Being a political science major, I recently read about the president and how he organizes the Executive Office of the President, the White House, Bureaucracy, and his Cabinet. Depending on whether or not there is a hierarchical or collegiate structure to the president and his staff, the amount of information which reaches the president can be greatly affected. The teamwork the cabinet and other presidential offices can achieve is greatly hindered by the organizational structure the president sets up. If meetings are regularly held, the different presidential appointees will be updated on all of the issues, and they can find areas of overlap, which would allow problems to be solved more effectively. Teamwork with the president is essential.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Team Building and Cohesiveness
The most interesting aspect of Chapter 11 was the discussion regarding team building activities; I thought this was surprisingly related to team cohesiveness, which was discussed earlier in the chapter. If team building exercises are used effectively, they can create trust, loyalty, and even friendship among team members. All of these factors contribute to team cohesiveness and create a sense of ease and slightly enhance productivity among employees. The two types of team cohesiveness include "socio-emotional" and "instrumental." That is, togetherness which is derived from two different sources, that of satisfaction from group participation, and realization of the mutual dependence of team members, respectively. These two types of cohesion should be balanced to achieve a higher level of teamwork and productivity.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Effective teams
In chapter 11, an effective team works by two criteria, performance and viability. Performance is considered if the team got the job done? Team viability is defined as the team member’s satisfaction and continued willingness to contribute. A work team also needs a friendly organization if they are to be effective. The book says that the team has a better chance of success if they are cared for by the organization with the right technological tools, reasonable schedules, and training. The book also says that teamwork also needs to be rewarded by the reward system. A website listed 5 characteristic of a winning team which are Shared Values, Mutual Trust, Inspiring Vision and Strategic Alignment, Harnessing the Power of Diversity and Building Synergies, Rewards.
http://www.1000advices.com/guru/teamwork_5characteristics_vk.html
http://www.1000advices.com/guru/teamwork_5characteristics_vk.html
Team Building
In the article “7 Steps to Successful Team Building”, it describes the characteristics to build a team. First you must have specific session and longer-term goals and know how the session goals lead to the longer term ones. Second, use an appealing and varied base activity that involves each participant in something that he or she enjoys doing. Third, use an activity that achieves that engagement while having true parallels to the workplace and has significance with the session goals. Fourth, select an activity that requires the same kind of skills and team approaches that are needed at work. Fifth, consider using an independent (internal or external) facilitator which allows all levels to join in as equals. Sixth, debrief using a predefined process that highlights the workplace parallels and allows the participants to extract their own learning rather than be preached to. Lastly, use a proven method to transfer the learning back to the workplace, ideally integrated within the debriefing process itself.
Team building is intended to improve the internal functioning of work groups. Team building can be introduced by company trainers or outsiders. The activities and workshops help improve the team’s cooperation, communication, and dysfunctional conflict. I learned that if you want to build a team rather than just bond the individuals closer, you need a structured process. You need to decide before you start what improvements you want and can realistically expect the team to achieve. Next you can decide how long it will take to achieve those results.
"7 Steps to Successful Team Building, Stuctured Team Building." Team Building Activities, Corporate Away Days, Team Building Exercises. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
Team building is intended to improve the internal functioning of work groups. Team building can be introduced by company trainers or outsiders. The activities and workshops help improve the team’s cooperation, communication, and dysfunctional conflict. I learned that if you want to build a team rather than just bond the individuals closer, you need a structured process. You need to decide before you start what improvements you want and can realistically expect the team to achieve. Next you can decide how long it will take to achieve those results.
"7 Steps to Successful Team Building, Stuctured Team Building." Team Building Activities, Corporate Away Days, Team Building Exercises. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
Effective Work Teams
In order for a work team to be effective, then it must follow 2 criteria, performance and viability. performance is simple. Either the team got the work they needed to do done or they didn't. Viability is team members satisfaction and continued willingness to contribute. A team is not truly effective it performs well but is slowly self destructing as well. In addition to performing and team viability, a team must have a team friendly organization. Work teams need some sort of support system. The chance of succeeding increase tremendously if they are nurtured and facilitated by the organization. The teams purpose and the organizations strategy need to run parallel.In order for this to be, the organizational culture needs to value team participation and autonomy. Linda Hunt, resident of St. Josephs Hospital and Medical Center, also said that team members need technological tools, reasonable schedules, training, and rewarded by the organizational rewards system. I went online and found a website that listed characteristics of an effective work team, they are the following
clear purpose
informality
participation
listening
civilized disagreements
group consensus
open communication
shared leadership
Sparks, Ricki. Characteristics of an Effective Team. http://www.missouribusiness.net/sbtdc/docs/characteristics_effective_team.asp
clear purpose
informality
participation
listening
civilized disagreements
group consensus
open communication
shared leadership
Sparks, Ricki. Characteristics of an Effective Team. http://www.missouribusiness.net/sbtdc/docs/characteristics_effective_team.asp
Chapter Eleven: Team Building Results in High Performance Teams
In Chapter eleven the common theme is developing teams for effective results. Toward the end of the chapter it mentions that the goal of team building is to develop high performance teams. The stronger the relationship is among the team, the more things they will be able to accomplish. They will be able to share with each other their strengths and weaknesses, as a result develop a plan that will allow them to put together their strengths and become a productive as well as a high performance team. The book mentions that “team building is more important than ever” (Kreitner and Kinicki 328).
When a survey was conducted by Wilson Learning Corporation, the respondents were asked to describe their peak experiences in work teams. When the results were analyzed, those teams that resulted with high performance had eight common attributes in common which are participating leadership, shared responsibility, aligned on purpose, high communication, future focused, focused on task, creative talents, and rapid response. Now these main attributes also make up progressive teams and ideas.
An article which I found relevant speaks about Business programs at colleges and universities presently facing wide-ranging challenges in delivering quality education. As more and more business programs find it necessary to conserve or redirect resources, successfully leading through change becomes paramount for departments and their faculty teams. This is due to the growing number of part-time faculty. The author examined the processes a school of business undertook while redesigning its program with a strong faculty team of part- and full-time members, which developed their team building. The author identifies and discusses components of leading change and achieving high performance through high communication among the faculty, leadership, shared responsibility, and future focus on the students’ educational success.
