Professional Skills: Team Roles, Communication, and Decision Making

This document discusses the importance of team roles, effective communication, and decision making in developing professional skills. It explores the challenges faced and the strategies used in a group project. The document also highlights the role of a coordinator in managing the team and resolving conflicts.

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL SKILLS 0
Professional Skills
Student Details
4/9/2019

Professional Skills 1
Part 3: Written Discussion
We have assigned a task of presenting a group project in front of our class based on exploring
management. To prepare our presentation, first we have to select a topic then perform
research, compilation of draft, and then development of a final draft. These all stages of
presentation require contribution of various members of our team. In order to perform the
task without any tensions between the group members, it is required to assign roles to each
member. I have used Belbin’s team role theory to identify roles for several members. I am
starting with myself; I identified myself as a ‘Plant’ for the team as through introducing
confident and innovative presence. I fit in this character because I am very innovative.
Another member of our team is identified as ‘finisher’ as he handled the final draft of the
presentation and made improvements in its large parts1. Another member was identified as
‘specialist’ in the team due to his ability of knowledge and conducting research. The final and
fourth member of our team I identified him a definite co-ordinator. This member took charge
of team organization and allocated delegating tasks. He recognised my ability of presenting
confidently and set me this task. He took part in all processes that is in collecting research,
compiled it in first draft, and then gave it to finisher for preparing the final draft. He was very
trusting and believed in all team members.
Creativity is encouraged in team when people are allowed to work without any interruption.
But working in teams is also required for an organization’s success. Thus instead of
collectivism, collaboration should be facilitated. Collectivism leads to group think while
collaboration leads to innovation2.
1 (Suncountry.sk.ca, 2019) <https://www.suncountry.sk.ca/gsCMSDisplayPluginFile/show/id/390/menu_id/88/
lang_type/en_US/page_type/service/page_id/200> accessed 9 April 2019.
2 'How To Nourish Your Team’S Creativity' (Harvard Business Review, 2019) <https://hbr.org/2017/05/how-to-
nourish-your-teams-creativity> accessed 9 April 2019.

Professional Skills 2
Team roles are divided into primary and secondary in Belbin’s theory. As my primary role in
the team was to present our research, but due to my visionary and innovative thinking I also
assist my team member in research process and draft preparation3. Before also in tower
building task I contributed in team efforts by providing innovative ideas.
Task 2: Professional Ethics
1. Code of Conduct
Team of Experts
To work effectively and without any tensions between team members, our team ‘Team of
Experts’ have set certain rules and regulation for its functioning. These rules are given below:
1. All members are Co-workers: Every member in a team is equal, opinion of every
member of team will be considered thoughtfully, all commitments will be kept by
each team member by agreed upon due date4.
2. Communication for team members: Every team member will talk to each other
respectfully and will not try to talk down each other, will recognize contributions of
each other and thank for it5.
3. Team conflict resolution, problem solving and decision making: Decisions will be
made by consensus by team members, if timely consensus is not reached then
majority will rule, conflicts with a person will be resolved directly.
Our group project presentation as mentioned above included several steps and allocated
various responsibilities to different team members. Our team included three members as I
mentioned above. However, as I have skills of presenting so I was assigned to present the
3 R. MEREDITH BELBIN, TEAM ROLES AT WORK (ROUTLEDGE 2017).
4 'Code Of Ethics And Professional Conduct [With Examples]' (Betterteam, 2019)
<https://www.betterteam.com/code-of-ethics-and-professional-conduct> accessed 9 April 2019.
5 'Effective Communication & Team Work' (Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2019)
<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-communication-team-work-3167.html> accessed 9 April 2019.

Professional Skills 3
project but there was lack of co-ordination between our team. According to me co-ordination
between us was lacking due to poor communication between us because as I am an introvert
person while working in a group, hence I was not open to communicate comfortably6.
Initially one of our team members ‘finisher’ did not understand this and talk me down many
times which led communication gap between two of us. But later co-ordinator understood the
issue and tried to resolve our conflict. Our co-ordinator tried his best to effectively co-
ordinate the team but somewhere we lack there. I think if we have managed team co-
ordination in better way, our presentation would have been much better.
6 'How Smart People Ask Great Questions (And Get Better Answers)' (Inc.com, 2019)
<https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-smart-people-ask-great-questions-and-get-great-answers.html> accessed
9 April 2019.

