MGM300 thoughts on lecture numero deux

Today in class we did a few exercises on knowing yourself and on appreciative inquiry. Taking these self quizzes made me realize that I am a very organized and a methodological individual. I also learned that I may not be the best listener, and I react defensively to criticism. I think I react negatively to criticism because I may be under the impression that when people are giving me feedback, they are shutting down my ideas and they disprove my ideas; I need to realize that they are not necessarily disagreeing with all my ideas, but merely trying to broaden my horizons, and make me see things in a wider perspective.

From the appreciative inquiry exercise, I learned that I have worked well with many teams, and it was very difficult for me to pinpoint one in particular that I thought was the best. After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that it was a group I worked with last year on a project called Inn at the Falls. This team had everything; Everyone participated actively at our meetings, team goals were understood and agreed upon by everyone, everyone listened to one another attentively, we all carefully worked through solutions to problems, everyone supported one another, and we communicated with each other effectively, no important decisions were made without consulting all group members, we were organized, and everyone was focused on making this project the best that it could be! And that it was!

Some improvements that could have been made were that the work was not split up evenly at times; some members took on more than others, so perhaps it would have been better to assign more duties to those who did not have very much to do.

These self assessments help me in my future in that they give me an idea of the type of person I am, and they help me to outline my strengths and weaknesses. It’s a good time to start setting realistic goals for myself, and I can practice these goals with my current team members. For example, when my group is giving me feedback, I shouldn’t take it to heart; I should use it to my advantage. Furthermore, I need to develop better listening skills; this is essential in the business world, as you are always working with groups. It’s very important that I take into account all my group members’ thoughts and opinions.

In lecture we talked about many topics, but one that struck me in particular was the idea behind social loafing. In almost all groups that I’ve had, I have experienced an individual who was a “social loafer”, and yes, I must admit, that I have been that person once or twice. Sometimes it is just easier to say let somebody else do it, especially when you have a team leader who is more than willing to do all the work, and insists on it. I blame the team leader and the person who is slacking because the team leader should not do all the work, but instruct and help “lead” the team in the right direction; the slacker on the other hand, needs to tell the team leader that he or she cannot take it upon him or herself to do all the work. It all boils down to communication!!! I find that social loafing occurs in situations where teams are big, and it is unnecessary for the team to be big. I have rarely experienced social loafing in small teams, because it is apparent and obvious so individuals are deterred from taking on this role. Teams should be limited in size, and usually no bigger than 5-6 people depending on the nature of the assignment. In the end it also does come down to effective communication; this is a skill that will never grow old.