In order to have a better understanding of how the Learning Team Charter will work the team must concur regarding the various conditions, resources, attitudes, and behaviors that might affect the team. Team awareness needs to focus on their purpose of creation to more complex issues of plans for conflict. To accomplish their goals, the team must address several key issues concerning the expectations of the group. First, the team will need to identify their purpose of its creation. Of course, the next step is to establish boundaries regarding the parameters in which the team operates, such as commitments of team members, resources, team objectives, and due dates. The final component of the charter is to prepare a project plan, in which the team members accept assignments to complete the tasks. "Many teams found practical ways to redress the balance. In doing so, they have shown that some of our strongly held assumptions about learning in the workplace are ill found" (Clutterbuck 67). The charter can positively affect the work place if these key components identify structured organization.
Since the charter is the foundation for the success of a learning team, its importance cannot be underestimated. The charter sets the ground-rules that adhere to each member of the team or failure becomes a distinct possibility. Examples of what can go wrong if execution of the charter fails are unclear assignments, missed schedules, minimal interaction, or an overall lack of focus. It is assumable that these issues, if allowed to go unresolved will result in poor workmanship, late or missed assignments, or an undesirable attitude towards future teams. Understanding and following the team charter of course will not always guarantee success. An interesting analogy compares teams to wolf packs. “Although wolf packs have a 90% failure rate in their hunts, they continue to apply their team skills, confident that success will eventually come. Like the wolf pack, learning teams need stamina, perseverance, and self-motivation” (Towery, 1995). The charter, if properly followed can provide a positive effect on the final product created by the learning team, which in effect can also aid the enhancement of interpersonal relationship skills outside the team environment.
Although the team charter has positive effects on the team, conflict is not far behind, whether it is personal or within the group, “conflict is a natural result of people working together” (Capozzoli 14). Conflict disrupts situations when the members of the group are unable to manage the situation correctly. When members of a group are unable to communicate, then the possibility of a productive outcome will decline. There are five strategies to handle conflict: Avoidance, Collaboration, Accommodation, Competition, and Compromise. “However, productive conflict resolution involves learning how to disagree over issues and situations and coming up with a solution that can benefit the entire team” (Capozzoli 15). For the most part, each strategy has a dissimilar strategy, but each carries risks that can impede the team from being productive.
The Avoidance strategy involves choosing not to confront the issue and allowing the conflict to thrive. “Avoidance may not be appropriate when the issue is very important and postponing resolution will only make matters worse” (Thompson 242). Conversely, when using the Collaboration strategy, both parties work together to create and explore new ideas. “Collaboration is an effective strategy because in some cases, the best solution is one that is not being considered by either side” (Bolger). The only risk is that collaboration is time consuming and depends on good communication skills. In other words, this collaborating may not be appropriate for less important decisions.
The Accommodation strategy involves going along with another's viewpoint or desires, while the Competition strategy entails doing what is necessary to support a non-negotiable point of view. Choosing to accommodate helps preserve harmony and helps one appear reasonable by giving in to the other person's wishes, while competition tends to reduce cooperation. On the other hand, the Compromise strategy requires both parties to accept small concessions to resolve their differences. Positive effects result when both parties feel empowered and neither feels overpowered. However, sometimes the best answer weakens due to overuse of Compromise. Choose the Compromise strategy when you must reach a solution quickly with no time to collaborate. When choosing a strategy, look at the importance and urgency of the issue and the power of the people involved. In other words, it is valuable to be familiar with all five strategies to manage a complex situation.
It is important for an individual to realize that the team, if properly managed, can make exceptional progress towards a constructive goal. Learning Team Charters create an organized way to incorporate all elements of a team to be extremely productive. Charters allow accessibility to resolution strategies when needed, but also focus the team towards an efficient and effective product. After all, that is what educators and businesses want from their assembled teams, a creative and productive refined product.
WORKS CITED
Bolger, Cathey. Conflict Resolution Strategies. 5 November 2003
<http:// members.cox.net/kbolger1/conflict.htm>.
Clutterbuck, David. "How Teams Learn." Alexandria 56 (Mar 2002): 67-69.
Hammar, E. & Malatchi, A. Effective Teamwork , 11 Nov 2003
<http://cynergypartners.com/effective_teamwork.htm>.
Thompson, L., Aranda, E., & Robbins, S. Tools for Teams: Building Effective Teams in the Workplace. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2000.
Towery, T., The Wisdom of Wolves. Naperville: Sourcebooks, Inc., 1995.
