Teambuilding & Leadership Individual Journal

Leadership & Teambuilding

Individual Journal

by XXXXXXX Student ID: Class Name

Professor: Peter Smith Consultant: Lilian Louis

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1.) Lessons from the case Of all the cases that strikes me the most is the Conflict Case from The National Strategies Paper. According to Thomas A. Kayer, “conflict is neither good nor bad. Whether conflict enhances critical thinking and productivity or undercuts it will depend on how you facilitate the differences at hand’ 1 . Nevertheless, conflict is an indispensable component of a High Performance Team. In this particular case, the conflict arises from confusion about the expectation and common goal among two team members, Cynthia and Mario. Worse, when the conflict emerges, the two were focused on emotional feelings rather than on the key issues, which deteriorate the already heated team atmosphere. What might be done about it? First, the facilitator, Pedro, should act fast and effectively – not wait until later when Cynthia walks away from the team. Some of the things Pegro could have done include handling Cynthia and Mario’s emotional feelings through acceptance, acknowledgment, and venting; relieving tension by jokes or breaks; encouraging the rest of the team, who are considered as secondary facilitation, to facilitating in solving the conflict. To prevent this sort of conflict from happening, it is important for team member to honor a rule once it is set and agreed to. The team could use Consensus Testing2 periodically to test whether a previous consensus needs more attention or adjustment through the pass of time. Cynthia can view the divergence from Mario from a more positive mindset, for instance, Cynthia could remind the Mario and the team about their initial agreement that each person only works on the assigned individual portion towards the big team project; however, at the same time, she could also show her appreciation for the extra works done by Mario, as recognizing the contribution of others is a...