Teams in the 21st Century
Teams in the 21st Century Reflection Paper
Carol Robin Green
University of Phoenix
Teams in the 21st Century Reflection Paper
I personally agree and approve of the way that University of Phoenix is set up by breaking every classroom up into teams because it is very important for people to know how to interact with one another in every aspect of life, (e.g. school, work, home, and in society). My personal experience thus far working with teams as a student here at University of Phoenix have been both gratifying and frustrating. I especially enjoy the brainstorming ideas and the team collaboration that derive from meeting and working together as a team; for example, when each team puts together a PowerPoint slide show and gets instant approval. On the other hand, if someone on the team is not pulling his or her weight it causes a huge concern for the rest of the team. What one team member might fail to communicate could be detrimental for the rest of the team, because while one person on the team is not doing their part, “others expend their energy trying to improve communication rather than on trying to learn the course material” (Border L., 1997). A perfect example of this based on my own personal experience occurred recently when a particular team member who was assigned to post our learning team assignment failed to post it in the designated area. Everyone on the team received a zero for the assignment and it dropped everyone’s grade down a level for the class; fortunately for the team, we were able to assess the problem within a reasonable amount of time that the instructor made an exception and gave us our grade. This was a very valuable lesson because even though nothing was lost, I saw the tremendous value in the need for proper communication skills when working on a team. The lesson learned here was self correcting and taught the team always to maintain checks and balances.
Some people have the need to belong to a certain group, club, or
Carol Robin Green
University of Phoenix
Teams in the 21st Century Reflection Paper
I personally agree and approve of the way that University of Phoenix is set up by breaking every classroom up into teams because it is very important for people to know how to interact with one another in every aspect of life, (e.g. school, work, home, and in society). My personal experience thus far working with teams as a student here at University of Phoenix have been both gratifying and frustrating. I especially enjoy the brainstorming ideas and the team collaboration that derive from meeting and working together as a team; for example, when each team puts together a PowerPoint slide show and gets instant approval. On the other hand, if someone on the team is not pulling his or her weight it causes a huge concern for the rest of the team. What one team member might fail to communicate could be detrimental for the rest of the team, because while one person on the team is not doing their part, “others expend their energy trying to improve communication rather than on trying to learn the course material” (Border L., 1997). A perfect example of this based on my own personal experience occurred recently when a particular team member who was assigned to post our learning team assignment failed to post it in the designated area. Everyone on the team received a zero for the assignment and it dropped everyone’s grade down a level for the class; fortunately for the team, we were able to assess the problem within a reasonable amount of time that the instructor made an exception and gave us our grade. This was a very valuable lesson because even though nothing was lost, I saw the tremendous value in the need for proper communication skills when working on a team. The lesson learned here was self correcting and taught the team always to maintain checks and balances.
Some people have the need to belong to a certain group, club, or
References: Border, L. (1997). From Rowdy Crowd to Effective Team. Further notes on Group Behavior, Rapport, Trust, and Etiquette, 6(5), 1. Retrieved from http://www.ntlf.com/html/pi/9708/border.htm Goldberg, I.B. (2007). Self-directing teams.(On Leadership)(Column).. Arkansas Business, 1. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?action=interpret&docType =IAC&contentSet=IACDocuments&searchType=BasicSearchForm&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A167305700&source=gale&version=1.0&userGroupName=apollo&finalAuth=true