Motivation
Project teams as group have their benefits and challenges. Having worked in a team project I have learnt a lot about teams and particularly their motivation. One of the things I have learnt is that meetings are very important for a group’s motivation. The structure of meetings, goals and member behavior all affect the process of a team’s work as well as its outcome. These aspects also affect the satisfaction of a team thereby positively or negatively affecting the team’s work. Groups are only successful if they allow the members to learn from each other and to combine ideas in pursuit of their common goals.
Our team was unique in that it was made up of members from different backgrounds. This helped to give varied ideas and views which was highly motivational. The group had sufficient material and the ideas kept the discussion lively. The varied discussions enabled the group to get the best ideas and thus our task performance was high. Our group was dedicated to its meetings. As a result we were able to tackle the task in a progressive way and to achieve the team’s goals.
In addition our team had people of different personalities. Some members were very involved while others did not participate as much. This unique experience led the group to come up with ideas on how to incorporate every one’s ideas and get every body involved. The group came up with a rotation sequence in which everyone had to say something on a topic. This gave the members more bonding and very soon even the quiet members of the team were freely giving ideas.
Our group sought to apply to our group’s specific situation by making sure we used what we learnt to improve our group dynamics, performance and communication. To begin with out group set clear goals so that each member understood what was required from the member. Ensuring that the team came up with goals and understood them ensured their participation and that the functions of the team would not be lost.
One of the reasons why teams are motivated is if they understand what they are aimed at and what the outcome of the team is supposed to be. By having the team members participate on the goals they are more motivated as they feel they are an integral part of the team and their input is variable. Every member was given an opportunity to express their thoughts on the goals so that we could embark on the task with the same agenda. Our group was really motivated to reach the goals we set.
Our team also ensured that each member had a task to fulfill. In doing that every member was motivated to do their share of whole. Work division enables groups to work efficiently and thus remain motivated by the progress and success they attain. Motivation was high as each member considered their participation important to the team’s overall performance. By dividing the responsibilities the members could concentrate on their individual tasks and spend time concretely. This was one of the reasons that members of our group remained highly motivated.
As our team worked there were certain behaviors observed. In the beginning, members did not know how to proceed. However as the task began to take root, members became motivated and more confident. Some members needed some guidelines about the meetings and what was expected of them as they had missed some meetings initially. But as they got involved, they became more committed and self motivated.
The behavior change was very important to the team and greatly impacted the performance. As the task was a team work members who had not missed any meeting felt that they might have to shoulder a bigger burden. But with all members’s dedication the whole team was satisfied that the outcome would e good and that the responsibilities would equally shared. The team was also satisfied because with everyone’s participation the meetings were more productive. This gave the team the best opportunity to perform up to our potential.
There was also marked behavior in working of the groups over time. To start with, many members did not fully understand their role in the group or group’s dynamics. Members did not fully realize how their behavior affected others. As a result in the beginning there was a lot of interference during meetings. Some members did not understand how working together would enhance the performance. They would rather the tasks were divided right away and each member would bring their work to the group for final discussion. However during interactions the members began to understand how discussions could enhance our performance.
Additionally members began to understand communication better. They realized that sometimes the way people responded or reacted was based on their background. Taking the time to clarify what a communicator was saying was important to avoid miscommunication. Often there would be some misunderstanding but with patience and the awareness of the different dimensions of interpersonal communication, the communication improved. Members of the team became more tolerant, patient and open to the criticism and ideas of other members.
The consequences of the changes in behavior enhanced the overall performance of the team. Members were in control of the outcome of the group’s task and as such motivation remained high. The overall experience of our group was the enhancement of the team’s task by the course material. Without the material the team would not have reached the same level of performance or satisfaction that it did. The team’s satisfaction lay both in the process and in the final outcome of out work.
