Learning How to Lead

Question 1

Team collaboration is an essential aspect of any project requiring people to work together as one group. Individuals who work together as a single team collaborate to streamline all the team members’ efforts and contributions. There are a variety of potential challenges that underline team collaboration. Such challenges can prohibit the team members from fully unleashing their potential, and the meeting could end up being nothing but a waste of time. The potential challenges around collaboration that a team could experience include indecisive decision-makers, miscommunication, lack of interest, and a negative attitude from team members, as discussed hereinafter. 

A team that works without collaboration could be prone to Indecisive decision-makers within the team. Such individuals could be the team leaders who are looked upon by the rest of the team members but they end up failing the team through poor decision-making. Indecisiveness from team leaders could be a big problem that can lead to frustrations among the team members. Therefore, team leaders should be at the front line to provide new ideas for the team members to choose from. Indecisive leaders are poor at timekeeping and keep postponing main events, which leads to the lack of interest from the rest of team members to collaborate when they meet up. 

Miscommunication is a major barrier to effective teamwork that results from the lack of collaboration from the team members (Tseng & Yeh, 2013 . During teamwork, individuals could miscommunicate, and this could lead to the misinterpretation of information. Such mistakes that arise from the lack of clear communication could lead to a lack of collaboration, especially from the team members who fail to misinterpret information. Miscommunication could be prevented by the team leaders posing questions to the rest of the team members to gauge whether everyone is on the same page. Additionally, the team leaders should be clear on the set objectives and consider the expectations of other team members. 

Question 2

The lack of collaboration among team members could lead to a lack of interest and a negative attitude throughout the meeting. The poisonous people within the group could spread their negative attitude to the rest of the team members. The kind of attitude within any teamwork determines the success or failure of the team. Team members who raise complaints on almost everything or during a disagreement prevent the rest of the team members from concluding due to divided interests. Such a negative attitude within team members kill morale and bring down productivity among team members. 

Building collaborative teamwork requires effort from both the team leaders and the team members (Sohmen, 2013) . Team leaders should strive to create a clear and compelling cause to be followed by the team members to enhance cohesion. Coming up with compelling missions works as an inspiration to team members, contributing to high levels of collaboration. Team members who get a clear cause from their leaders become more interested in the team’s objectives and collaborate more with each other. For team collaboration to be effective, the team leaders should ensure that they have a clear vision and purpose for the rest of the team leaders to follow. 

It is essential to establish team goals that are measurable and achievable to enhance a collaborative team. Such goals are critical in that they motivate team members towards working together and achieving the same goals. Achievable goals enhance a positive momentum among team members and bring collaboration among the participants. Team leaders should work towards enhancing unity among the team members for collaborative teamwork. Cohesion among the team members makes all team members feel included in the decision-making process, which encourages them to achieve their goals. Individuals within a team should equally participate in daily huddles and discuss their goals and objectives together. 

Question 3

Effective communication within a team is essential for collaboration from all members of the team. Within this group, the team leader should introduce an open-door policy as it is the main way to build trust among the team members. This policy provides an open platform where all people can ask questions and voice their concerns even though the shy ones in the group. This aspect ensures that everybody has equal chances, and no one gets left out, even the shy individuals within the group. It is crucial to keep open the doors of communication as this is the only way to remove any obstacles preventing anyone from fully contributing to the teamwork. Team leaders need to be clear about the tasks so that all the team members can know their responsibilities and what is expected from them. Team members can fail to complete their assignments or shy away from them if they do not have adequate information about their responsibilities. Such situations can put some of the members to shy away from participating in the team, and the few who understand the basics could take over and prevent others from taking part. The entire team should be made aware of their expectations to understand what is expected of them. Indulging in fun activities during teamwork could boost communication and improve the morale of those who could shy off from taking part in the group discussions. Team-building activities are a great way to boost communication levels among the members of the team. 

References

Sohmen, V. S. (2013). Leadership and teamwork: Two sides of the same coin.  Journal of IT and Economic Development ,  4 (2), 1-18.

Tseng, H. W., & Yeh, H. T. (2013). Team members’ perceptions of online teamwork learning experiences and building teamwork trust: A qualitative study.  Computers & Education ,  63 , 1-9.