Many people use the terms “group-work” and “teamwork” interchangeable, and in some instances they can be. However, there are times when you can be part of a group but not be part of a team. How is this you may ask, what makes a team different from a group? In lesson nine there was an example with Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan that really put the differences if the two in perspective. The difference is CODEPENDENCY! Tiger Woods’ success of a championship does not depend on the other people that are in the group. Due to the fact that Tiger Woods’ success does not depend on the other people around him, it makes him part of a group. Michael Jordan’s success has to come to him in a different way. He is a part of a team which makes him codependent on his teammates. For Michael Jordan to reach his goal of winning a championship he has to work with his teammates, and not alone. This makes his success dependent on others which makes Michael Jordan part of a team. While they both had dreams and aspirations of winning championships, Michael Jordan was unable to attain his goal alone without his team, and Tiger Woods did not have to be dependent on his group. (PSU WC, 2022, L. 9 p.2).
In our own everyday life, we are in teams with the other people around us to help us achieve our goals. This can happen inside and outside of the classroom or our workplaces. For myself as well as everyone else on this class we are working in teams to achieve the goal of writing a movie review paper that gets the letter grade of an A. In many workplaces, people are asked to work in teams or are just put in teams to get a job done in a timely manner. For my current job it is especially important that my coworkers and I work as a team, we all have group roles (PSU WC, 2022, L. 9 p.3). During the summer months many dogs check in to my workplace and in one wing there can be as many as thirty to forty dogs. No one person alone could provide proper care for that many dogs. In order for each dog to get proper care we divide the dogs among two to three workers. This way we can work as a team to provide exceptional can for our furry friends.
On a broader scale we as a society work as a team. While everyone does have different views and opinions, overall, we work together for the common good of ourselves. An obvious way we work together would be during elections. While views do differ, we all have the common goal of trying to pick someone we believe that will help everyone for the common good. Other ways teams happen in society would be our public-school districts. In order for kids to get a proper education everyone pays school taxes. Most people do believe that kids should get an education since it is valued as important. People who live in the school district enable this to happen as a team. Teams go beyond our everyday lives and can affect others without our knowledge.
It is not hard to look around and see how the world works with teams, from your own life to things that are happening around you. Everyone wants tasks to run smoothly no matter how big or small that task may be. The world is a better place when we work together in a team and can support one another.
Hello,
I like that you explained a more in-depth view of the Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan example. It is also good to have a good relationship amongst your group members. If Tiger Woods had did not have a collaborative climate, he would not have been very effective. Collaborative climate occurs when members of a group work well with one another (Northouse, 2021, p.468). Each of Tiger woods members have there assigned role or task but if there was tension among the group, I doubt he would be as effective.
Michael Jordan also needed a good collaborative climate but in his case all of his team members required a unified commitment to succeed in winning games. A unified commitment includes “a sense of unity or identification” (Northouse, 2021, p.468). If Michael Jordan team members had different commitments this might prevent them from winning games.
References:
•Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice (9th Edition). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781071834473
Team leadership and teamwork is definitely imperative for the functioning of many jobs in today’s society. You discussed how teams are interdependent and work together to achieve common goals. This codependency fosters accountability for tasks that strengthen the working relationships among members. This is created by a process of forming, storming, norming, and performing. Forming is the initial step in team building that starts by team members getting to know each others; then storming takes place which is when tasks are distributed and a game plan gets set for how to achieve the goal; next is norming, where the team gets into a steady flow and works towards achieving the task; finally performing occurs when the task is being achieved and the team members are codependent in the process (PSU WC, 2022, L. 9 p.3). All these combine form a sort of equation for effective teams where each component is needed and whether the experience is negative or positive, contributes to the overall outcome of the task.
You also discussed the idea of specific roles in a team setting. These align with the ideas of shared leadership, which is when individual team members assume specific leader roles that influence the effectiveness of the overall team outcomes (Northouse, P. G. (2021) page 464). I experienced something like this as well. An example from my life would be when I had a group work class and each of us were assigned a role. I was the one to make sure we stayed on topic and worked towards our timeline and task, team member 1 kept track of everything by writing things down, and team member 2 was supposed to encourage us and emotionally support us towards the goals of the task. Together, we all mutually influenced our success and assumed different responsibilities that involved leadership. Overall, our team was pretty effective throughout the semester and we did pretty well on all of our projects. Similar to your situation, each of us had different responsibilities that helped contribute to the overall accomplishment of the task.
Your perspective on society working as a team, is very intuitive and interesting. For it touches on the idea that anyone could become a leader at different times in their life given different societal situations (PSU WC, 2022, L. 9 p.3). Team dynamics are very different and unique to each task, goal, or project. For example my softball team interacts differently than my school project based group. When looking at the bigger picture, effective team leadership can be present in any situation as long as there is a clear elevating goal, results-driven structure, competent team members, unified commitment, collaborative climate, standards of excellence, external support and recognition, and principled leadership (PSU WC, 2022, L. 9 p.4). With a combination of these attributes, team leadership can occur in many different circumstances. As you mentioned, the common beliefs and goals allow us as a society to work together and achieve goals that benefit the community that they live in.
References
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2022). PSYCH 485 Lesson 9: Team Leadership
https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2181168/modules/items/35188530
Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory & Practice (9 ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.
(PSU WC, 2022, L. 9 p.2)