Write a blog entry on task-facilitating and relationship-building roles. In your blog, reflect upon your understanding of how these roles enhance team performance.
- Consider how you generally relate as a team-member.
- Do you actively engage your team to accomplish its mission?
- Do you work to improve the team cohesion and collaboration?
In any team, there are various roles for people to play a part. People are the elements that make up a team, and the diversity among people is probably the single greatest reason why teams are so complex. Some people are leaders, some are followers, and some move between these roles. Two such teams roles are Task-facilitating and Relationship-building roles. Task-facilitating roles include:
These roles assist in unifying the team mentally and emotionally. Encouragement is important, whether you are a team leader or a fellow team member. As a team leader, I challenge myself to be clear and consistent about what I would like my team to achieve. As a task-facilitator, I give clear directions. I seek discussions involving thought from all members, and I respect their thoughts and encourage others to do so. Research on catastrophic group decisions has identified a distinctive pattern in the teams that have made poor decisions. One of the pitfalls of those groups is censorship of dissent. If team members pressure themselves or each other to suppress dissenting opinions in order to maintain harmony, the diversity of members' insights is wasted. Effective team leaders understand that a moderate amount of task-focused conflict is constructive. If their teams are not debating issues, effective team leaders promote debate by playing the role of devil's advocate. The shared goal must be the goal of everyone (Cameron & Whetten, 2011, p. 512). I also debrief with my team so we can learn to improve our weaknesses or celebrate the good techniques implemented by the team.
- disseminating information,
- asking for clarifications, and
- directing members' efforts back to the task.
Building good relationships promotes team success (Cameron & Whetten, 2011, p. 514). Members do this by:
- crediting other's ideas and efforts,
- mediating conflicts, and
- challenging inappropriate exchanges.
Team cohesive and collaboration lead to effective team and results. My organization consistently holds events were staff and faculty can celebrate our achievements and socialize; we have monthly service excellence award ceremonies where we can nominate each other for exceptional work. We also have quarterly socials that usually have a cause tied to them - our Work Environment Quality Council is about to host a Fiesta Pot Luck, and a few months ago several staff members came together to throw a fundraiser for an injure international student.
I am a learning through experience and teamwork. It really strengthens ties between those with similar passions and people tend to be open to sharing about their personal lives and influences when they are working on topics they care about.
References
Cameron, S. K. & Whetten, A. D. (2011). Developing management skills. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
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