Source: Marsh, F. K. "High Performance Team: Building a Business Program With Part- and Full-Time Faculty." Journal of Education for Business 85.4 (2010): 187-194. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
When a survey was conducted by Wilson Learning Corporation, the respondents were asked to describe their peak experiences in work teams. When the results were analyzed, those teams that resulted with high performance had eight common attributes in common which are participating leadership, shared responsibility, aligned on purpose, high communication, future focused, focused on task, creative talents, and rapid response. Now these main attributes also make up progressive teams and ideas.
An article which I found relevant speaks about Business programs at colleges and universities presently facing wide-ranging challenges in delivering quality education. As more and more business programs find it necessary to conserve or redirect resources, successfully leading through change becomes paramount for departments and their faculty teams. This is due to the growing number of part-time faculty. The author examined the processes a school of business undertook while redesigning its program with a strong faculty team of part- and full-time members, which developed their team building. The author identifies and discusses components of leading change and achieving high performance through high communication among the faculty, leadership, shared responsibility, and future focus on the students’ educational success.
Source: Marsh, F. K. "High Performance Team: Building a Business Program With Part- and Full-Time Faculty." Journal of Education for Business 85.4 (2010): 187-194. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Group Development
Tuckman's Five-Stage Theory of Group Development was discussed during class and is an important concept to understand for successful group work. The first of the five stages is forming which is usually where "ice-breaker" activities are used. Learning your intended goal, understanding the project and time-line are all included in this stage. Storming is the second stage where the roles within the group are defined and testing the other members boundaries to feel comfortable. The third stage is norming where group cohesiveness is most apparent and the challenges of testing the waters has passed and now owning the roles the team members have taken. Finally the performance stage where problems are solved. Open communication, respect, constructiveness is important within a cohesive work group. Lastly is the adjourning stage where tasks have been completed and accomplishment has been established. This final stage is extremely important because groups often have time limits. If a team is together for too long of a period the stages can go in reverse disrupting the harmony within the workplace. Any type of group can be affected by these stages including active, project, production, advice teams and even friendships.
Teams
The ability to successfully work in a team is challenging but is an important skill to learn. In chapter 11 a typology of teams is addressed along with where each come into play in the workplace. Advice teams are created to broaden information base for managerial decisions. This type of team has a low degree of technical specialization and coordination with other workers. Decisions, selections, suggestions, proposals, and recommendations are the intended output or advice teams. Production teams are those who handle the everyday operations. There is a low degree of technical specialization and a high degree of work with others. The work given to these team members is repetitive and requires minimal training time. Tasks much be passed on from one group to another so knowing how to work with a variety of people is very important in productions teams. Third team type includes research groups, planning, architect, engineering and development teams that specialize in projects. Creativity and the discussion of new ideas is a major component to a project team. Finally is an action team which is pretty obvious and probably one of the hardest professional teams to join. Examples of this are athletic or performance teams which have both a high degree of technical specialization and coordination with others. Ensuring the right type of team for the job in an important component to a successful work environment and efficiency.
What will happen to personal accountability and ethics in a more flexible and global project-oriented workplace? P322
It is hard to figure out how work will be if you can work from a beach with your lap-top.
I think it is a new way of considering the teamwork, but from my point of view, it does not permit a good team atmosphere.
You never meet the people with whom you work, except on your chat. Where is the cohesion of the team? Work is made of relations between people. And I think that it is more difficult to perform at work if you do not know the whole team.
Off course, many teamwork are well done by people from different workplaces. But I think that there must be a core who works in the same place.
Moreover, it is thus easier to have your work done by another person, who is more qualified than you: nobody will be able to check. And this is unfair, because people will think that it is your own job.
For me, it is more motivating to work with other people, in a working atmosphere. I feel more implicated in my work, and I want to work as the other do. If nobody never works around me, i think it will be harder for me to do a good job.
So for me, worplace can be flexible and global project-oriented, but people must be aware of what it means; they also must be prepared to that.
Self-Managed Teams in a Digital Age
In Chapter 11, the topics virtual teams and self-managed teams are briefly discussed. The modern and technologically advanced age we live in has prompted virtual teams to emerge both nationally and globally. This new mindset in a more modern age may have also prompted new approaches toward self-managed teams.
The article, "Emergent Leadership in Self-Managed Virtual Teams," Carte et. al. discuss a study conducted to prove whether or not self-managed virtual teams are effective in coordinating and executing activities. Their results showed: "that high performing self-managed virtual teams displayed significantly more leadership behaviors over time compared to their low performing counterparts. Specifically, these teams displayed significantly more concentrated leadership behavior focused on performance" (Carte et. al.). Despite the evenly distributed roles among the team, hints of leadership still emerged within the most successful teams.
So what does this mean? Although teams may have roles in which they are held accountable for, a team cannot steer towards the direction they want to go in without some sort of leadership and guidance. When you think about it, leadership, itself, is also a team role to consider.
Source: Carte, Traci, Laku Chidambaram, and Aaron Becker. "Emergent Leadership in Self-Managed Virtual Teams." Group Decision & Negotiation 15.4 (2006): 323-343. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
The article, "Emergent Leadership in Self-Managed Virtual Teams," Carte et. al. discuss a study conducted to prove whether or not self-managed virtual teams are effective in coordinating and executing activities. Their results showed: "that high performing self-managed virtual teams displayed significantly more leadership behaviors over time compared to their low performing counterparts. Specifically, these teams displayed significantly more concentrated leadership behavior focused on performance" (Carte et. al.). Despite the evenly distributed roles among the team, hints of leadership still emerged within the most successful teams.
So what does this mean? Although teams may have roles in which they are held accountable for, a team cannot steer towards the direction they want to go in without some sort of leadership and guidance. When you think about it, leadership, itself, is also a team role to consider.
Source: Carte, Traci, Laku Chidambaram, and Aaron Becker. "Emergent Leadership in Self-Managed Virtual Teams." Group Decision & Negotiation 15.4 (2006): 323-343. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
Chapter 11: Virtual Teams
Chapter eleven discusses developing and leading effective teams. In the business world, it is highly unlikely to avoid working with teams and being involved in projects. Especially in today's society, the markets are enlarging through globalization making teamwork important. However, as firms become globally connected, it becomes harder to communicate. Thankfully, virtual teams were created in order to sustain a consistent way of communicating with other partners around the world. In the book, virtual team is defined as information technology allows group members in different locations to conduct business. On the other hand, the book also mentions the negative side of virtual teams as "lacking face-to-face interactions [that] can weaken trust and accountability (323). It is also said that working through the interest is less effective than actually going to the office or work site.
