Teamwork & Leadership Zin Oblesik

Describe the task *

In detail, what was the aim of the task? How many teams? What was
the team dynamic? Timings? Rules & restrictions?
The aim of the task was to find which day the zin was built. We were
split into two teams and each team had three people. Both teams
where given cards with information on them, we then had to use
those cards to solve the puzzle. We had 20 minutes to solve the
puzzle as a team, there were no specific roles assigned to people in
the group. When approaching the task the team was quite confused
with the cards given because it didn't really make sense at first so
we decided to come up with a plan to understand it more so we
categorised the cards into what we think went together, but
considering the difficulty of the task I think we performed really well
with the time that was given to us. Also the assigned leader could
not speak during the task
What was your role in the team? *
What did you do? How did you contribute? Leader or teamworker?
At the beginning of the task we had to choose a leader in the group
and that leader ended up not being able to talk. During the task I
though I worked well as a team worker but also even as a leader
because it would be hard for the leader to control the team and say
their ideas, but this did not mean that we left that person out but I
was kind of the verbal leader in the group and communicated with
the real leader to approve my commands.
How did you perform as an individual? *
For the M & D criteria make comparisons with other individual performances
in your team and relate to theory.
As an individual I thought that I did really well an made right
decisions, although I was not allocated as the leader of the group I
still tried to take command and help the group but at the same time
making sure the leader was ok with what I was doing. I thought this
proved out to be successful as we were able to solve the puzzle on
time with the correct answer and our team was happy with that. At
the start of the activity. At first I took on a Laissez-faire approach to
the task as there was already an assigned leader so I just allowed
everyone to do whatever they wanted but when I realized that the
leader was struggling a bit I changed my leadership style to a
democratic leadership where my teammates would give me ideas
and I would evaluate them and apply them appropriately to the
task. For instance one of my teammates gave me the idea to just

stop what we were doing and sort them into what we think went
together and put them in catagories so we then implemented that
to our game plan.
Compared to people from the other team I think we seemed more
organised as from what I saw it looked like their leader took a
autocratic approach to the task and told everyone what to do and
some of them had no saying in what they should do. I think that our
leadership proved to be better and more efficient as we finished
slightly faster than the other group and our answer was more
accurate. Also as an individual relating to the belbins theory I took a
role as a Chair as I coordinated the group and used all our resources
properly to make the task get one efficiently, I think I also was a
monitor-evaluator as at times I steped back to see how my other
team members are performing and I helped whoever needed my
help
How did you perform as a team? *
For the M & D criteria make comparisons with other team performances and
relate to theory.
As a team I think that we worked really well considering some of the
people in our group I have not worked with before. So relating to
the Tuckmans theory I think that this was a opportunity where we
were forming and got to know each other, as the activity progressed
we stormed and everyone gave their ideas and a relationship
started to form together also at this point there was a clearer leader
to the group so this enabled us to progress to the next stage which
is norming where everyone knew what to do as an individual and did
their tasks. We then started performing and ideas where working
and we were closer to the end of the task where we then finished.
Also in our group we had a few people with skills and qualities that
where identified during the task where we then adjusted what they
did so it would be more productive for example Dominic one of the
team members was good at Maths so we made him to the task
towards the end to help calculate the final answer.
Compared to the other I think that they performed the same as us,
they went through all the stages of the Tuckmans theory and got
their task done efficiently as a team but one thing I did identify was
that the leader was not observing the skills and qualities in each
other so everyone was doing the same thing that was wasting a
little bit of time.
What were your strengths? *
Communication, problem solving, time management, supporting others,
physical abilities, confidence, motivation, resolving conflict, praise,
questioning, body language, listening, awareness, creativity etc

I think through the whole task I was really good and observing
people and identifying their skills to help the group move on. I was
also very motivational to the group as at times we had no clue on
what the cards where telling us but I told them that we can do it so
we continued to do the task. Towards the middle of the task where I
started to become a leader my communication was really good so
team members could trust me and also they knew what they had to
do individually.
What were your weaknesses? *
Communication, problem solving, time management, supporting others,
physical abilities, confidence, motivation, resolving conflict, praise,
questioning, body language, listening, awareness, creativity etc
I think my main weakness was some of my abilities as I am not very good at
maths and towards the end it started to become very important so the task
could get done. Also towards the beginning I think that my time management
was bad as I was sitting back and chilling but then I got back up and
continued the task. Also another thing that was my weakness was staying on
task, at some points I slacked off and messed around joking about the cards
and at times I was talking to members of the other groups.
Howcouldyouimprovefornexttime?*
Makefuturerecommendationsforyourself,yourteamandotherindividuals/teams.
IndividuallyIthoughthatIcouldoffocusedmoreonthetaskandalsoimprovedmy
timemanagementasIwasntreallypayingattentionwastingthelittletimethatwe
hadtocompletethetask.
AsateamIthinkthatwecouldalsoimproveontimemanagementweallatthe
beginningwerenotusingthetimeefficientlybutthiswasmainlyduetolackof
communicationandideas.Ithinkatthebeginningweshouldofevaluatedandthen
bringourideastogethertothenexecutrethetask.AlsoIthinkthatsomemore
motivationcouldhavebeengivenbyourleaderthatwaschosenastheydidnotreally
contributewell.Ialsothoughtthattheleadercouldorganisethegroupabitmore.
IthinkthattheotherteamworkwellbutIthinkthemainthingthattheyshould
improveishowtheyusethepeopleinthegroup,Ithinktheyshouldevaluateeach
othersperformancesandthencreateaplanandassignrolesbutwhattheydidinstead
wastheleadergavecommandsandtherewerenoskillsbeingidentify.
Was there any conflict in the group? *
If yes, describe why and how was it resolved? If no, what did the leader do to
ensure this was the case?
There was not really any conflict but there was slight disagreement
with a few cards into where we should put the cards but the leader
just decided not to get involved as it was just a minor argument. I

think this argument started up due to the leaders organisation in

helping allocate roles and setting tasks.
How else could you use relevant theory to analyse the overall
performance today? *
Leadership styles, Belbin, Tuckman, Adair, Honey, Margerison & Mccann,
Woodcock,