, 2021).

This means that all team actions and energies were directed at accomplishing a shared purpose and goal while honesty and trust among teammates, working to eliminate conflicts of interest, and avoiding going behind each other’s back were prioritized. The collaborative environment was also facilitated by open and effective communication (Deering, 2021). This means that all team members strived to understand one another by communicating openly and efficiently about anything and listening to one another. Misunderstandings were addressed swiftly and accurately. Besides its collaborative nature, the team was in a perfect situation.

For instance, team members offered each other the necessary support. In other words, teammates were always excited to help one another whenever they needed assistance. The organization also provided its support in terms of resources whenever the need arose. The team was also well organized. The management put in place plans and strategies to ensure that each team member completed their work efficiently and met their deadlines.

The team was also typified by diversity and good leadership. Indeed, when team members come from diverse backgrounds concerning skills, age, personalities, and cultures; hence, the group becomes a melting pot of experiences, ideas, and creativity (Deering, 2021).

Leadership Style of the Team Leader

According to Deering (2021), a successful team ought to have a leader who respects and trusts. The leadership of the team involved all members in decision-making. This approach to managing the team not only held the team together but also encouraged and motivated them.

After all, they felt part and parcel of the team’s decision-making process. Therefore, in my opinion, the team’s leader was a democratic person who allowed others to participate in making important decisions for the team. According to Ahmed, Nawaz & Khan (2016), a democratic leadership style enables every team member to share their opinions to shape the final decision.

General Reactions of the Team Members

While team members strived to avoid conflicts, disagreements often found their way into their midst. Indeed, the teammates had successfully eliminated substantive conflicts that often arose over tasks, objectives, and resource allocation within teams.

In this regard, all members responded positively towards each other. That is to say, they valued each other’s ideas and conveyed sincerity and interest whenever they were discussing fundamental team issues. However, emotional conflicts were inevitable among team members. Often, passionate disagreements are brought about by two people having divergent opinions and concealing their acrimonies for a long time (Lumen, n.d.).

Therefore, emotional conflicts in my team were demonstrated through jealousy, envy, anger, insecurity, and gossip.

Doing Things Differently

Acknowledging that emotional conflicts could affect team success, in the long run, would be paramount if the team expected to foster permanent relationships (Lumen, n.d.). Therefore, the team leader should have scheduled regular open meetings to address emotional conflicts among teammates. Through open meetings, members are encouraged to share their problems, including personal disagreements and feelings towards one another (Lumen, n.d.).

In effect, such conflicts would be successfully solved; thus, making the team’s performance and interactions more productive, durable, and meaningful.

Conclusion

An environment that promotes cooperation is essential for the success of teamwork in an organization within any field. Support among team members and the organization, particularly concerning resource allocation, is also necessary for teamwork success. More importantly, leaders should involve all team members in decision-making and conflict management to facilitate productive and durable performance and interactions in the team.

References

• Ahmed, Z., Nawaz, A., & Khan, U. I. (2016). Leadership theories and styles. Journal of Resources Development and Management, 16, 1-7.
• Deering, S. (2021). Top 7 qualities of a successful team. Retrieved from Lumen.
• Lumen. (n.d.). Conflict within teams. Retrieved from