It is normal for teams to experience problems while in a group setting due to many factors. For instance, the individual members of teams have different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. These aspects affect how people relate to each other and react to different situations. If poorly managed, the existing differences between individual group members can easily lead to conflicts. However, the consistent pursuit for improvement among these groups helps to ensure that they achieve various objectives. As previously discussed, the group under study experienced organizational culture and communication problems. Multiple solutions have helped to alleviate some of these issues and improve the nature of team dynamics. Therefore, this paper aims to assess various solutions used to improve the overall performance of the particular group under discussion.
Contributions of Team Members to Addressing the Problem
The collective success is determined by each member’s contribution and commitment to the goals and objectives. There is a significant level of improvement made by each member compared to the past; hence, the group’s performance improved. In context, the group members have achieved a commendable level of success in implementing the ethical values of trust and authenticity to enhance group dynamics. As mentioned earlier, the problem that hindered better performance for the group under study was the lack of cohesion as a unit. The healthcare professionals understudy was from different groups, so they were divided according to familiarity. The group was divided into two sub-groups based on how familiar the members were, as some had previously worked in similar departments. These group members are now more accommodative; the aspect of trust has improved the relationships among them because they currently feel free around each other.
The value of authenticity has helped group members to express themselves without fear of judgment. On the same note, people are now willing to listen to the authentic perceptions of each other without passing judgment (Quinn, 2015). The group leader has mostly contributed to the current improvement in group dynamics. However, each group member has made contributions, which have helped manifest good performance within the group.
Recognition of Team Members’ Effort in Resolving the Present Group Disparity
Groups entail people who handle life circumstances differently, hence some are usually more willing to improve the group dynamics than others. This was the initial problem with the group in context, mainly because there was some competition between the two sub-groups. However, the group leader, assisted by some interested members, improved the situation by advocating for group cohesion, which was facilitated through various team-building exercises. Despite the slow start, the first two team-building exercises lowered people’s guards, marking the beginning of a new chapter for these individuals. Later on, each team member displayed a willingness to connect with colleagues on a more profound level. There are instances where arguments have emerged, and fortunately, the group leader used such occurrences as opportunities for people to cultivate more authenticity while communicating. The decisions made by a leader are the most salient because they are emulated by members (Quinn, 2015). The group’s trust level is vivid as some members from the opposing sub-groups have developed recommendable relationships both as colleagues and as friends.
Lessons That Members Have Learned so far About the Team and Its Challenges
Learning is an important part of the pursuit of improvement in any field. Therefore, there was a need for regular analysis to review the changes that the group has experienced to have a solid basis for determining its latent potential (Quinn, 2015). So far, there is much that group members have learned based on the group’s changes. The main lesson was the importance of group cohesion. Group cohesion is the tendency for group members to be attracted to a group and be committed to achieving its mission and vision (Valdes-Dapena, 2018). The group understudy entails healthcare professionals from diverse departments, where turnover is relatively high. In a larger context, the emphasis on group cohesion may cultivate a positive attitude that will help reduce the prevalence of employee turnover within the aforementioned healthcare organization.
Regardless of this group’s achievements, there is still much room for improvement. Personnel performance has improved greatly because people have developed a positive attitude towards each other and their collective purpose. However, there is still an element of competition among employees that hinders the group from delivering excellent performance. The current challenge is some people feel that they are more seasoned professionals and hence want to be recognized by the healthcare organization as more valuable than their colleagues who have not been healthcare professionals for long.
The seasoned caregivers feel that generalizing the performance of healthcare professionals as a group fails to recognize the proficiency that they have accumulated over the years. It seems as if there is a section of people who feel undervalued and are alienating their less seasoned colleagues because of the time difference between the two. Consequently, such people have been refraining from sharing certain information with their fellow group members, limiting the group’s performance. Therefore, the group has learned that the implemented resolutions did not resolve the core cause of the problem, which is why it reappeared. The group also learned that there is a need to perform a thorough analysis so that the new policies that will be presented tackle the precise issues at hand.
Failures of the Implemented Organizational Learning Plan
As aforementioned, the policies and resolutions that the group under study have implemented impact it positively. However, the desire to achieve group cohesion has not been fulfilled. As much as the two previous sub-groups have united, the emergence of individuals that alienate their fellow group members because of age difference shows that the group members need to further emphasize the role of cohesion (Quinn, 2015). It is a replica of the earlier disparity based on familiarity. It is driven by a different cause, which shows an issue that was not resolved initially (Wedell-Wedellsborg, 2017). Fortunately, the number of individuals who are unwilling to work alongside their colleagues is small and easier to deal with.
Team’s Improvement Plan
The optimal course of action for the group is to design a plan that meets the precise needs of the group. Performing a root-cause analysis operation is the best way to ensure that the cause of division among group members is identified and resolved (Harvard Business, 2015). After that, they should seek a way to implement group-cohesion to enable all group members to feel valued and appreciated.
Team’s Strategy for Pursuing the Common Good and Elevating the Moral Health of the Team
People cannot work in unison if they are not treated as equal members of the group. Therefore, the formulated strategy needs to ensure that no one is excluded from all processes. The group should act as a unit by sharing responsibilities and equally participating in decision-making (Quinn & Quinn, 2016). In sharing responsibilities, members get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which is essential knowledge to help members delegate duties to each member depending on their strengths (Olsen, 2009). The decision-making process should involve everyone so that people feel that they are significant as far as designing the group’s direction is concerned (Quinn, 2015). As a result, such people will have a high level of morale; hence they will be more committed to working towards achieving the group’s objectives.
Team’s Template for Developing an Emergent Process for Learning and Positive Change
Creating a template that will facilitate learning and positively impact groups requires strategic planning. Every type of group is unique, and hence the process used to implement certain alterations ought to be customized according to the variations of the particular groups in context. The basic template needs to begin by identifying and rating different factors associated with the defining aspects of a group (Quinn & Quinn, 2016). For the case at hand, these aspects include; the learning capabilities and the nature of the relationship between group members. The second part of the template involves a root-cause analysis procedure to reveal the core causes of failure regarding the aforementioned aspects (Quinn & Quinn, 2015). The third step consists of a decision-making process, where group members will discuss the existing intricacies and devise the optimal way forward depending on the circumstances at hand.
Team’s Performance As a Learning Organization
The vast majority of group members were able to conform and abide by the newly created regulations to enhance the functionality of the group as a unit. A learning organization transforms consistently by utilizing information and altering its mode of operations to achieve desired objectives (Quinn, 2015). Similarly, the group learned that disparity among members is regressive to development. As a result, members created ways to increase cohesion among themselves. The strategy succeeded by breaking through the social barriers that members had formed along the lines of familiarity. However, it failed to identify the root cause of the problem; hence the problem manifested itself once again but was slightly nuanced, and the division was less this time around. Therefore, the performance of this group as a learning organization could best be rated as slightly above average. The group under discussion could still improve by implementing more specific policies to help it achieve set objectives more easily.
References
Harvard Business. (2015). Team building in the cafeteria. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Olsen, P. (2009). Team-building exercises for tough times. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Quinn, R. (2015). The positive organization: Breaking free from conventional cultures, constraints, and beliefs. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Quinn, W., & Quinn, E. (2016). Change management and leadership development have to mesh. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Valdes-Dapena, C. (2018). Stop wasting money on team building. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Wedell-Wedellsborg, T. (2017). Are you solving the right problems? Harvard Business Review. Web.