Being an international business student, I find it important to know how to communicate through the web and technology. So, I researched online to find out more about virtual teams pros and cons, and I came across a simple site that mentions a few points. Pros would include less travel, bigger markets, and synchronized schedules and time frames. The cons consist of needing all workers to know certain "techonoliteracy " in order to communicate clearly through the web, hiding through technology and not working as efficiently as being in the same location, attention may not be given fully to online meetings/discussions, figuring out a time frame that compromises each time zone, and communication without nonverbal behavior. There are definitely good and bad sides to virtual teams, but as time goes on and as technology becomes more innovative, it should improve a lot in the future.
site: http://www.virtualteamworks.com/96.htm
Being an international business student, I find it important to know how to communicate through the web and technology. So, I researched online to find out more about virtual teams pros and cons, and I came across a simple site that mentions a few points. Pros would include less travel, bigger markets, and synchronized schedules and time frames. The cons consist of needing all workers to know certain "techonoliteracy " in order to communicate clearly through the web, hiding through technology and not working as efficiently as being in the same location, attention may not be given fully to online meetings/discussions, figuring out a time frame that compromises each time zone, and communication without nonverbal behavior. There are definitely good and bad sides to virtual teams, but as time goes on and as technology becomes more innovative, it should improve a lot in the future.
site: http://www.virtualteamworks.com/96.htm
Chapter 11: Cooperation vs. Competition
Chapter 11 discussed the idea of cooperation versus competition. According to our textbook, cooperation was an important component of an effective team. While this was something true, the book also talked about how sometimes, cooperation was stifled by the idea of competition. There were teams who thought that competition was more effective than cooperation when it came to doing group work. In other words, they believed that competition was something that “gets the work done”, moreso than cooperation. This was something that I was interested in and wanted to find out more about, especially in a school setting.
A study was done by Leasher Dennis Madrid, Madeline Canas, and Mona Ortega-Medina on cooperation versus competition. They tested 16 children from 8 to 9 and half years old. They divided the children into different groups—groups that were tutored competitively and groups tutored cooperatively. Their findings showed that the children who were tutored cooperatively were more successful when it came to their tests and was able to improve their scores than those who were taught competitively by 92%. They concluded that when it came to schooling, it was better for students to learn in a more cooperative classroom than that of a competitive classroom.
Source:
Leasher Dennis Madrid, Madeline Canas, & Mona Ortega-Medina. (2007). Effects of Team Competition Versus Team Cooperation in Classwide Peer Tutoring. The Journal of Educational Research, 100(3), 155-160,192. Retrieved March 21, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.
A study was done by Leasher Dennis Madrid, Madeline Canas, and Mona Ortega-Medina on cooperation versus competition. They tested 16 children from 8 to 9 and half years old. They divided the children into different groups—groups that were tutored competitively and groups tutored cooperatively. Their findings showed that the children who were tutored cooperatively were more successful when it came to their tests and was able to improve their scores than those who were taught competitively by 92%. They concluded that when it came to schooling, it was better for students to learn in a more cooperative classroom than that of a competitive classroom.
Source:
Leasher Dennis Madrid, Madeline Canas, & Mona Ortega-Medina. (2007). Effects of Team Competition Versus Team Cooperation in Classwide Peer Tutoring. The Journal of Educational Research, 100(3), 155-160,192. Retrieved March 21, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Chapter 11
Cooperation is defined as when individual efforts are ‘systematically integrated to achieve a collective objective.’ Most people think that competition brings out better results, but it may not necessarily be the case. If two teams are put against each other to be competitive and finish a project, it might hurt later ties to cooperate together on a big project. Cooperation also reminds me of the starfish analogy that Dr. Lucy used when I interviewed her. Each limb of a starfish has a specific role and strength which affects the rest of the limbs. If one of the limbs keeps moving ahead without cooperating with other limbs to get tasks done, the starfish’s movement will be slower and not as effective. When all the limbs of a starfish cooperate and work together, they are all moving forward simultaneously, making progress more smooth and effective.
On the website, ‘WORLDSHAPERS!: Social Entreprenuers “Rebalancing” Society,’ cooperation’s definition also includes that the success of one team is dependent on the success of another. Although competition is the opposite of cooperation, competition is sometimes the motivation for teams to cooperate in order to become a more effective unit. However, there are some forms of cooperations that are illegal in certain areas, such as, cartels and price-fixing. In the Prinsoner’s Dilemma, it showed that we humans act more cooperatively because we are naturally socially cooperative and can’t survive without it. There are four conditions that are necessary for cooperation: common goals, opportunity to cooperate with same individuals again, memories of past cooperations with same individuals, and a value associated with future outcomes. This website points out important details that cooperation has, such as, competition is a motivation for cooperation. Reading this article helped to gain a better understanding of cooperation.
Works Cited
Cooperation vs. Competition. 20 March 2010.
On the website, ‘WORLDSHAPERS!: Social Entreprenuers “Rebalancing” Society,’ cooperation’s definition also includes that the success of one team is dependent on the success of another. Although competition is the opposite of cooperation, competition is sometimes the motivation for teams to cooperate in order to become a more effective unit. However, there are some forms of cooperations that are illegal in certain areas, such as, cartels and price-fixing. In the Prinsoner’s Dilemma, it showed that we humans act more cooperatively because we are naturally socially cooperative and can’t survive without it. There are four conditions that are necessary for cooperation: common goals, opportunity to cooperate with same individuals again, memories of past cooperations with same individuals, and a value associated with future outcomes. This website points out important details that cooperation has, such as, competition is a motivation for cooperation. Reading this article helped to gain a better understanding of cooperation.
Works Cited
Cooperation vs. Competition. 20 March 2010
Social Dynamics? In MY workplace? BAH!
Chapter 10 is about the one thing in this world I cannot properly grasp: Social Dynamics.
