As the first semester is wrapping up, I feel that I’m more stressed than ever with assignments and projects jumbled all due on the same day. Marketing has been a fun course but I’m dissatisfied in terms of the group project. Unlike my COMM 292 team, this team does not function the same. After just submitting the final assignment of the 30% project, I wanted to start reflecting on my contribution in causing such a terrible group experience.
Reading Eric’s blog on “The Failure of Team-Building Exercises” gave me more insight on not only how I played a role in this project but also what could have been improved to prevent some of the things that went on.
In terms of team-building exercises, I have to disagree with him because I believe having a strong bond and connection with a temporary team is the foundation of good teamwork later on. For example, the Fantasy Project helped my group become more personal and familiar with each other in a short span of time, whereas my marketing group did not go through a good team bonding session. We just got right off the bat to work. Even in terms of dividing work up, I think it’s crucial to know each team member’s strengths and in terms of which parts they are confident in working on.
Throughout my marketing project, I had been the sole leader AND follower as I not only led the project but I was also the one working on it myself. I have to agree with Eric on the fact that teams work more effectively when there is an established share of leadership. This is exactly what my marketing team lacked. Even when I gave everyone a chance to shine bright and show leadership in their specialization, I felt that no one really cared about the outcome of our project. What held us back was that we did not share a collective goal so I ended up carrying the whole team.
What realized from this failure group project is that there is no set formula for creating a successful team, although I applied the same skills I had learned in COMM 292 and used in my COMM 292 group. There was no sense of teamwork which the textbook says “we believe that the greatest value is realized when we work together”.
2. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 79