Communicating Effectively as a Team in the Workforce

Communicating Effectively as a Team in the Workforce

University of Phoenix

Abstract

Behavior is a key factor in the performance and effectiveness of a team in the workplace. The ability to detect warning signs of conflicting personalities is beneficial in a strong team. Business owners should work with an employee's personality and behavior to promote a positive and profitable work environment. Creating a focused, directed, and engaged team will build the connection between communication and personality styles instead of working against it. Once a successful team is built, owners should learn how to cultivate them and develop strategies to best combine different personalities to maximize productivity.

Communicating Effectively as a Team

Determining Key Elements

Learning to communicate effectively in the workforce relies on learning valuable techniques regarding behavior. Personalities and motivation to develop strategies are key elements reviewed to enhance productivity. Identifying methods to accomplish a common goal and working together as one within a team will promote the ability to acquire the end result. Assembling a team offers several benefits to a business owner and will build the connection between personality styles and communication to maximize productivity and promote a positive work environment. By utilizing different backgrounds, skills, and specific types of application, business owners will create a focused and effective team and promote an overall positive environment to maximize productivity. Learning how to cultivate and develop strategies within a team will allow for maximum performance and productivity.

Negotiating teams can create new opportunities for intellectual solutions. Researchers Leigh Thompson and Erika Peterson compared three types of negotiation situations: teams versus teams, teams versus solo negotiators, and solo negotiators versus solo negotiators. Assembled teams are known to bring added discussion and further information sharing than individuals do, particularly concerning conflicts, common interests, and designated priorities (Thompson & Peterson, 1997). The presence of at least one team when negotiating results led to higher success. Teams stimulate more discussion and more information sharing than an individual does, particularly concerning interests, priorities, and conflict resolution. However, the wide range of personalities also creates conflict when creating a team. Business owners are looking for dissimilar types of skilled individuals to balance and maintain their work relations. Pooling different personalities to accomplish goals are beneficial to successful work relations.

Implementation

Taking different skills which individuals have learned even further will teach the members of the team how to implement realistic and attainable goals that will allow the business to grow and develop. Designating an outline of team goals will ensure the tasks that need to be accomplished and allow individuals to step forward and personalize company goals. A workable plan that provides meaningful objectives will help teams acquire goals and set new objectives. Learning how to apply imaginative problem-solving techniques creates involvement of team members in problem-solving, and turn problems into opportunities. The ability to set a clear plan of action regarding a problem will educate and help form true success for the owner and employees. Actions include designating a team leader who will identify and utilize the different skills of others and keep the lines of communication open. The leader should promote patience and convey toughness when necessary.

Constructive Feedback

In a study, Thompson, and Peterson found that creating teams that were reasonably cohesive were able to out bargain solos and gain on average 60% of the resources. But even in such situations, the solos were not losers (Thompson & Peterson, 1997). Because of the larger scope that the teams created, the solos left with the same amount, as they would have gained when facing off against another solo. By actively listening and paying close attention to detail, team members will avoid repeating important detail that should help attain valuable resources that others provide. Elizabeth J. Pyatt suggests giving constructive feedback. The importance of evaluating ideas and suggestions before critiquing allows for presentation with tact. She gives several tips that may help: Don't express an opinion as a fact - Opinions are just that, opinions. Unless you are able to provide a source to back your statement, it is your opinion. Explain your reasons - If you feel strongly regarding your reasons, explain why you feel that way. Explaining your reasons will allow others to assess your comments more efficiently. Restate the original idea - To be sure you have understood someone else's thought before you reply to it. Compliment another's idea - Even if you do agree with someone's idea, some part of it may be applicable and could be applied in another area of the goal. Respond, don't react - If you feel that your response will be too bold to the point of detonation, give yourself a several seconds before communication. Don't interrupt - Allow others to finish their thoughts before responding, Critique the idea, not the person - Do not make direct statements about the individual who suggested the idea, Be courteous