There are so many things at play in the ways that people communicate and interact, it's enough to make a man crazy. Chapter 10 of our fun-filled-fantasy romp through la-la land Organizational Behavior, by none other than our friends, Kreitner and Kinicki, spells out a dizzying array of how organizational social interactions are formulated and maintained. This chapter covers everything from expectations and group pressure to team size. There are two things in this chapter that really caught my eye, though- the concept of social currencies, and Bruce W. Tuckman's five-stage group development process.
When you think about it, there's no social currency like money (or Duck Tales)
(Image courtesy of stormstrike.files.wordpress.com)
In this case, there are currencies that you and your organization exchange in any and all interactions. Of course, there's the reason most people work, which is money. You exchange your time and skills for a paycheck. That's one kind of currency exchange, but you also exchange your loyalty, positivity, good performance, and other things with your job in exchange for advancement, benefits, continued employment, and other things. You exchange your assets as currency for their assets, which you probably want. How you "pay out" your currency (if you do at all), has a profound impact on how you are perceived within the group and the organization as a whole.
This is a two-way street. If the organization is giving you what you perceive to be a lower value of exchange than you feel you deserve, you will likely give less to make the exchange feel more "equal" in your mind. Conversely, if the company sees that you are giving much more value to the company than the company perceives it is giving to you, then a promotion is probably not far off. This is essentially simple psychology that I have covered in previous blog posts, but it bears repeating, due to its profound importance to group dynamics. If your group isn't giving you what you believe you deserve, you won't give as much to your group or team, and that's not a sustainable relationship.
So, how do groups develop into a collaborative environment where these kinds of exchanges take place? Some dude back in 1965 named Bruce W. Tuckman developed a theory to help explain that very process, making him one of the pimpingest educational psychologists from that decade.
Pictured: The Pimpingest
(Image courtesy of i4learnlive2.co.uk)
He broke down his theory into five stages, starting with the formation of the group and ending with the eventual adjournment of the group. I will break down the steps one by one, and give real-life examples.
Step 1- Forming
Forming is the meet-and-greet stage, where nobody knows each other. There is some ambiguity as to who is in charge and what specific group roles are in this stage. During this stage, if there is a formal leader, he'd better step up and take charge or someone else will do it for him. A good example would be a group of motorcyclists. In my time riding my motorcycle all over northern California, I have found that it's super easy to get a group together, but difficult to give that group some direction. There are roles in riding groups that need to be fulfilled. The person in back sets the pace while the person in front watches for road hazards and alerts the group behind them. Usually, the ride organizer is automatically designated the formal leader, but if their leadership is insufficient, another rider (sometimes in mid-ride) can supersede them and take charge if they detect that the group is not enjoying themselves, which is the whole point of riding.
Step 2- Storming
Storming is where group members really feel out the situation with the leader and other members. this is a trying stage for the group, because this is where power blocs are born and politics play a big role. This is the stage where members test the policies of the leader, and where they begin to figure out where they fit into the group hierarchy. Imagine a company of new soldiers fresh out of boot camp joining with their battalion in an overseas deployment. Of course, they're the new guys. Imagine that boot camp is the forming stage. Now, they need to figure out how they fit into the scheme of things by testing their leader's policies and by forming groups. The book points out that this stage can be deadly because some people will try to make power grabs, leading to conflict.
Stage 3- Norming
According to the model, groups that make it this far did so because a member of the group other than the leader stepped up to call on group members to abandon power struggles and come together to work toward organizational goals. This is the part of the equation where team spirit begins to form, and people fall into their roles. Imagine a new online publication. The new team has already formed little groups that made plays for power gains in the office structure, but a member of the office has said that this can't work anymore. All members of the group sit down, hash out the problems, reaffirm their roles, and start to view the group as the vehicle for productivity, rather than a means to an end.
Stage 4- Performing
This is where task problems get solved. The group members won't be stepping on each other's toes in this stage. The group members cooperate with each other and help each other on tasks. The group's goals are now part of each member's commitment to the activity. Imagine an assembly line, where each member counts on other members to do their job correctly. Beyond the expectation, though, is TRUST that the other members WILL do their job correctly.
Stage 5- Adjourning
Unfortunately, the project is over, and the group must disband. A group that has made it to this stage will see it's members experiencing a sense of loss. Members will naturally miss the cohesiveness of the group and the people that they met. Often, there will be celebrations of success, or somber rituals of loss. Leaders will often give talks to the group about lessons learned, great work that was done in the group, and implore group members to prepare for their futures. In this case, think about a class of students at a college. They came into the school without any knowledge of each other, what the expectations were, or what their roles would be. Some of them made power plays in various extracurricular activities like sports and student government, but advisors and teachers were the primary supervisors that they reported to. The students form small groups and play for power (in this case, popularity is a big one). They then grow up a little, reaffirm their roles as students and not partying alcoholics, and everyone starts working together, sometimes forming study groups and other such things that help toward the common goal of graduation. In the end, they graduate, and the group dissolves.
There are so many things at play in the ways that people communicate and interact, it's enough to make a man crazy. Chapter 10 of our fun-filled-fantasy romp through la-la land Organizational Behavior, by none other than our friends, Kreitner and Kinicki, spells out a dizzying array of how organizational social interactions are formulated and maintained. This chapter covers everything from expectations and group pressure to team size. There are two things in this chapter that really caught my eye, though- the concept of social currencies, and Bruce W. Tuckman's five-stage group development process.
When you think about it, there's no social currency like money (or Duck Tales)
(Image courtesy of stormstrike.files.wordpress.com)
In this case, there are currencies that you and your organization exchange in any and all interactions. Of course, there's the reason most people work, which is money. You exchange your time and skills for a paycheck. That's one kind of currency exchange, but you also exchange your loyalty, positivity, good performance, and other things with your job in exchange for advancement, benefits, continued employment, and other things. You exchange your assets as currency for their assets, which you probably want. How you "pay out" your currency (if you do at all), has a profound impact on how you are perceived within the group and the organization as a whole.
This is a two-way street. If the organization is giving you what you perceive to be a lower value of exchange than you feel you deserve, you will likely give less to make the exchange feel more "equal" in your mind. Conversely, if the company sees that you are giving much more value to the company than the company perceives it is giving to you, then a promotion is probably not far off. This is essentially simple psychology that I have covered in previous blog posts, but it bears repeating, due to its profound importance to group dynamics. If your group isn't giving you what you believe you deserve, you won't give as much to your group or team, and that's not a sustainable relationship.
