TEAM AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Contents

            This paper would report about team and communication skills of a group, particularly a small group of people working in a luxury perfumery shop.  Further, this report discusses the teams in terms of its roles, function, formation and an analysis of the team working in a luxury perfumery shop. This report would also touch Belbin’s types of teams, the benefits and constraints that can incur on teams and the successful communication within the team.  The recommendation, along with the conclusion, will be based in a form of an action plan.

Introduction

Teams are about people handed with disparate tasks who, as much as possible, should adaptively works together to achieve a common and shared goal.  To assert that team should work towards a common goal, according to  (1988), the first essential ingredient for effective teamwork is that the team members agree on their “common mission” and on their commitment to work together to reach the team goals.  (1992) upon recognition that it takes trust to gradually build a team, suggests that team members need to be aware of their own interpersonal styles and must work to enhance the positive and reduce the negative aspects of these styles through providing team members encouragement and be developing sensitivity to the personal needs of other members.  In teaming, open communication is crucial and conflict resolution techniques must be planned and implemented ( 1991). Similarly, conscious efforts to build team trust and team skills are often necessary ( 1988).

Main Part

 

In 1993, listed several positive team functions (1993).  Among the named team functions are that teams set priorities, a team models the varying manifestation of behavior, the teams anticipates objections of the fact that teams comprises of different individuals, teams fosters interaction between them, and so on.  An illustration of a team function is in the business setting, perhaps a creative team of an advertising company.  Being a part of a creative team necessitates that there coexists a set of priorities for a team to fulfill in which one would function in accordance to what is expected and works in means to achieve that priorities being set.

How it is then a team is formed? For the purposes of this report, we would be using (1977) group model since we would be dealing also with a small group working in a luxury perfumery.   (1977) identified five stages as to how a team is formed.  First is the forming where members at first, feels anxious of being into a group without prior knowledge as to what mechanisms or process would be involved in working with that group.  Just like any organism, it is a normal reaction to feel anxious when one is in a new situation since one undergoes through the basic process of knowing how to be adaptive being into a team.  Second is storming that pertains to the arousal of possible conflicts especially when individual differences will surmount.  At this stage, some team members would likely compete in proving themselves and may at times be overly proactive to the team events as one would try to project assertiveness.  Third, is the norming that pertains to the group starting to have that sense of trust and the understanding of the team function in a deeper level.  The third stage is marked with the team beginning to blend together and functions in perfect tune.  Consequently, teams at this point is characterized as accepting, learns the art of cooperation and the mutual support for each other would likely happen.  Fourth, is the performing stage where teams’ functions as a whole and exhibit team performance.  Fifth, would be the mourning or grieving stage.  It is termed as such because in every team, the more than a team concept, is developed wherein every members has the emotional attachment to the team already.  Thus, the dismantled or the lost of the team would result to grief.  .

            Moving on, team role is defined as the tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way ( n.d).  ’s team roles or team types, illustrates a patter of behavior that characteristically describes the behavior manifested by one person in relationship to one another in the facilitation of progress occurring within the team.  There are 8 team types; they are the shaper, implementer, completer-finisher, coordinator, team worker, resource investigator, plant, monitor evaluator and the specialist, all of which performs the varying roles respectively.  With teams being able to know the roles they partake, it is likely that they would be adaptive to the type of teams they belong.  A sports team, for instance, even if it only composes less than 20 persons, to be able to work effectively, they should be able to grasps the dynamics or the nature of the type of team they belong combine with taking responsibility to their different roles being part of the team.

            Let us consider a small group of 10 people in a luxury perfumery shop.  Obviously, the function of the group is to generate means to attract customers to the shop.  However, small groups are more powerful when formed into a team.  Thus, the team could in this instance, perhaps, work on to improve their service in the customer’s service aspect and in the personal relations with the aim to accrue loyal customers.  Management plays a critical role in the team formation such that they are the one who selects the people as to who should fit in to the team.  Likewise, the management also is responsible as to how they would make the team work together.  Given the formation of the team, members mayhap able to know and partake their roles but the question is how to get the team interact with each other more deeply.  Wherein, in fact, group of personnel in luxury perfumery is oftentimes perceived to work only for the salary.  Presumably, the most challenging part in a small group in luxury perfumery is in the provision of an interactive linkage between members and placing a meaning as to what they are doing individually and as a team.  Communication seemingly is the barrier for small group in a less interactive setting.  Most of the time team members would be preoccupied of having interaction with customers neglecting the importance of initiating interaction within them.  Teams in a luxury perfumery, in spite of being undermined, can work subtlety works wonders as long as teams are coherent and integrated perfectly.

 

Conclusions and Recommendations

 

            Teams are vital in a luxury perfumery.  A good team especially in the customer’s service counters would persuade customers to get to try new products and inclined them to go back in the shop, provided that customers will be satisfied in the services given by every team members.  An action plan would be to let the small group be integrated into a team specifying the different roles they would partake and the team purpose, upon which they will embody a common goal. Additionally, team building activities will help in gradually blending the team for them to be able to work harmoniously leading to the team members finding meaning as to what they are doing and be able to value being a part of that team.

 

 

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