What does it take to create an environment that encourages collaboration? How can your organization find the collaborative success that organizations like Apple, General Electric, or Southwest have come to know as generally accepted practices? The success of the aforementioned organizations in terms of collaboration stems from several different components. The first of which is the very essence of their respective cultures. Take Pepsi as a case study. Pepsi has recently launched a new series of Gatorade backed by dominant athletes such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Peyton Manning and Derrick Jeter. The new G series begins with the G1 Prime. G1 is to be taken prior to activity in order to “provide energy by maximizing the availability of carbohydrate energy to muscles.” (www.gatorade.com) The G2 Perform line is an amped up version of the original Gatorade meant to be utilized during strenuous activity. The G3 Recover line “is the first protein and carbohydrate beverage formulated with the consistency of a thirst quencher to provide hydration and muscle recovery benefits after exercise.” (www.gatorade.com) The product is doing amazingly well and has injected Pepsi and the Gatorade brand even further into the realm of athletic competition. But it wasn’t the scientist at Pepsi that were solely responsible for this new product line. Pepsi partnered with Appalachian State University to improve the Gatorade brand. The result of that initial partnership with ASU and other partners aquired later in the process resulted in the new G series brand of athletic performace beverages.
Pepsi succeeded with their endeavor in part because of their cultural commitment to collaboration.
There cultural commitment to collaboration...
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...tionship with participants in an effort to further a shared goal. In order to create a climate of collaboration they need to determine and act upon the collective needs of the collaborative team. As mentioned, the first step is building trusting relationships. Trust, after all, is at the core of collaboration and without trusting relationships collaboration could not take place. In the infancy of collaboration leaders need to walk the talk and be the first among the collaborative team to trust. Doing so creates an environment of collective genius because leaders ensure the consideration of alternative viewpoints in discussions. In seeking a diversity of inputs leaders naturally encourage the participation of all members of the collaborative team. This inclusion allows for more creativity and a much more dynamic result. (Kouzes & Posner, 2007, pp. 221-232)
This involves working together to generate win-win alternatives for resolving issues (Robin, 2002). Collaborating involves high to moderate skill levels of parties, clear clarity of both goals, strong status of relationships, Win-Win attitude toward authority, low concerns for formalities and traditions, and a high self-concept.
My team consists of four other people besides myself, Lauren Chojnaki, Alexa-Louise Patnode, and Jacobe Loewen, and Ryan Tyriver. Together, we are tasked with the mission to complete a stakeholder analysis regarding a specific organization and their structure. For this project to be completed successfully, it is important that all team members are able to cooperate with one another and are able to use their different strengths to create the best end product.
This means the collaborative leadership approach can produce better ideas and more creative ideas. The team the team will feel involved in the process and like they are actually needed. As they are more involved and committed to the task, they are more likely to care about a successful end result. This ultimately produces higher productivity and increases group cohesion.
“The team is faced with creating cohesion and unity, differentiating roles, identifying expectations for members, and enhancing commitment. Providing supportive feedback and fostering commitment to a vision are needed from the team leaders (Developing Management Skills).” ... ... middle of paper ... ...
...and show an open mind to everyone’s ideas. I’ve found that this makes for a lighter and more fun environment and we’ve shown success in completing our task. Most times I’m put into groups, I don’t know the other people very well. This is common at school with my classmates. I’m used to having no leader in the group and everyone fighting to have their ideas chosen. Once a leader was chosen in the group we started discussing openly everyone’s ideas with the chosen leader voicing their opinion on which idea to choose and why. Usually when it comes to my friends I take the leadership role and make an try to hear everyone’s opinion before making a decision. I believe that for a team to find success and reach their goal someone needs to take leadership and voice an unbiased opinion. The team needs to hear everyone’s ideas and choose one based on which will lead to success.
When the door to communication has been opened, a leader has laid the ground work for collaboration. When people are willing to listen and understand other people, ideas can be shared, enthusiasm can be created, solutions can be sought, and action can be taken. I believe that a positive spirit of collaboration can help a math department generate innova...
He will be there for you when you have problems with your family and spouse, because he wants employees to be focused when they are working and not thinking about family problems.