So, how do groups develop into a collaborative environment where these kinds of exchanges take place? Some dude back in 1965 named Bruce W. Tuckman developed a theory to help explain that very process, making him one of the pimpingest educational psychologists from that decade.
Pictured: The Pimpingest
(Image courtesy of i4learnlive2.co.uk)
He broke down his theory into five stages, starting with the formation of the group and ending with the eventual adjournment of the group. I will break down the steps one by one, and give real-life examples.
Step 1- Forming
Forming is the meet-and-greet stage, where nobody knows each other. There is some ambiguity as to who is in charge and what specific group roles are in this stage. During this stage, if there is a formal leader, he'd better step up and take charge or someone else will do it for him. A good example would be a group of motorcyclists. In my time riding my motorcycle all over northern California, I have found that it's super easy to get a group together, but difficult to give that group some direction. There are roles in riding groups that need to be fulfilled. The person in back sets the pace while the person in front watches for road hazards and alerts the group behind them. Usually, the ride organizer is automatically designated the formal leader, but if their leadership is insufficient, another rider (sometimes in mid-ride) can supersede them and take charge if they detect that the group is not enjoying themselves, which is the whole point of riding.
Step 2- Storming
Storming is where group members really feel out the situation with the leader and other members. this is a trying stage for the group, because this is where power blocs are born and politics play a big role. This is the stage where members test the policies of the leader, and where they begin to figure out where they fit into the group hierarchy. Imagine a company of new soldiers fresh out of boot camp joining with their battalion in an overseas deployment. Of course, they're the new guys. Imagine that boot camp is the forming stage. Now, they need to figure out how they fit into the scheme of things by testing their leader's policies and by forming groups. The book points out that this stage can be deadly because some people will try to make power grabs, leading to conflict.
Stage 3- Norming
According to the model, groups that make it this far did so because a member of the group other than the leader stepped up to call on group members to abandon power struggles and come together to work toward organizational goals. This is the part of the equation where team spirit begins to form, and people fall into their roles. Imagine a new online publication. The new team has already formed little groups that made plays for power gains in the office structure, but a member of the office has said that this can't work anymore. All members of the group sit down, hash out the problems, reaffirm their roles, and start to view the group as the vehicle for productivity, rather than a means to an end.
Stage 4- Performing
This is where task problems get solved. The group members won't be stepping on each other's toes in this stage. The group members cooperate with each other and help each other on tasks. The group's goals are now part of each member's commitment to the activity. Imagine an assembly line, where each member counts on other members to do their job correctly. Beyond the expectation, though, is TRUST that the other members WILL do their job correctly.
Stage 5- Adjourning
Unfortunately, the project is over, and the group must disband. A group that has made it to this stage will see it's members experiencing a sense of loss. Members will naturally miss the cohesiveness of the group and the people that they met. Often, there will be celebrations of success, or somber rituals of loss. Leaders will often give talks to the group about lessons learned, great work that was done in the group, and implore group members to prepare for their futures. In this case, think about a class of students at a college. They came into the school without any knowledge of each other, what the expectations were, or what their roles would be. Some of them made power plays in various extracurricular activities like sports and student government, but advisors and teachers were the primary supervisors that they reported to. The students form small groups and play for power (in this case, popularity is a big one). They then grow up a little, reaffirm their roles as students and not partying alcoholics, and everyone starts working together, sometimes forming study groups and other such things that help toward the common goal of graduation. In the end, they graduate, and the group dissolves.
We all love rewards
When you complete a task, you want to be legitimately rewarded, right? For most people, this takes the form of a fat paycheck that you sell you soul and time for. For others, they want the acceptance of their boss (fat chance). Still others simply take their reward from the virtue of their work.
The concept of rewards and positive reinforcement shares a two-way street with proper coaching and goal-setting. How can you be rewarded for not accomplishing a measurable outcome for your organization? This is where things can get hairy, because this dynamic is where that "corporate lemming" atmosphere can be inadvertently constructed.
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE BADASS OLDSCHOOL COMPUTER GAME "LEMMINGS"
(Image courtesy of Tonychor.com)
If you set a number of menial goals for your desk slaves to accomplish, they will simply jump through various organizational hoops toward the inevitable goal of suicide. These kinds of goals are called "performance outcome goals." You simply set some stupid bar like "sales numbers," or, "customer retention," and your employees become frustrated and disengaged, because they aren't being challenged in a meaningful or even enjoyable way. What works better are what Chapter 9 in our book calls, "learning goals." These goals encourage an employee to be creative, attack an interesting problem, and work toward developing new skills for future projects to achieve positive outcomes. If we get challenged in this way, we enjoy our jobs a lot more, and on average, get a lot less stabby with each other. Nobody likes explaining why they're stabby to their kids.
(Image courtesy of idiotpress.com)
There's a process to all this. This process is my focus today. An organization that wants a less stabtastic workforce wants to set good goals which the employees will at least tolerate.
First, you need to set goals. The book says that goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and time bound). That's a good point. It's important to lay out goals in a way that makes things simple. Employees need to know what the goals are, what the metrics for success are, how they are attained, what the results of those goals are, and the time frame in which to accomplish them.
Second, an organization needs to sell these goals to the workforce. The best laid plans can quickly unravel without support. The book calls this "Promoting Goal Commitment." According to the book, it's important to do a number of things during this stage in the brain-washing. You need to explain why these goals have been set, what the goals are and how personal goals in the company come into play, get employees to develop personal action plans, get teams and units together to participate in goal-setting sessions, give employees control, and make sure there's an adequate reward. Oh yeah, and don't threaten them with these goals. They get stabby that way.
The last part of this whole equation is very important. There needs to be a system of feedback in place. People like knowing how they're doing. We get mid-term grades in college so we know if we're drinking too much (or not enough). The same can be said about the workplace (not the drinking part, the other part). Letting employees know how they are doing helps to foster a sense of community, and that management has an interest in an employee's contribution rather than the end result.
