Different Skills And Abilities To Our Team example essay topic

Diversity within a team can have both a positive and negative impact on the team. Typically, diversity is beneficial to a successful outcome of a team's project; however, diversity can cause potential problems within the team. Differences in personality, occupation, ethnicity, and skills are a few aspects of diversity that may challenge a team. Difference in occupation is one example of diversity that will most often occur within a team.

A team that is put together at work may have to deal with individuals from different departments who have different views of how the task at hand should be handled in order to benefit that person's department. The same can be said for a team made up of employees within the same departments. The individuals on the team may be motivated by results that would benefit them individually rather than benefit the team as a whole. Our team is comprised of individuals who are looking to benefit the team and the final outcome, not for individual gain. The differences in occupation (Human Resources, Travel Agent, Administrative Assistant, & Information Systems) will only contribute to the diversity of our team. Each occupation allows us to bring a different skill and level of knowledge to the team.

Papers and projects will be completed with a broader range of intellect. Our difference in occupation could possibly spark controversy within the team and force us to consider a different view. "Several things are important to the team effort including: organizational skills, abilities to take initiative, oral and written communication, flexibility, time management skills and self-motivation" (Dressler, pg 138-139). Excellent computer skills are also a requirement to ensure that contributions to teamwork are equal, allowing us to be successful in class. Without these qualities in place we could not have an effective team. Acknowledging that each one of us within the group is different, we also realize that each of us brings different skills and abilities.

Some of us are better at certain skills than others, but this diversity can be coordinated to allow the team to work together harmoniously. Critical thinking, problem solving, and synchronizing our efforts are all part of our contribution to the team. In the past, we have been able to work quickly and efficiently to achieve our deadlines and resolve conflict. We also have been fortunate to have email. Email has been the most helpful tool in communicating with each other at any given moment. As we bring different skills and abilities to our team, we must also address our differences.

Our team effectiveness is sometimes hindered because all the members have similar weaknesses. Public speaking is a skill that we all feel we need to work on. As a team, we can support each other and work towards improving our public speaking skills. As each individual's weaknesses are overcome, the team will become stronger and more effective. An additional problem that could occur could be that not all team members are willing to participate or work on improving their skills. If this happened, conflict could ensue.

The productivity of the team could be affected by the fact that we all have different skills and abilities. Since most of the team members have worked together in the past, we have previously identified what tasks each of us does best. Moving ahead, it is more important to focus more on skills and abilities rather than group affiliation. Personality traits will have a major impact on our team collaboration as well. Different personality types will bring unique attributes to the team. Understanding the different personality that each person brings to the team will improve the ability of our team to be productive.

Several members of the team have worked on learning teams together before. During the time the three members have become very good friends. Our personalities work well together because our differences compliment each other. Having a new personality on the team will be a challenge but will also improve the team dynamics. Since three of us worked together for several months we know each other's strengths and weaknesses and have our established position in the team.