First and foremost, open and transparent communication is vital for a team to be effective in whatever project they are engaged in. Without good communication, many things can be lost in translation and the progression of the team and project can be negatively affected. When organization’s are building teams, they need to ensure that everyone is on the same page, provide necessary resources and multiple communication channels, and gauge if the team’s personality dynamics are a good fit by having focus group meetings and feedback sessions.

The current team I am a part of has been succesful thus far because leadership took the time to understand each and every one of our backgrounds (career wise). Since our leadership fully understands the current and future work, they were able to select individuals who are accustomed to and thrive in our high-pace and complex environment. We are all critical thinkers who need minimal supervision to accomplish our goals and complete our deliverables. Leadership gives us flexibility in our schedules because we are able to communicate with our team and stakeholders through a variety of channels. Finally, leadership is candid and transparent with us when reporting our progression.

To begin this response, I would like to comment on the group I have had the pleasure of working with in this class. I was surprised during our first group assignment when everyone came together days before the assignment was due and actually worked as a team and submitted all parts and allowed each member to make corrections and suggestions. It has been rare in my time in college to find a group that contributes so much to each project in a timely manner, or at all! I suppose this is due to it being a 4th year management course since we all have been working as managers for years and know now how to delegate and work as a team. This was an pleasantly surprising example of a group for me when starting this class.

Group size is an important factor for a successful team, and UOPX has been smart about making classes and groups small in classes. Too many group members can lead to smaller groups being formed and some members being left out of decisions. Trusting your group members is essential to having a successful team, as well as choosing people that can take on specific roles, such as leadership, organization and motivation. Having too many leadership personalities in a group may lead to conflict when it comes to control issues. My group for this class had a form of trust for each other, delegated responsibility rather well for a group made up of leaders and motivated each other to complete our assignment responsibilities.