And now, a real-world example:
My father is a wine maker, and we have a number of goals, most of which involve doing specific things on specific dates within specified amounts of time. Wine is a temperamental beverage that can turn into garbage REALLY quickly. We need to pick grapes, stem and crush them, punch them down in large barrels, press them into juice, add yeast (and sometimes wood chips for flavor), and put the resulting juice into oak casks for two years to ferment. I am personally involved in every aspect of this process. We rack the wine on a consistent time table by moving the wine out of the barrel and cleaning the newly empty cask, then replacing the wine with topping wine from kegs and carboys. Mismanaging this step can leave you with wine full of sediment that ruins the overall product. I don't know how many of you out there are winos like us, but sediment in your wine makes it undrinkable. Imagine getting a mouthful of sand in a sip of beer. Same thing.
We set time-based goals with all those involved, making sure that everyone gives their input and gets on board with the process. We also make sure everyone knows what their job is and what their hourly goals are. We also have a system of rewards for good participation and effort in the form of free bottles of wine (it's like giving away $50 to everyone). My father and the other wine partner, Jay, keeps an eye on everyone, rewarding stellar effort with free wine and other rewards. We make sure that those who work hard toward their specific task get recognized by the group and duly rewarded.
When we're bottling wine every fall, this process of management by objectives is palpable in the air. We bottle about 80 cases of wine in one day. In our GARAGE. Yes, we make award-winning hooch in our garage.
All attendees get together and are given jobs, which rotate over the course of the day. We let everyone know that the primary goal is 80 cases over the course of the day (that's 960 bottles), but there are goals for individual jobs, like corking a certain number of bottles in an hour, or cleaning a certain amount of bottles in a batch. Those that perform well in their present task are rewarded with glasses of wine, and in some cases, bottles. We set goals for every task as well as organizational goals. When those goals are accomplished, we make sure everyone knows how well they are doing and how well others are doing. Goals change on the fly with changing conditions, and the managers (my father and Jay) constantly check on everyone to give them feedback on their performance. Because I've been involved in this process since birth, I can say that my one superpower is my ability to cork bottles. Sometimes, my buddies and I race each other to see who can cork the most bottles with flush corks in 5 minutes. I have never lost to anyone. Ever. I get rewarded with magnums of wine. I love October.
This is an actual picture of my garage. Yes, those are kegs filled with wine. Try a keg stand with one of those.
The concept of rewards and positive reinforcement shares a two-way street with proper coaching and goal-setting. How can you be rewarded for not accomplishing a measurable outcome for your organization? This is where things can get hairy, because this dynamic is where that "corporate lemming" atmosphere can be inadvertently constructed.
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE BADASS OLDSCHOOL COMPUTER GAME "LEMMINGS"
(Image courtesy of Tonychor.com)
If you set a number of menial goals for your desk slaves to accomplish, they will simply jump through various organizational hoops toward the inevitable goal of suicide. These kinds of goals are called "performance outcome goals." You simply set some stupid bar like "sales numbers," or, "customer retention," and your employees become frustrated and disengaged, because they aren't being challenged in a meaningful or even enjoyable way. What works better are what Chapter 9 in our book calls, "learning goals." These goals encourage an employee to be creative, attack an interesting problem, and work toward developing new skills for future projects to achieve positive outcomes. If we get challenged in this way, we enjoy our jobs a lot more, and on average, get a lot less stabby with each other. Nobody likes explaining why they're stabby to their kids.
(Image courtesy of idiotpress.com)
There's a process to all this. This process is my focus today. An organization that wants a less stabtastic workforce wants to set good goals which the employees will at least tolerate.
First, you need to set goals. The book says that goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and time bound). That's a good point. It's important to lay out goals in a way that makes things simple. Employees need to know what the goals are, what the metrics for success are, how they are attained, what the results of those goals are, and the time frame in which to accomplish them.
Second, an organization needs to sell these goals to the workforce. The best laid plans can quickly unravel without support. The book calls this "Promoting Goal Commitment." According to the book, it's important to do a number of things during this stage in the brain-washing. You need to explain why these goals have been set, what the goals are and how personal goals in the company come into play, get employees to develop personal action plans, get teams and units together to participate in goal-setting sessions, give employees control, and make sure there's an adequate reward. Oh yeah, and don't threaten them with these goals. They get stabby that way.
The last part of this whole equation is very important. There needs to be a system of feedback in place. People like knowing how they're doing. We get mid-term grades in college so we know if we're drinking too much (or not enough). The same can be said about the workplace (not the drinking part, the other part). Letting employees know how they are doing helps to foster a sense of community, and that management has an interest in an employee's contribution rather than the end result.
And now, a real-world example:
My father is a wine maker, and we have a number of goals, most of which involve doing specific things on specific dates within specified amounts of time. Wine is a temperamental beverage that can turn into garbage REALLY quickly. We need to pick grapes, stem and crush them, punch them down in large barrels, press them into juice, add yeast (and sometimes wood chips for flavor), and put the resulting juice into oak casks for two years to ferment. I am personally involved in every aspect of this process. We rack the wine on a consistent time table by moving the wine out of the barrel and cleaning the newly empty cask, then replacing the wine with topping wine from kegs and carboys. Mismanaging this step can leave you with wine full of sediment that ruins the overall product. I don't know how many of you out there are winos like us, but sediment in your wine makes it undrinkable. Imagine getting a mouthful of sand in a sip of beer. Same thing.
We set time-based goals with all those involved, making sure that everyone gives their input and gets on board with the process. We also make sure everyone knows what their job is and what their hourly goals are. We also have a system of rewards for good participation and effort in the form of free bottles of wine (it's like giving away $50 to everyone). My father and the other wine partner, Jay, keeps an eye on everyone, rewarding stellar effort with free wine and other rewards. We make sure that those who work hard toward their specific task get recognized by the group and duly rewarded.
When we're bottling wine every fall, this process of management by objectives is palpable in the air. We bottle about 80 cases of wine in one day. In our GARAGE. Yes, we make award-winning hooch in our garage.
All attendees get together and are given jobs, which rotate over the course of the day. We let everyone know that the primary goal is 80 cases over the course of the day (that's 960 bottles), but there are goals for individual jobs, like corking a certain number of bottles in an hour, or cleaning a certain amount of bottles in a batch. Those that perform well in their present task are rewarded with glasses of wine, and in some cases, bottles. We set goals for every task as well as organizational goals. When those goals are accomplished, we make sure everyone knows how well they are doing and how well others are doing. Goals change on the fly with changing conditions, and the managers (my father and Jay) constantly check on everyone to give them feedback on their performance. Because I've been involved in this process since birth, I can say that my one superpower is my ability to cork bottles. Sometimes, my buddies and I race each other to see who can cork the most bottles with flush corks in 5 minutes. I have never lost to anyone. Ever. I get rewarded with magnums of wine. I love October.
