MSLD 520 Module 8- Team Roles

While getting the job done is the shared goal in teamwork, it is important to keep in mind that there are also social aspects involved. Whetten and Cameron states that effective teamwork occurs when groups practice task-facilitating and relationship-building roles (2016). Task-facilitating roles include direction giving and elaborating, whereas relationship-building roles include supporting and emphasizing. Teamwork is likely to be more effective when the two roles are in balance.

When pursuing my bachelor’s degree, I’ve worked with a number of groups that sided stronger towards relationships or tasks. Over time, I’ve noticed a pattern where groups that strongly-sided towards one direction had more issues. The most common group I had were those that heavily socialize. While it is important to communicate with group members, too much of it can lead groups getting carried away: focusing less on the group objective. In contrast, groups that side strongly with tasks are often “too demanding”, which often times spark conflict between group members (Talgam, 2009).

                As a team member, I usually try to balance out both task and relationship building roles, but often side one way or the other depending on the group mission. For instance, I tend to be more task-focused when something must be completed in a short amount of time. I also notice that my focus on tasks get stronger when working with people I know. Just as Sofie Roslind mentioned in a short article, I often worry that my team will be at higher risk of losing focus since the chances of side conversations are higher when working with friends or acquaintances (2013). Personally, conversations takes away time to complete our projects, and with limited time, it is important to keep conversations a minimum.

In my current job, teamwork is a little challenging due to the fact that I work at an online university. Emails are what we primarily use to work together, and because of this, there are some barriers to emotions. Personally, I believe that emotions, tone, etc. are what really makes relationship-building roles more effective. By implementing emotions, tone, etc., we’re providing some authenticity to what we say (Somogyi, 2013). When we compliment in writing for example, it becomes hard to determine whether the person really means what they say.  

References:

Roslind, S. (2013). Working in groups: The good, the bad and the ugly. CBSLife. Retrieved from http://cbslife.dk/working-in-groups-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

Somogyi, R., Buchko, A., & Buchko, K. (2013). Managing with empathy: Can you feel what I feel? Journal of Organizational Psychology. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1470425153/fulltextPDF/CE275E3C16174E05PQ/1?accountid=27203

Talgam, I. (2009). Itay Talgam: Lead like the great conductors [Video File]. TED. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors/transcript?language=en#t-435000

Whetten, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills, 9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.