JOSIE

Throughout my life, I have had a lot of experience of working in teams, whether it was for a school-related project or a work project. From working in teams, I have witnessed what works well and also what does not work well. I have found that some of the best teams I’ve worked with have been successful because of the techniques we used when working together. 

One of the most important parts of a good team that I have found is that a good team must have good communication. Communication has to be done between all members on the team and no one can be left out. I once was in an online class where we had to do a group project, but we had no way of getting the group together to meet. We had to do conference calls to communicate with each other. It was very important that every member was on the conference call and that everyone communicated so we knew who was in charge of each part of the project. Luckily our group had a great leader who would ask each member if they understood what their job what and would answer any questions that came up during our conference calls. 

Another part that is important in a successful team is that the team must have a specific goal that they want to accomplish. It is important to discuss what the team is trying to accomplish and to come up with what the end goal of the team is. I once worked on a team that had poor communication and we never talked about what our goal for the project was. We ended up all working on the project separately and when it was time to put everything together our project was missing some important parts. This caused a lot of stress because we were approaching the deadline and our project was not where it should be. If our group would have communicated and made a specific goal, we could have eliminated a lot of stress that formed from the miscommunication. 

From working within many teams, I have found that the best teams formed when every group member is open to each member ideas and perspectives. I have been in groups before where the members have ignored some of my ideas and it impacted how I participated as a member. When my ideas were ignored, I felt that I was not an important member in the team and in return I did not put my full effort into the project. Since I experienced this, I have changed my ways of working in groups. I make sure that I listen to each member when they are speaking and make sure they know that their ideas are being heard. I want all team members to feel included when working in teams with the hopes that they will put in their best effort into the project. 

I am currently the president of the club Women in Business. From this experience, I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about leadership. I have experienced what works as a leader as well as what doesn’t work. From My experience I have noticed that it is important to be aware of when you are in the position of being the leader and to take the position seriously. As president of Women in Business it is my responsibility to look over everything for the club as well as make decisions about the club. Sometimes it can be difficult getting all members to agree on a decision and that is when it is my responsibility to decide what I think is best for the club.  

Another important part of teamwork is that you must be committed to your team. I have worked at Coldwell Banker Action Realty since I was 15 years old. My boss has been the main reason why I have stayed committed to this job for so long. At Coldwell Banker they created a very welcoming environment. I started out as a secretary and have worked my way up to becoming an assistant. I have had the same amount of respect throughout my whole time at Coldwell Banker which has encouraged me to continue to stay committed to this company. 

I have found that diversity is an important part of creating an effective group. In this group project, I think we have worked hard to make sure that we accepted the different perspectives within the group. We have been open to all ideas that have been brought up throughout this entire project. Because of our diverse ideas we have created the best possible project and have worked well together.