This is an actual picture of my garage. Yes, those are kegs filled with wine. Try a keg stand with one of those.
"Cooperate and Graduate"
One of the topics discussed in Chapter 11 was how cooperation is encouraged within teams, but members still feel pressured to compete for higher positions or recognition within companies. Combating such competition between employees is certainly a predicament. From a young age, students learn to compete with others. Tests are designed sometimes so that the person with the highest grade automatically gets bumped up to 100% and then everyone else's grades revolve around that one. This means that students help eachother study for exams so that they all get around the same grade and all do well... or at least relatively well since those helping others in their study group understand the concepts risk their own grades because they spend unneccessary time helping their competition while they could be focusing on their own understanding and spending time perfecting their knowledge of the subject matter. If one students does well, while all the others perform poorly, then the majority's grades are not altered enough for them to pass. This is somewhat unfair, as it would indicated that the majority did not understand the concepts being taught and the teacher needs to focus on their needs, instead of categorizing them as 'failing'.
In the article I read, a former Kellogg student (monetarily supported by Kellog Corporation and then employeed by Kellogg) discussed how the students in the program worked. All were encouraged to be supportive of one another and cooperate well with eachother (in other words, follow the kellogg way of business so that they would be able to successfully integrate into the company upon graduation). However, there were only a few really good jobs available for them and so only a couple of students would be placed in their first choice job upon graduation. This led to competitiveness between them despite all the 'cooperation' talk. Competition is natural it seems and can not be avoided. However, there are ways around it. The author goes onto explain, "One of my close friends came to Kellogg with a mantra that he learned at West Point: Cooperate and graduate. It certainly shows. We spent literally dozens of hours helping each other prepare for our tests this quarter. Even though we were "aiding the competition," together I believe we were stronger students than we would've been as individuals." Even though it could damage one's chances of success, helping others in one's team makes everyone better people and leaves one feeling fulfilled.
Source:
Cornuke, Brandon. "Competition and Cooperation." BusinessWeek Online (2009): 5. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 19 Mar. 2010.
In the article I read, a former Kellogg student (monetarily supported by Kellog Corporation and then employeed by Kellogg) discussed how the students in the program worked. All were encouraged to be supportive of one another and cooperate well with eachother (in other words, follow the kellogg way of business so that they would be able to successfully integrate into the company upon graduation). However, there were only a few really good jobs available for them and so only a couple of students would be placed in their first choice job upon graduation. This led to competitiveness between them despite all the 'cooperation' talk. Competition is natural it seems and can not be avoided. However, there are ways around it. The author goes onto explain, "One of my close friends came to Kellogg with a mantra that he learned at West Point: Cooperate and graduate. It certainly shows. We spent literally dozens of hours helping each other prepare for our tests this quarter. Even though we were "aiding the competition," together I believe we were stronger students than we would've been as individuals." Even though it could damage one's chances of success, helping others in one's team makes everyone better people and leaves one feeling fulfilled.
Source:
Cornuke, Brandon. "Competition and Cooperation." BusinessWeek Online (2009): 5. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 19 Mar. 2010.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Work Teams ch 11
Different tasks require different types of teams to accomplish them. You wouldn’t want a board of office CEO’s pouring the cement foundation for a skyscraper, in the same sense you wouldn’t want making a team of ground workers making executive business decisions. Eric Sundstorm developed a typology of work teams which consists of 4 groups; advice, production, project and action. Each type of team is used for a basic purpose. The advice teams are created in order to broaden the information base for the managerial decisions; they also tend to have a low degree in technical specialization. The production teams are normally in charge of coordination and day-to-day operations. The third teams, project teams, are required to have creative problem solving skills and often specialized knowledge. Our final team is the action team, the workers who get their hands dirty and actually get the job done. This requires a high level of skill in a certain trade and an extreme level of competence. I like to think of these teams like a professional sports program. Where the advice, production and project teams consist off the head coach, assistant coaches and managers where the actual players take on the action role and win games.
I did some research on team effectiveness and found a lot of comparisons to how a sports team is run. One of the essential keys to team success is that everyone accepts their roles, no matter how big or small. Everyone must do their job to the best of their ability and do it with enthusiasm. Also trust and communication is an enormous part of a team’s success. This applies to any type of team, whether is be a group of executives, a soccer team, or a successful marriage.
http://www.time-management-guide.com/team-building.html
I did some research on team effectiveness and found a lot of comparisons to how a sports team is run. One of the essential keys to team success is that everyone accepts their roles, no matter how big or small. Everyone must do their job to the best of their ability and do it with enthusiasm. Also trust and communication is an enormous part of a team’s success. This applies to any type of team, whether is be a group of executives, a soccer team, or a successful marriage.
http://www.time-management-guide.com/team-building.html
Monday, March 15, 2010
Diversity
Chapter 2 is all about diversity and being to able to bring people from different cultures, backgrounds, and with different attitudes, personalities, characters, and values to work together in harmony and of course to work together effectively. The company benefits greatly from such things because it gets higher quality of work but it also allows their employees to work in stress free environment, and being able to get along with their co-workers will want to make employees want to go to work every morning and do their best everyday. Elijon Fitzgerald, Paul Spoonely, and Bronwyn Watson describe "Diversity Management" as, "a broad strand of organisational management literature that was developed as a means of helping organisations respond to the growing diversity apparent in contemporary labour markets. From the 1980s, discussions of diversity management focused on managing heterogeneity in the workforce in relation to demands for "affirmative action" and "equal employment opportunities" which were intended to increase numbers of workers from "minority" groups. Therefore many laws were made demanding that corporations and businesses gave equal treatment and equal opportunity, and such laws became getting passed in the 1960s by the United States. In this new millennium diversity has been seen as having a "marketing advantage" because of the different view points and all the diversity being a positive factor. But, some say that while it has great advantages in the market it might lead to overstaffing in managerial positions, or may lead to misunderstandings and some employees might feel used or exploited. Despite that countries across the globe are beginning to implement what they call "diversity dividends" which involves investing in diversity management today and a byproduct being future diversity dividends.
