Discuss about the Management for Research and Communication Skills.
Group work is vital in building research and communication skills among students. This is because the students have to search for information from the library and the internet and then argue out the findings before compiling the final solutions. Furthermore, it gives the students an opportunity to exercise management skills such as planning, leadership and controlling. Therefore, group work is essential in developing coordination and cooperation among students. All of the above activities occurred during my experience in teamwork. This after action review paper is a reflection on the experience I had during the work. It addresses how the team executed it activities including how we planned and organized for our work, how the group was led and how the group activities were controlled. In these three processes, what worked out and areas which were inefficiently addressed are discussed.
Initially, I had thought that working in a group is easy because we were many. However, I come to learn that it is as challenging as managing an organization. This is because we had a tough time developing a timetable for the discussion group. Before commencing our study, we met to devise ways of handling the assignment. This was on the second day after the teams had been allocated. In this meeting, we were to select the group leader and the secretary who would be noting the important arguments that were coined. This was not a challenging process, and we finished the activity within ten minutes. However, developing a discussion schedule took us more than three hours. This is because everyone in the group wanted the group discussion to take place during their free time. This was almost impossible because each of us had varying free time. Therefore, we had to look for other options. Finally, it was approved that the group would be meeting for two-hour per day. After setting the time to hold the discussions, we had to divide the task among ourselves. Each one had to research in a given area. This is where I feel our grouped messed. We allocated the tasks among ourselves without laying any particular objectives of the discussion. The group did not outline the quality of the research they wanted on the shared task. This was against the elements of proper planning described by Yow (2000). According to Yow (2000), a good plan of action should define the objectives, means of achieving the goals and the quality of the results desired. Therefore, our failure to address the quality of the answer that we required for the assignment was among the contributing factors for our poor performance. However, it was a good start because at least we had a plan which was recommendable. According to Yow (2000), it is better to have an imperfect plan than to have none.
Despite our plan lacking specific objectives, it gave us directives on how to handle the assignment. For instance, it outlined who should make the first submission and when to do it. This made the members focused on delivering on time. This schedule made it possible for all the group members to present their research findings within the specified time. Furthermore, it helped us avoid confusions since it outlined the role and the area each one of us was to handle. Therefore, I feel that our planning was good despite missing out on the quality aspect. If we are given a chance to plan differently, the issue of quality would appear first on the list. This is because it gives directives on the type of content that the group should discuss. For instance, some members just gathered information from the internet without checking the credibility of the sites. This made our research arguments to lack credibility.
However, despite the ineffective planning, the group was excellently organized. Everyone within the team knew what they were to do. The allocation of tasks to all team members during the planning made the group have high levels of efficiency. Each member knew the discussion venue and what was expected. Therefore, this made us avoid time wastage. However, we only organized ourselves on how to handle the assignment and forgot to organize our communication. This was the greatest cause for our poor performance. The group lacked efficient flow of communication from the team leader the member. For instance, some members skipped some discussion forums with any communication. This derailed our assignment plans since we had allocated time for each activity and all members were part of the scheme. There was also communication breakdown during the presentation process. Some members found it extremely challenging to express their point of argument clearly. This was caused by poor interpersonal communication skills and poor research execution. This made our group take much time in one area. According to Grover (2005), effective communication is vital for improving interpersonal relations and teamwork performance. It was very unfortunate that the group had communication breakdown and this made us lose marks. Furthermore, it made us waste time deliberating on the same area. Therefore, if we had organized our communication strategy efficiently, I believe our performed could have been better. This is because the time we wasted due to poor expression could have been utilized refining the assignment.
It was very discouraging to see how poor communication skills made the group lose marks. To avert such shortcomings, caused by communication lapse, next time we would start by organizing how to express ourselves in the group. This entails word selection, use of gestures and having confidence while presenting. This can be achieved by teaching and encouraging one another. It was very discouraging for group members to laugh at one of their own when they had expression difficulties instead of helping them. I remember there was a word which I did not pronounce correctly and all the other members busted into laughter. This made to feel uneasy while presenting. Therefore, next time organizing for proper communication and presentation strategies will not elude our group discussion. This strategy will address issues such as how members communicate with each other, helping one other in pronouncing difficult words and teaching the team members excellent presentation skills.
The group had a group leader and a secretary who were responsible for running the assignment discussion. The team leader played a crucial role in aligning the discussion to the task objectives. According to Gujral (2012), a good leader should love to learn, grow and expand his or her knowledge. Furthermore, they should respect other peoples’ opinion. All these qualities were present in our group leader. The leader provider provided equal opportunities to all the participants to submit their arguments. This made it possible for the group to gather vast materials on the assignment. However, this kindness to everyone made us violate a vital principle in group discussion, which is the element of time management. The team leader is responsible for managing time within the group. Therefore, his inabilities made us waste much time during our sessions. Therefore, I feel that next time, the leader should be more cautious on time management, it is respectable to give each one equal opportunity to express their views. However, there are those members who tend to overuse this freedom. The secretary’s performance was not impressive. This is because the secretary overlooked some of the contributions from members. For instance, he did not record the points which did not impress him. This discouraged the members whose contribution was overlooked. This even threatened to disintegrate our team. However, the team leader was there to salvage the situation. This was learning experience for the team. The next time when the team is selecting a secretary, it will look for an individual who understands that during teamwork, it is essential to respect contributions from everyone. However, despite the secretary’s attitude, his editing and organization skills were exceptional. This made us present a nice and well-edited document.
The team’s application of control process was wanting. This is because we failed in developing a well-structured and quality oriented discussion plan. Therefore, the team concentrated on concluding the assignment without much regards for the quality. Furthermore, the team did not adequately control the communication process. This made some members to skip some discussion sessions without informing the rest. However, the team leader was very efficient in controlling the discussion process. All of the components that were captured in the study schedule were addressed accordingly within their set timeframe. This made it possible for the team to make a timely submission. Therefore, next time the group will not grant much freedom to the member. This will be through setting a strict control process which has quality work submission as its top priority. This is because, when the members have excess freedom, they undervalue the importance of team discussion. Therefore, it will be vital to set strict guidelines which center on building an effective teamwork.
Conclusively, the team activity presented me with a great learning experience. It is through this group assignment that I learned the power of effective communication skills, quality research strategies and the importance of respecting other people’s opinions. Despite the shortcoming that we experienced during the process, I learned new strategies for planning, organizing, leading and controlling team activities. Therefore, I look forward to participating in another team assignment so that I can employ my new insights on group discussion.
Reference List
Grover, S. M., 2005. Shaping effective communication skills and therapeutic relationships at work. Aaohn journal, 53(4), pp. 177-182.
Gujral, G. S., 2012. Leadership Qualities for Effective Leaders. New Delhi: Vij Books India Pvt Ltd.
Yow, D. A., 2000. Strategic Planning for Collegiate Athletics. New York: Strategic Planning for Collegiate Athletics.
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