Advice for working in a team
For our HR simulation final report, I was given the job to write about what’s we’ve learn as a team through out HR simulation group. While I was writing it, I found out that some problems were targeted promptly and efficiently, while others could have been addressed earlier or prevented altogether. Therefore I decided to combine all of the problems that we’ve been through and post it on my blog and hope that this entry will help those who have not gone through such an experience.
1. When you found out that most of your teammate does not like working as a group, do not feel bad or sad about the situation that you are in because there is always a chance and space for people to work together and improve. Through my experiences, I found out that even though 80% of my team preferred to work individually, most of them are actually really good helper within the group. So, instead of feeling bad and think very negatively, try to work on making everyone feel comfortable to talk with each other and create a good atmosphere within the group.
2. When the group is feeling comfortable with each other just like a group of friends, working together will actually be less difficult. In order to increase this comfortable feel within the group, have socializing conversation before and after the meeting will help each individual to get to know other teammate as a person and thus reduce the weird feeling caused by not knowing each other.
3. If your team is facing difficulty because team members were not willing to share their thoughts or ideas on any issue, it will really help if the team can delegate specific duties to each individual. Giving each member specific duties forced that individual to speak when giving his or her weekly report, while creating a more friendly atmosphere made members comfortable enough to voice their own opinions on the issues at hand.
4. We also agree that everyone is expected to come fully prepared with notes on what each person feels is important. Then we plan on discussing each person’s ideas toward the incident. During the discussions, one person will take notes on what is being discussed. After the group comes to a finite conclusion on the incident, we will all fill out the decision sheet together with everyone giving input.
5. When your group has a specific individual who is not welling to put in effort and work with the group, it will be better to help her as a group then excluding him or her. One way to help her is by having different members to remind her every time when there is a meeting. By doing this, she will realize that there is something that she needs to work on and still feel that hi m or her is still welcome in this group. If the situation still continues without seeing improvement, the team leader should have a private one on one conversation with him or her. During the conversation, try to find out the reason why he or she is behavior such way before pointing out the problem. This will give them a chance to explain if this behavior is being caused through a understandable reason such as health conduction.
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