Professional Skills 4
Task 3: Project Management
The Gantt chart is prepared for the professional skills presentation. There are four members
in the team. To prepare the presentation for the professional Skills group project, we included
four members in our team. Depending on their skills and strengths different team members
were assigned different roles in the team. When we were asked to prepare a presentation, our
first challenge was choosing a topic. Our team included four members and depending on their
capabilities and skills different roles were assigned to each of the member. I was the ‘plant’
of the team7. Other three members were in roles of ‘specialists’, ‘finisher’, and ‘co-ordinator’.
‘Specialists’ in our team was the one who proposed the topic for our presentation and it took
six days to our team to choose and agreed upon the topic. Then all of us started literature
review on the topic8. Four of us divided this task equally and completed our research in 30
days. Then from study of all of us, we derived important facts and figures that took another
20 days to us. After completing research and analysing the data from the research, we started
to develop draft for the presentation. Draft preparation was done by ‘specialist’ in 24 days.
Final draft preparation was done by ‘finisher’ and he improved the draft prepared by
‘specialist’. Then, we submitted our final draft report and prepared our presentation according
to that. Presentation was prepared by our co-ordinator and me. I was presented the
presentation as key member of the group.
7 'Belbin Team Roles: Theory And Practice · Activecollab Blog' (ActiveCollab, 2019)
<https://activecollab.com/blog/collaboration/belbin-team-roles-theory-practice> accessed 9 April 2019.
8 'Belbin Team Roles: Theory And Practice · Activecollab Blog' (ActiveCollab, 2019)
<https://activecollab.com/blog/collaboration/belbin-team-roles-theory-practice> accessed 9 April 2019.

Professional Skills 5
Task 4: Professional Skills in Action
Our team consists of four members and different members were assigned different roles for
the preparation of our group project on the topic Professional Skills. We had to develop a
draft on our research project and then we had to prepare a presentation from the results
derived in the draft9. Four members were given roles according to their skills and capabilities.
First we have to decide a topic for the presentation and for this we had a member who is an
expertise in the research area. We assigned him the role of ‘specialist’ and given him the task
of choosing a topic for the presentation. Next, other members including myself were given
the roles of ‘plant’, ‘finisher’, and ‘co-ordinator’. ‘Specialists were given that role because he
is driven by content and his expertise. He has the capability of acquiring knowledge or
deepening of the subject matter. Hence, due to his skills he was comfortable and flexible with
this role of ‘specialists’. I identified myself for the role of a plant in the team due to my
introvert nature but creative imagination and innovative thinking. As I also have capability of
presenting confidently, hence I was also given the responsibility of delivering presentation.
Another member of our team was recognised as ‘finisher’ for the project as he had the
strengths of perfectionism, control, and details. Therefore, he was given the task of preparing
the final draft of the project. ‘Specialists’ were also given the task of final draft preparation as
he had deep knowledge of the subject and thus can make improvements in the draft if needed.
Finally the last member of our team was given the role of co-ordinator. He has the skills of
taking charge of the team and he is responsible for identifying each of us skills and
capabilities. According to our area of expertise, he assigned each of us delegating tasks. He
effectively monitored the entire research process of the project that is from its starting to the
end. Therefore, flexibility in the team came from the fact that every member was given the
responsibility as per their area of expertise or the work in which they were flexible. Creativity
9 'Belbin Team Roles, A Great Team Building And Team Work Tool. | Toolshero' (ToolsHero, 2019)
<https://www.toolshero.com/leadership/belbin-team-roles/> accessed 9 April 2019.

Professional Skills 6
in the team comes from individualism. In several research it has been identified that if a
person is allowed to work without any interference, then he can become the most creative
person. Our co-ordinator trusted all of us and gave us space to work in which we were
comfortable.
Effective communication between all the team members is important to work effectively. As
our team is working on a same project, thus we need to communicate effectively to get
update on the project and to know what has been done till now in the project. As I mentioned
above that initially our team faced some communication issues as my nature is of an introvert
and I found it difficult to interact with other members of the team10. But the co-ordinator of
our team identified the issue and resolved this issue by taking initiative and finding ways for
it. He implemented following steps and methods to improve the communication between
different members of the team:
 He discussed the issue with me and got to know about the real issue. Then he told me
about the requirements of the project and clarifies my role and contribution for the
team, as clarity in communication eliminates confusion among team members. As I
was given the role of a plant in the team, I restricted myself up-to that but co-
ordinator removed my confusion and discussed other responsibilities of mine;
 The co-ordinator then performed a team meeting and discussed team ethics with us
and asked each of us to follow all those ethics. He said that the basic ethic of a team is
developing listening skills in oneself to avoid misunderstanding between each of us.
 Although, code of conduct was developed in the starting for the team and all of the
team members were agreed upon that but it was not adhered by team members. Our
co-ordinator explained what the expectations of our professor from us are and we
have to deliver or reach up-to those expectations.
10 Esther Suter and others, 'Role Understanding And Effective Communication As Core Competencies For
Collaborative Practice' (2009) 23 Journal of Interprofessional Care.