In the film, the team is able to brainstorm solutions to their challenges together which allows for the team to formulate a solution that involves every team member’s input. This solution comes from everyone’s different perspectives there the solution is wholesome and turns out to be the best solution to the
Throughout the course of a Master’s counseling program, moments of doubt, and a lack of working knowledge are bound to play a major role in the confidence a future counselor will posses in effectively implementing interventions early on in the instructional phase of his or her career. Corey (2010) states that an effective group leader, is able to become aware of their own vulnerabilities, and take responsibility in their responses. To become aware of a possible vulnerable area, a counselor must first take a concise look into their personal strengths and weakness, and then decide to actively seek out assistance with working on vulnerabilities. In exploring the roles of an effective group leader, I have realized that within the group process, I most fear the roles of a group leader that pertain to direct confrontation of a client, I also fear that the improper implementation of a intervention could lead to potential harm of the client. Attending to these fears I hold regarding group member confrontation, and intervention implementation is the key to gaining further understanding into how I can become comfortable with these essential functions of a group leader. The current paper will take a closer look into my vulnerabilities, using current research to gain insight into how I can overcome fears, when facilitating a task, psycho-educational, counseling, and psychotherapy group.
Some of the characteristics seen in collaborative leadership are shared problem-solving and decision making. In order to come to a mutual decision between group members, the...
One of the topics in organizational development today is leadership. Leadership is what individuals do to mobilize other people in organizations and communities. According to Kouzes & Posner, there are five practices and ten commitments of exemplary leadership. The five practices of exemplary leadership include: Model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. In the Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner found similar patterns and actions of leadership that created the essentials to achieve success. Utilizing the research conducted by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, I have created a leadership plan that would apply to the Admission Department at Texas Wesleyan University.
As I develop my team I am looking for the challenges and norms that the forming, storming and norming stages of team development will possibly experience. The focus of this theory is to become a more effective team. Following through with these stages we can become an effective team, however the challenges and norms we will face normally most teams go through. Starting out with forming my team we will face a few challenges as we begin orienting ourselves and becoming familiar with each other. With different personalities coming together there may be some biased perceptions that may cloud the members ' judgement of one another. A challenge that we face has to do with different aspects of each member 's personality, skills and setting the terms as to what needs to happen when making decisions as a team. This first stage is crucial because of the manner of getting to know who you will be working with and recognizing everyone 's goals to see if you all fit together; it is like building a puzzle. However excruciating this may sound, creative minds can sometimes make great decisions and other times can bump heads and unfortunately waste time when trying to make decisions to accomplish the work. The storming stage is where some conflict begins to arise in the team as we look for solutions. There will be confrontation as the team members will look at themselves as individuals versus
In a team-oriented setting, everyone contributes to how well the group succeeds overall. You work with fellow members of the group to complete the work that needs to be done. Having the right people in the correct roles is an important factor in measuring the success of a team, where you are united with the other members to complete the main goals. Every group is made up of definite strengths and weaknesses. Our team's 3-5 major strengths necessary to work accordingly consist of Informer, Summarizer, Orienter, Piggy-Backer, and Encourager. One of our strengths as a team is that we get input from everyone involved. Every member of our team is a leader in some way. Part of being a good leader is knowing how important it is to receive the best ideas from each member of their team. We attend group meetings where we discuss any challenges, issues, and problems. At these meetings, we often exchange ideas or brainstorm new ones with each other and come up with the best and most creative team solutions as potential answers to those perceived problems.
(1) I would like to create an optimum work environment by demonstrating collaborative behavior myself. This will inspire my team to follow or model the same behavior (Gratton and Erickson, 2007). (2) I will also allow myself adequate time daily to coach my team on the basis of creativity and innovation to improve business performance (Coutu and Beschloss, 2009). I will give clear direction to my team as to where we are going as a team together. According to Coutu & Beschloss (2009) unless the leader provides a clear direction, there is a real risk that different members will pursue different plans. That is why it is important to articulate a clear direction for my team to makse that everyone is on the same page as we’re moving forward (Coutu and Beschloss, 2009). (3) I will establish a sense of community – When people feel a sense of inclusivity, they are more likely to reaching out to others and share their knowledge to improve effective collaboration in a creative and innovative way (Gratton and Erickson,
Effective communication encompasses many concepts. For a leader to be effective, one must be able to build relationships between different parties. In order to build a good rapport, one must be able to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of those involved, and within oneself. Acknowledging these differences will allow for a better collaboration between team members. A leader must also have the ability to put conflict resolution theories into practice. Allowing differing points of view may challenge the original idea and will make for a more thorough decision making process. Although this may seem counterproductive, it actually ensures the best possible outcome. One must be consistent in the message presented yet be flexible, approachable and maintain a positive attitude. Allowing for different perspectives to be heard will allow team members to feel valued. This flexibility helps to solidify the concept that everyone is in this together; thus establishing an environment where all team members can have a buy-in. Encouraging team members to voice opinions and give feedback produces an atmosphere of constructive give-and-take; a real t...