Leadership and Personal Development

Nevertheless, the development of these teams requires an understanding of certain aspects of groups. Tuckman’s group formation theory holds that the process of group formation follows a five-stage model. The five stages identified here include forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning (Wheelan 2010, p. In the forming stage, there is less trust between the members of the group, as each person is becoming acquainted with the other people. Storming stage involves conflicts of interests between the people as the norms of the group are tested. The causal factor here is attributable to the high living standards and high labour markets that characterized the post-war periods. Groups were, therefore, a management strategy of the firms to help address the operational objectives at the places of work, such as the improvement of the social concerns affecting the workers.

Thus, a given number of people based on their mutual interaction and mutual awareness forms work groups (Knights & Willmott 2007, p. The importance of work groups lies in the establishment of both task and maintenance roles that help the group stay on the right track, in addition to ensuring that the members stay together as a group. Workplace teams prove to be the most effective approach towards the realization of the set business goals and objectives. The more an employee strives to do more than they can do, the more stressful they become leading to a decline in the personal effectiveness. In other instances, an individual finds himself or herself in a situation whereby different people expect them to fulfil different demands, which is a typical instance of role conflict.

For instance, Skinner mentions that workers of different areas of work normally have to face the conflicting expectations coming from their work and family (Skinner 2002, p. Further explanation reveals that the unclear descriptions of job and other aspects of the work contribute to the emergence of the problem of role ambiguity. When employees have no idea of what their obligations are, the chances are that they would develop a dissatisfaction on the job and have a loss self-confidence, thereby affecting their abilities to perform (ibid, p. Honeywell Canada is a good example of an organisation that draws its success from the implementation of this form of work approach (ibid, p. Virtual teams, on the other side, includes a group of individuals that is not physically present, and, therefore, facilitating its business activities by way of online communication means.

The advantage of this mechanism is that it is relatively flexible and efficient, especially when involving geographically dispersed team members. Communication, trust, as well as accountability, are some of the crucial work issues weakened when team members conduct business virtually. Organisations consider team building an important factor for eliminating the various limitations that hinder the effectiveness of teams (Knights & Willmott 2007, p. Besides, everyone showed great satisfaction and enthusiasm for being responsible for the fulfilment of what we had done. Apart from the work experience, I have had the privilege of experiencing a working environment in the recent past. In particular, I served as a temporary employee in one of the local business organizations. During this period, I was able to engage in various production processes of the firm, which I believe to be very critical in my understanding of this particular coursework.

For instance, I had the opportunity to participate as one of the members of a work group in the section of sales and marketing. Both the job and college experiences provide illustrations about the requirements for team working. As demonstrated in the earlier discussion, the development of teams is not a onetime event, but a process that involves several steps to accomplish. While reflecting on the outcomes from those instances, it occurred to me that leadership is an important aspect that a group needs for its continued existence (Rosen, Furst & Blackburn 2006, p. For example, the lack of proper leadership in the first college scenario caused a great fallout in the group. A similar situation was likely to occur in in the job reflection because of the lacking commitment among certain members of the team during the planning states.

Based on this analysis, I find it necessary that I improve my skills and abilities to work efficiently in the new work environments that I am likely to enter in my future employment. This process will involve a concerted effort towards achieving significant and relevant qualities in my personal development. The reflections reveal the true nature of my identity, which is a crucial tool for evaluating my strengths and weaknesses that I currently have. For instance, I find it rather surprising to discover that I operate better whenever I participate in a team as a leader than when I am simply a member. This is a show of weakness on my part, since it may prove to be a potential hindrance to my growth into higher positions in the future.

Having a strong communication skill, trustworthy and honest person also serve as a strength that will enable me to be an effective member of a high performing team in the future. Nevertheless, it is also vital that I learn more about how to improve these skills and qualities to become an even better personality. For example, there will be people looking up to me for guidance and inspiration; therefore, I should be able to develop myself into someone that other people can see as a role model. Since there are several areas that I need to work on in my personal development, achieving a significant improvement will require that I follow a strategic self-management plan, such as shown in appendix A.