Blog 5

Design a work team based on three teamwork dimensions you deem to be most important. Why did you choose these dimensions?

While there are many dimensions of teamwork that are very important to a work team performing and getting along well, but there are three that I would single out as being the most crucial. Those are interpersonal relations, adjustment, and communication.

Interpersonal relations are very important in terms of solving conflict and working to maintain socioemotional relations. A positive team environment will help promote agreement among group members and a greater sense of group satisfaction (Drikell, Goodwin, Salas, & O’Shea, 2006). Wiatr Borg & Johnson (2013) said that the ability to listen and to have empathy are a big part of possessing interpersonal skills. They argued that there is a link between interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence in a business-to-business sales setting. Good interpersonal skills can help one infer others’ feelings and intentions and to then act on this insight. This would be important in group functioning.

Even though it is not widely acknowledged, adaptability is very important to a group’s functioning. It involves a team’s flexibility to adapt to the type of problem or task at hand. A task may require a group to reallocate resources and to mutually adjust to the situation at hand (Drikell, Goodwin, Salas, & O’Shea, 2006). Marin, Nejad, Colmar, & Liem (2013) talk about adaptability as being both cognitive and behavioral. Good adaptability involves anticipating the unknown

Communication is crucial to a work team’s functioning. All members must exchange ideas in an effective way, and this is a determinant of how well the group will function overall. Some aspects of effective communication include trading information in a time-sensitive way, acknowledging others’ ideas and input, checking to see that information was received and understood, and the usage of nonverbal communication, (Drikell, Goodwin, Salas, & O’Shea, 2006). Erozkan (2013) says that communication is the cornerstone of good relationships and that interpersonal relationships grow from healthy communication.

References:

Driskell, J. E., Goodwin, G. F., Salas, E., & O'Shea, P. G. (2006). What makes a good team player? Personality and team effectiveness. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 10(4), 249--‐271. doi:10.1037/1089--‐ 2699.10.4.249

Erozkan, A. (2013). The effect of communication skills and interpersonal problem solving skills on social self-efficacy. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Bilimleri,13(2), 739-745. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=14&sid=02afe680-b1c3-41fa-b678-a798b61c5573@sessionmgr4&hid=26&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==

Martin, A. J., Nejad, H. D., Comar , S., & Liem, G. A. D. (2013). Adaptability: How students’ responses to uncertainty and novelty predict their academic and non-academic outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=20&sid=02afe680-b1c3-41fa-b678-a798b61c5573@sessionmgr4&hid=126&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==

Wiatr Borg, S., & Johnston, W. J. (2013). The ips-eq model: Interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence in a sales process. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 33(1), 39-51. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=14&sid=02afe680-b1c3-41fa-b678-a798b61c5573@sessionmgr4&hid=26&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==