Interpersonal skills task assignment - Group reflection by Akhy Bhowmik https://padlet.com/akhybhowmik2014/dd4kqlphb2m3gg3p Made with panache en-us 2020-11-20 19:41:06 UTC 2020-11-28 07:03:10 UTC hello@padlet.com GROUP REFLECTION: Atifa Kika, Aathika Mohamed Faizal , Akhy Bhowmik, Elsa Monlouis, Munmun Barua akhybhowmik2014 https://padlet.com/akhybhowmik2014/dd4kqlphb2m3gg3p/wish/966757811 1.  Discuss your team skills during Part 1. Be sure to connect your response with course content (attitude, encouragement and motivation of group members, supportive of team decisions, conflict resolution, role in the group).

Our team skills during part 1 include making good group decisions, being cohesive, having equivalent workloads and roles, democratic leadership, and constructive conflict resolution.

To begin with, our group is the perfect size for an assignment. There are 5 members and each of us wants to work hard to complete our objectives. According to the textbook Think: Interpersonal Communication, "The ideal size for a problem-solving group is five to seven members. To avoid ties in decision making, it is usually better to have an odd number of members instead of an even number." (Engleberg et al., 2015, p. 176). Additionally, our group members also showed cohesiveness by being responsible for our own work and as well as caring for our teammates' work. At the end of our assignment, we asked each other to edit our parts and give feedback on our work. It is stated in the same textbook that "Cohesive groups are united and committed to a common goal, have high levels of interaction, and enjoy a supportive communication climate." (Engleberg et al., 2015, p. 182). Furthermore, all the members in our group had equivalent workloads and well-maintained roles. Each of us had 1 research question, and we worked in pairs to complete part 2 of the assignment. In addition, the roles for our group task include: Akhy being the contributor, Munmun being the clarifier, Elsa being the information seeker, Atifa being the evaluator, and Aathika being the information and opinion giver. As each member was assigned a specific group role, we established an environment where collective leadership was encouraged. We each had a task associated with our role, which meant that everyone had to be a leader. We believed that the democratic leadership style was best suited for this task as it promotes productivity and respect for the various member inputs. The decision-making power was not managed by one individual alone, rather, it was utilized by all members to help the group formulate a strategy and establish effective courses of action. When our group encountered conflicts, we took a constructive approach in resolving the issues to ensure that we are adaptive to our group members and the situation at hand. We respected each other’s perspectives, and in an effort towards mutual gains, we counterbalanced the wishes of all members. Moreover, as we acknowledged the importance of implementing an effective strategy in conflict resolution, we employed the A-E-I-O-U model of conflict resolution as it “focuses on communicating personal concerns and suggesting alternative actions to resolve a conflict” (Engleberg et al., 2015, p. 204).

2. On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate your team's functioning? Discuss why you have given this rating.

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 stands for Disagree Strongly and 5 stands for Strongly Agree , we would rate our team's functioning as 5, in all functional areas. There are eight dimensions which we used as a baseline to determine our team's performance, and these being purpose and goals, roles, team processes, team relationships, inter group relations, problem solving, passion and commitment and skills and learning (London Leadership Academy, n.d.). Rating scales measure responses that aren’t easily quantified, such as feelings, perceptions, interests, and preferences. They also measure objective responses and rank them in relation to each other. Our team had a meaningful, shared purpose and the team members clearly understood their roles. All roles were assigned and accepted by group members. All team members respected one another's unique capabilities. We worked collaboratively and resolved conflicts as we each have skills that were needed to complete the assignment effectively. Our team had a strong sense of accomplishment relative to our work and we all shared a sense of commitment that drew us towards the successful completion of this assignment. A key function that we all followed was open and honest communication with one another. We have learned to value each member's contribution to this assignment and therefore, members of our team trust each other. We have also viewed everything, even mistakes as opportunities for learning and growth. Team members have helped one another deal with problems or resolve issues that seemed confusing. At the same time we have provided constructive feedback to each other and worked within a given time frame (London Leadership Academy, n.d.). This assignment has helped us to work on our time management, organization and communication skills. All these functions have attained a rate of 5 on the rating scales, verifying our team's functioning to be effective and efficient.  

3. What was the most significant learning that you acquired during the IPC Skills task that you will incorporate into your next Group Assignment?

This assignment has taught us the importance of effective communication, respect and team work. Effective communication is the most crucial interpersonal skill that we have acquired and plan on incorporating it in our future group assignments. According to the textbook, effective communicators "make critical decisions about the seven guiding principles of human communication represented by the key elements self, others, purpose, context, content, structure, and expression (Engleberg et al., 2015, p. 18). The ability to effectively communicate will make us excellent team players because we acknowledged and respected our fellow team mates. Respect and team work are also part & parcel of any collaborative task to complete successfully. The sense of fulfillment after positively contributing in a group work & encouragement receiving from team members boosts up one’s confidence & self-esteem. Irrespective of our differences in culture, ethnicity, religion, values & beliefs,  we respected & worked together with a goal of making our group assignment a successful one. Team work is also a fundamental skill that we have acquired through working on this assignment. According to the textbook, we all work in groups like in schools, at work, at home with family and friends and other diverse locations (Engleberg et al., 2015, p. 176). Success in today's complex world depends on the ability to work in groups (Engleberg et al., 2015, p. 176). Through this assignment we were able to experience the importance of collaborating with our fellow classmates in order to achieve a common goal. We believe that team work and effective communication go hand in hand because the two are so closely related. In order to successfully get work done in a group setting, effective communication must be present to eliminate the risk of miscommunication. Therefore, team work and effective communication are two of the most beneficial characteristics that we have taken away from this assignment and plan on implementing in any future group assignments that we may be part of.


Reference:

Engleberg, I.N., Wynn, D., Roberts, M. (2015). Think: Interpersonal Communication. (Pearson.

London Leadership Academy. (n.d.). Team Effectiveness Diagnostic. National Health Service.
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