Professional Skills 7
 The co-ordinator also made efforts in the direction of strengthening individual
member as if all the member of a team feel empowered to express their ideas in a
respectful and accepting environment then team will be empowered.
Decision making is associated with making choices. Step-by-step decision making is useful
in making thoughtful and deliberate decisions. To complete our project for the team, there
come several situations or all the process of our project completion required a decision
making step11. For example, we had to make a decision for choosing members of the team.
Then we had to make a decision for choosing a topic for the presentation, then assigning
different roles for team members are all the decisions that we had to make for the project12.
Decision making process therefore include these steps: identification of decision, collecting
relevant information, identification of alternatives, making choice among alternatives, and
then taking action13.
Through the entire process of our project completion the major role that one person played is
our co-ordinator. He is the one who took all the responsibilities and ownership of the project
without even our knowing. First he identified skills of individual and assigned role to each of
the member. Then he identified some issues between team members and took the
responsibility and initiation to resolve those issues by guiding each of us. Also, all the
members of the team also performed their responsibilities effectively and contributed their
part in the completion of the project.
During the project completion I have come along various challenges that enhanced my
learning skills that improved in my professional skills. Learning is a process of knowledge
11 University Dartmouth, 'Decision-Making Process - Umass Dartmouth' (Umassd.edu, 2019)
<https://www.umassd.edu/fycm/decision-making/process/> accessed 9 April 2019.
12 'The Basics Of Teamwork And Collaboration | Smartsheet' (Smartsheet, 2019)
<https://www.smartsheet.com/collaborative-teamwork> accessed 9 April 2019.
13 Dartmouth U, 'Decision-Making Process - Umass Dartmouth' (Umassd.edu, 2019)
<https://www.umassd.edu/fycm/decision-making/process/> accessed 9 April 2019

Professional Skills 8
creation through transformation of experience. Kolb’s explained experiential learning style
theory which is represented a four-stage learning cycle14. While performing for the project, I
experienced issues due to my introvert nature. But I gained knowledge that with this kind of
nature also, one can effectively perform in the task by making some improvements. This was
the new experience for me because while working in a team for an organization, I cannot
make excuse for my nature as this will lower my professional skills. My experience taught
me that I have to make some improvements in my nature and only few improvements help
me to resolve this problem15. From reflection of my experience I observed that with making
initiatives of communication or interactions with people or the team members which could be
related to work only can resolve my issue, and now I will apply this learning in my further
group or individual projects.
14 Saul Mcleod, 'Kolb's Learning Styles And Experiential Learning Cycle | Simply Psychology'
(Simplypsychology.org, 2019) <https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html> accessed 9 April 2019.
15 Henny van de Water, Kees Ahaus and Robert Rozier, 'Team Roles, Team Balance And Performance' (2008)
27 Journal of Management Development.

Professional Skills 9
References
BELBIN R, TEAM ROLES AT WORK (ROUTLEDGE 2017)
'Belbin Team Roles, A Great Team Building And Team Work Tool. | Toolshero' (ToolsHero,
2019) <https://www.toolshero.com/leadership/belbin-team-roles/> accessed 9 April 2019
'Belbin Team Roles: Theory And Practice • Activecollab Blog' (ActiveCollab, 2019)
<https://activecollab.com/blog/collaboration/belbin-team-roles-theory-practice> accessed 9
April 2019
'Code Of Ethics And Professional Conduct [With Examples]' (Betterteam, 2019)
<https://www.betterteam.com/code-of-ethics-and-professional-conduct> accessed 9 April
2019
Dartmouth U, 'Decision-Making Process - Umass Dartmouth' (Umassd.edu, 2019)
<https://www.umassd.edu/fycm/decision-making/process/> accessed 9 April 2019
'Effective Communication & Team Work' (Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2019)
<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-communication-team-work-3167.html> accessed
9 April 2019
'How Smart People Ask Great Questions (And Get Better Answers)' (Inc.com, 2019)
<https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-smart-people-ask-great-questions-and-get-great-
answers.html> accessed 9 April 2019
'How To Nourish Your Team’S Creativity' (Harvard Business Review, 2019)
<https://hbr.org/2017/05/how-to-nourish-your-teams-creativity> accessed 9 April 2019

Professional Skills 10
Mcleod S, 'Kolb's Learning Styles And Experiential Learning Cycle | Simply Psychology'
(Simplypsychology.org, 2019) <https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html>
accessed 9 April 2019
(Suncountry.sk.ca, 2019)
<https://www.suncountry.sk.ca/gsCMSDisplayPluginFile/show/id/390/menu_id/88/
lang_type/en_US/page_type/service/page_id/200> accessed 9 April 2019
'The Basics Of Teamwork And Collaboration | Smartsheet' (Smartsheet, 2019)
<https://www.smartsheet.com/collaborative-teamwork> accessed 9 April 2019
van de Water H, K AhausR Rozier, 'Team Roles, Team Balance And Performance' (2008) 27
Journal of Management Development