Kreitner, Robert. Organizational Behavior. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2007.
Watson, B., P. Spoonley, and E. Fitzgerald. "Managing Diversity: A Twenty-First Century Agenda. " New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations (Online) 34.2 (2009): 61-76. ABI/INFORM Global, ProQuest. Web. 15 Mar. 2010.
Group Sizing: Effective or Not?
What stood out to me in this chapter is the discussion about group sizing. As a manager, determining group size is essential to whatever objective you are trying to accomplish. A meta-analysis of eight studies showed: "as group size increased, group leaders tended to become more directive, and group member satisfaction tended to decline slightly" (Kreitner 285).
In a laboratory simulation of group behavior, Bottger and Yetton discovered that to maxamize decision quality, groups should be comprised of no more than 5 members. For objectives other than decision-making, larger groups may prove to be more useful. Although group size is ultimately up to the manager, it is recommended that odd numbered groups are more effective in decision making. Group size can determine the overall performance at hand.
I find this particularly true in the groups I have worked with in the past. The smaller, more intimate groups are usually more straight-forward. The larger groups are more useful in discussions because there are many opinions and perceptive offered.
Source: Yetton, Philip, and Preston Bottger. "The Relationships among Group Size, Member Ability, Social Decision Schemes, and Performance." Organizational Behavior & Human Performance 32.2 (1983): 145-159. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 27 Feb. 2010.
In a laboratory simulation of group behavior, Bottger and Yetton discovered that to maxamize decision quality, groups should be comprised of no more than 5 members. For objectives other than decision-making, larger groups may prove to be more useful. Although group size is ultimately up to the manager, it is recommended that odd numbered groups are more effective in decision making. Group size can determine the overall performance at hand.
I find this particularly true in the groups I have worked with in the past. The smaller, more intimate groups are usually more straight-forward. The larger groups are more useful in discussions because there are many opinions and perceptive offered.
Source: Yetton, Philip, and Preston Bottger. "The Relationships among Group Size, Member Ability, Social Decision Schemes, and Performance." Organizational Behavior & Human Performance 32.2 (1983): 145-159. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 27 Feb. 2010.
Role Overload
Role overload is something that we, as students, are very familiar with. Between school, our families, our friends, and sometimes even work, there are times that 24 hours a day is not enough. In my own experience, I agree with what the book said about role overload. The book said that the more things we do per day, the more stressed we get, and the personal efficacy lessens. Being a student, an eldest sibling in my family, trying to have a social life, and trying to find work, I found out that there are times that I find myself lacking in some roles. For example, to be able to relax and spend time with friends, I have to give up doing my homework at an early time. When this happens, I end up falling asleep or just putting off homework for the next day.
I always thought though that role overload would be one of the major stressors in a person’s life. I was shocked after coming across this study. According to a study named “Role Overload, Role Conflict, and Stress: Addressing Consequences of Multiple Role Demands” by Shelley Coverman, though role overload does play a role in giving a person stress, it was not something major. “The weakest effects observed in the model involved role overload. These effects tend to be small and inconsistent, suggesting that time expenditures do not strongly influence stress levels.” (p.978) Interestingly enough, things like marriage problems or employment problems ranked higher than the overload.
Source:
Coverman, S. (2989). Role Overload, Role Conflict, and Stress: Addressing Consequences of Mutiple Role Demands. University of North Carolina Press , pp.965-982.
I always thought though that role overload would be one of the major stressors in a person’s life. I was shocked after coming across this study. According to a study named “Role Overload, Role Conflict, and Stress: Addressing Consequences of Multiple Role Demands” by Shelley Coverman, though role overload does play a role in giving a person stress, it was not something major. “The weakest effects observed in the model involved role overload. These effects tend to be small and inconsistent, suggesting that time expenditures do not strongly influence stress levels.” (p.978) Interestingly enough, things like marriage problems or employment problems ranked higher than the overload.
Source:
Coverman, S. (2989). Role Overload, Role Conflict, and Stress: Addressing Consequences of Mutiple Role Demands. University of North Carolina Press , pp.965-982.
Chapter 10: Social Networking and Social Loafing
In this chapter, social factors of working with other people are discussed. In today's business world, working with others is inevitable, and having social connections is vital in creating success. Due to competition, applicants and employees must engage in social networking. Social networking is an interdependence between individuals who share common interests, goals, etc. Through social networking, individuals can gain recognition and expand his or her own name in order to reach a job or create a connection. Today, it's harder to apply for a job due to the competition, and through social networking, your application can be put on the top of the pile in order to get recognized faster. There are many ways to network with people; however, social networking should not be a one way relationship that helps a person get a job. The individual must maintain a relationship with others in order to sustain a meaningful, helpful connection.
On the other hand, another social aspect discussed was social loafing. Social loafing is exhibited when a person chooses to put less effort as the group size increases. It is definitely important to make sure group work is split among members, and the tasks given must be covered by each member having no one be passive. Group work is always present in business environments, and it is important to work together in order to increase production and increase success. Having a member put forth less effort can bring a group down due to having to carry the less-effective member's load that was not met. No individual should be granted less work than another in order to effectively create good group work.
I feel that social loafing does bring a group down from experience; it creates more work on those who already are working enough. I work retail, and if a fellow associate doesn't follow instructions or take care of tasks correctly, at the end of the day, those who close the store are left with correcting the mistakes. It's important to make sure to encourage individuals to work effectively and equally. It is also important to create connections with those you work with or who you'd like to work with in order to expand your name and create helpful relationships.
On the other hand, another social aspect discussed was social loafing. Social loafing is exhibited when a person chooses to put less effort as the group size increases. It is definitely important to make sure group work is split among members, and the tasks given must be covered by each member having no one be passive. Group work is always present in business environments, and it is important to work together in order to increase production and increase success. Having a member put forth less effort can bring a group down due to having to carry the less-effective member's load that was not met. No individual should be granted less work than another in order to effectively create good group work.
I feel that social loafing does bring a group down from experience; it creates more work on those who already are working enough. I work retail, and if a fellow associate doesn't follow instructions or take care of tasks correctly, at the end of the day, those who close the store are left with correcting the mistakes. It's important to make sure to encourage individuals to work effectively and equally. It is also important to create connections with those you work with or who you'd like to work with in order to expand your name and create helpful relationships.
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