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TUTOR: MAY TUNGTAKANPOUNG |
Table of Contents
Description
of my virtual team
My thoughts
during the virtual team
This reflective journal is an account of my personal learning
experience of working in a virtual team. It also contains a brief analysis of
the challenges I encountered working in different teams, and how I was able to
overcome those challenges. According to McConnell, a virtual team is a group of
people who participate in common projects by making collaborative efforts to
achieve shared goals and objectives. These people perform tasks and jobs in a
virtual work environment created and maintained through IT and software technologies
(McConnell, 2019) In addition, DeRosa and Lepsinger state that organisations
are looking for the best available talent, regardless of their geographical
location, which has led them to use virtual collaboration (Derosa and
Lepsinger, 2010).
Description
of my virtual team
I was assigned to a virtual team of five members. The team is a
diverse one, which has people from Germany, Nigeria, Ukraine, and Zambia. I did
not want to be grouped with people I am not familiar with but the lecturers in
the university randomly allocated the team. The Topic Hofstede’s six dimensions
and how they affect intercultural business negotiations was selected as the
group work by our team from a list of five available topics. I told the team
the superior authority makes the final decision during business negotiations because
Nigeria is a high power distance country. Another member of the team stated
that in the United Kingdom the subordinate could make decisions on behalf of the
superior because the decision-making is centralized. According to Hofstede,
power distance examines the way people in a particular culture access the
unequal distribution of power (Hofstede et al 2010)
I observed that a member of the team is from a masculine society
where performance is highly valued based on her ability to coordinate activities
in the group; she was able to create a WhatsApp group chat for the team for
easier communication. According to Hofstede's theory of culture, a masculine
society is driven by competitiveness, accomplishment, and success. The Hofstede
theory examines the effects of a country’s culture on the ethics of its
members.
Virtual
team meetings
After the first team meeting, I felt a sense of relief because I
have adequate materials for the topic I chose for my task in the team. This
stage of the virtual team is the forming stage according to Tuckman’s theory
where the group is formed and the members of the group are strangers to one
another, at this phase we were uncertain about our roles in the team. The
Tuckman theory was developed in 1965 and it examines stages of group
development from the uncertainty period in the group to the self-reliant stage.
I was able to understand that working in a team is important because we can
achieve much more together than individually. I intend to read articles on team
development in order to know how to manage a successful team
At the second interactive session of the virtual team, we
agreed that a member of the group should volunteer to collate the individual
reports and design the PowerPoint for the presentation. We got a volunteer in
the team who agreed to coordinate the activities of the team, collate the
individual reports and design the PowerPoint. The team member who agreed to
collate the individual report is the plant in Belbin's theory because she
brought her innovation and creativity to the team; she is also the specialist
in the team roles. According to Belbin’s team roles, specialists are people who
have the knowledge required to achieve a task. The Belbin theory examines team
roles required for successful teams. I observed that a member of the team who
is from a low context society has a direct mode of communication; she uses
clear words to convey her message.
My
thoughts during the virtual team
I became conscious of the fact that I do not have the required
digital skill of using a PowerPoint. I decided to request for help from one of my team members who taught me
how to use the PowerPoint on Microsoft teams to overcome this challenge.
Regarding the referencing for the team presentation, one of the members of our
team said that the referencing for the individual work has not been properly done;
this led to a lack of agreement in the team because other members felt the
referencing had been properly done. This stage according to Tuckman’s theory is
the storming stage because there was dissension about the referencing for the
group work.
I felt apprehensive about
the lack of accord in the group regarding the referencing for the group work. I
think I should have told the members of the team to scrutinize their
references. From this particular incident, I learned that to work effectively
in a team there has to be a dispute resolution strategy for resolving variance
in the team; it also minimizes stress and tension in the team. According to
Browaeys, skills in the area of conflict management can be increased to some
extent through developing awareness as to how cultures perceive and manage
conflict (Browaeys 2015).
The lecturer informed us that the power point presentation must
critically analyse the six dimensions of the Hofstede theory and discuss how it
affects intercultural business negotiations. We discovered that the power point
presentation is not up to the required academic standard. I felt discouraged because
the group work has to be amended. The other members of the team were in low
spirits. We deleted the power point
presentation and reassigned the team task amongst ourselves.. A member of the
team decided to map out the strategies we can use to complete the teamwork
before the deadline. I gave the team the book I used to complete the team
assignment to allow team members to complete the teamwork. My book was not
returned to me until I requested that it should be returned.
I spent a lot of time being angry with the members of the team
who were not contributing to the team activity, but as I reflected on it, I
realized that they might be having some challenges on their task. The next time
I participate in a team activity I will suggest that we should have rules
guiding the team members on how to go about their tasks; this will make the
team concentrate on the teamwork. I am also going to use the direct mode of
communication in the team for the team to understand my intentions
The final session of the virtual team required the voice
recording on the PowerPoint presentation. We decided to let one of the team
members do the audio recording on the power point presentation. We were able to
submit the group work on the submission portal of the University. This stage is
the performing stage according to Tuckman’s theory on team roles because we
were able to finally achieve the set goals of the team and maintain a good
relationship within the team. I am delighted that our team was able to complete
the task within the timeline given to us for the submission of the PowerPoint
presentation. Working in a team has made me aware of the benefits of having
different perspectives in a team; new ideas increase productivity in a team. I
believe I could have contributed more to the teamwork. I intend to participate
more in future team events to develop my social skills.
