Fox 5 Dysfunctions Worksheet Week 1 PDF

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Week 1 5 dysfunctions assessment...

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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Thought-provoking questions to answer Assigned Reading: Introduction through page 25.

Briefly describe a situation in which you’ve participated on a team. Was it a positive or negative experience? Why? In my previous nursing position, I was assigned to be on a team that was charged with the goal of reducing spending on clinical supplies at our surgery center. Overall, this was a positive experience. The team was well built, it was composed of myself, the staff member responsible for ordering supplies, the team member responsible for stocking supplies, and one additional nurse. We had all of the necessary knowledge there in that team to determine what materials are being used, what materials are expiring on the shelves, what materials are essentially duplicates of others, and what materials we could do away with while still allowing the nurses to have the supplies needed to do their jobs. In addition, everyone was able to remain cordial with each other throughout the whole process, and through working together we were able to identify other areas of weakness in the practice that we were able to propose to senior management as projects to tackle next. Have you ever been a team leader? What was the experience like? I have had a few experiences as a team leader. I was the team leader when it comes to the scenario that I discussed in the previous section. It was a very good experience as a leader because it gave me a great reference point to look back on for what a good team should look like when working on additional projects. This team had all of the necessary members, but not so many voices that people went unheard. They were productive, and when they had disagreements, everyone handled them respectfully. At the end of the day, we had a successful outcome and identified other areas that we believed we could improve together. Why do you think that so many companies have problems with teamwork? I believe that so many companies struggle with teamwork because they do not facilitate a culture of transparency. Tensions between team members are either discussed behind the backs of some of the people involved, are swept under the rug, and lead to rifts in the team that are difficult to overcome. Generally, I think it is a popular perspective that teams without conflict are more productive, but I think that is just putting up blinders to the real issue. I do not think there is such thing as a workplace without tension, the important thing is how these tensions are addressed. I believe if team members are encouraged to go directly to each other, or to leadership and be transparent about their feelings regarding any sources of tension, the issues at hand can be addressed productively and the team will be able to restore healthy function.

5 Dysfunctions of a Team Is having an effective team hard? Why? I believe that both building and maintaining effective teams is easy in theory, but difficult in practice. The first step in having an effective team is hiring high effective team members. I just finished a months-long process trying to hire a nurse who would fit the culture of our team. This required what seemed to be an extreme number of interviews to find promising candidates, and then the majority of these nurses would shadow and take themselves out of consideration as our workplace is extremely fast-paced. Simply identifying team members who have the potential to mesh well is challenging. In addition, there are several factors that can get in the way of a team working effectively such as poor communication, unclear goals, people developing egos, etc. Constantly working to mitigate these pitfalls and maintain a team that is effective long-term can be challenging.

What kinds of things give people credibility? When I think of people who are credible in the workplace, I think of people who are competent, trustworthy, consistent, and genuine. First, if you are competent, and you are able to look at current situations and act appropriately, that is the technical portion of credibility. Now, the other areas, trustworthiness, consistency, and being genuine are all about establishing a stable foundation on which your opinions, your actions, and your decisions can stand. In my book, all of those things increase credibility. What is “culture”? How important is it? How important is it that a leader “fit” the culture? “An organization’s culture defines the proper way to behave within the organization. This culture consists of shared beliefs and values established by leaders and then communicated and reinforced through various methods, ultimately shaping employee perceptions, behaviors, and understanding” (Society for Human Resource Management, 2017, pp. 3). I believe that having a leader that fits the culture of an organization is more beneficial for the employees than it is for the leader. I think it is pretty well recognized that when employees don’t feel like they connect with the culture of their workplace, they leave. By facilitating a team where the leader fits the culture and the employees as well, retention is improved. In addition, I think it is important to note that culture does not only have to do with the day to day feeling of the workplace, but it also has to do with the values of the business, and it can end up being a very diverse group of people who all end up feeling connected to those same core values. What’s it like to be new? How do you learn about fitting in? How do you learn what’s acceptable and what’s not? I can easily say that I do not miss being the new person. However, I oversee all hiring and training of new staff, so I am frequently around people who are coming in as the new person, and I try to remain sensitive to that feeling so I can help ease their transition into the workplace. Being new is always uncomfortable at first because I think 2

5 Dysfunctions of a Team most of us desire to be our authentic selves, but you first have to navigate what is appropriate and acceptable in each place of work. For example, my workplace has a very fun and open culture with lots of joking around as this is how we deal with the high levels of stress and the incredibly fast pace we deal with every day. It took me, really, over a year before I was comfortable being myself and engaging with my coworkers in the way that they engaged with each other because I just couldn’t believe that being that open with everyone would be acceptable in the workplace. I had to learn what was acceptable by listening to what the leadership team at the time described the culture to be, listening and observing what was happening on the floor on a daily basis, observing what actions were deemed appropriate and what actions were disciplined, and then eventually take what I had observed, be as authentic as possible, and just try to blend with the group. Is it important to fit in at work? Why? Personally, to me, it has never been important to fit in. I know I have some weird interests and I generally do not fit in well with my peer group, and as a result, this isn’t something that I place a great deal of value on. I know that I bring valuable knowledge and opinions to the table, and as long as I know I am contributing to the organization in a way that is growing and improving the organization, that is all that I need to feel fulfilled in the workplace. However, I understand that this sentiment is not shared by all. I am sure that many people need to feel liked, understood, and feel like they have a place where they fit in order to be comfortable and productive. If that is something that an individual values and needs, they should seek that out. References Society for Human Resource Management. (2017). Understanding and Developing Organizational Culture. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-andsamples/toolkits/pages/understandinganddevelopingorganizationalculture.aspx

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