During another virtual activity, we discussed the effect of
Brexit after Article 50 is triggered a used the Ishikawa diagram for the team
exercise. According to Pearson, the fishbone or Ishikawa diagram is a cause and
effect diagram that helps managers to track down the reasons for imperfections,
variations, defects or failures and look for solutions to the problem once the
issues have been identified (Pearson, 2019)
Kaoru Isikawa developed the Ishikawa theory. One of the members
of the team was able to develop a strategy that we could use to complete the
fishbone diagram. Two members of team discussed the effects it will have on the
economy once it is implemented.
I learned that working with other people is vital for anyone who
wants to climb the career ladder. I intend to enrol for a course on public
speaking to develop my presentation skills
We decided to take the Belbin team role test to understand the
unique trait of members of the team to determine their contribution to the
team. My result in the Belbin test is a resource investigator in the team. My
weakness as a resource investigator is time management because I deliver team
assignments behind schedule. I am also a “complete finisher” because I can discover
any error in the PowerPoint slides. Another team member who took the Belbin
test was able to discover that she has two team roles, shaper and coordinator. I
can confirm that the result she got is accurate because she is responsible for
coordinating the team and she lets the team understand the team goals. I think
the Belbin team role activity has allowed me to understand the strength and
weakness of the individual members of the team.
There was a suggestion by one of my team members that we should
narrate our experiences as international students in the United Kingdom. I told
my team that I was able to experience the Honeymoon stage according to Oberg's
theory because I enjoyed the following things about London: the international
cuisine, the tempo of the city, the transportation system. Oberg’s theory
analyses the processes involved in adjusting to the culture in a foreign
country. Another member of my team told us of a similar experience that
interacting with people in London has made her realize that British people are
very friendly and warm. Besides, another team member expressed frustration at
how expensive accommodation is in London compared to the low accommodation cost
in his country of origin.
The team activity was good for me because I realized culture
shock is a phase that every international student has to experience and we were
comfortable narrating our experiences about culture shock to one another. I am
so delighted about my ability to communicate effectively in the team. The
biggest lesson for me is that I must have mutual respect for the team members
because it improves communication and increases the sharing of knowledge in the
team. Using the Myers Briggs Type indicator in the made me realize that there
are different persona in the virtual team. One member of the team is an ENTP in
the MBTI personality indicator because she an extrovert and she is the problem
solver in the team .I am an ISFJ in the theory because I am an introvert and a
very shy person. The Myers Briggs Type Indicator theory can be used to
understand psychological variability in a team.
Katherine Cook Briggs developed the MBTI evaluation
(Myersbriggs.org, 2019).
We decided to take the Belbin team role test to understand the
unique trait of members of the team to determine their contribution to the
team. My result in the Belbin test is a resource investigator in the team. My
weakness as a resource investigator is time management because I deliver team
assignments behind schedule. I am also a “complete finisher” because I am able to
discover any error in the PowerPoint slides. One member of the team believes
that I am a team worker because of how diplomatic I am in the team. Another
team member who took the Belbin test was able to discover that she has two team
roles, shaper and coordinator. I am able to confirm that the result she got is
accurate because she is responsible for coordinating the team and she lets the
team understand the team goals. I think the Belbin team role activity has
allowed me to understand the strength and weakness of the individual members of
the team.
Conclusion
In conclusion, working in a team has enhanced my interpersonal
skills. It has made me understand that projects are completed faster in a team
because of the team members’ collaboration ,the virtual team allowed members of
our team to interact using different electronic communication tools. In
addition, working in a team has developed my team management skills. My
participation in the weekly team activities has enabled me to communicate
effectively with people from different cultures thereby enhancing my
intercultural competence skills. I intend to be more culturally diverse in my
interactions with people from different societies.
References
1)
Eric McConnell. (2019). Virtual Teams – Definition,
Management, Benefits, and Improvement. Available:
https://mymanagementguide.com/managing-virtual-teams-understanding-definition-management-and-benefits/.
Last accessed 2nd Dec 2019.
2)
Teambuilding.co.uk. (2019). Tuckman;
Forming - Storming - Norming - Performing. [online] Available at:
https://www.teambuilding.co.uk/theory/Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing.html
[Accessed 28 Nov. 2019].
3)
Browaeys, M & Price,
R., 2015. Understanding
cross- cultural management. 3rd ed. United Kingdom: Pearson
Education Limited.p.412
4)
Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede &Michael Minkov (2010).
Cultures and Organizations. 3rd ed. United States: McGraw-Hill Professional
Publishing
5)
Pearson, s. (2019). tallyfy.com.
Retrieved from https://tallyfy.com/definition-fishbone-diagram. Last accessed 4th Dec 2019.
Belbin.com.
(2019). The Nine Belbin Team Roles. [online] Available at: https://www.belbin.com/about/belbin-team-roles/
[Accessed 28 Nov. 2019N
Myersbriggs.org.
(2019). [online] Available at:
https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/ [Accessed 5
Dec. 2019].
Darleen Derosa& Richard Lepsinger (2010). Virtual Team success. united states: Jossy Bass.page xxi.
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