Analysis of Interpersonal Competencies in a Team Environment

This essay provides a reflective analysis of interpersonal competencies within a team environment, drawing from personal experiences. The author, initially one of the youngest and most enthusiastic members, describes feeling both included and excluded at different times, particularly during key decision-making processes led by the core committee. The essay explores the importance of maintaining professional boundaries and not taking team dynamics too personally. The author identifies their strengths as energy and theoretical knowledge, while acknowledging a tendency to be impulsive and disregard advice from more experienced members. The author also draws parallels between team members and characters from A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, categorizing some as carefree Winnie the Pooh types and others as risk-taking Tiggers, highlighting the necessity of both types for team balance and success. The essay concludes with reflections on lessons learned regarding the application of theoretical knowledge in practical situations and the importance of selective implementation.

Running head: INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCIES
Interpersonal Competencies
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCIES
With regard to my personal experiences in the team work, I would like to say that it was
quite amazing and it was at the same time an enriching experience for me. It was so because I got
an opportunity to apply the concepts pertaining to team work practically, which I have otherwise
learned only as a part of a theoretical and academic exercise. I was one of the youngest members
in the group which comprised predominantly of members who were way older than in terms of
age, and were more experienced than me. However that did not cause me to feel excluded or like
a fish out of water. My presence was quite cherished in the group and all the members
appreciated the enthusiasm and the energetic bent of mind which I possessed. There were also
moments when I felt excluded, especially on occasions which involve the requirement for
reaching at vital decisions. It was the sole prerogative of the core committee members, which I
later realized is a part and parcel of how a group is supposed to function. The decision making
was by and large quite democratic and the core committee members always reached at decisions
without depriving us of the vital information. The feedback of the team members were
considered to be of utmost importance. The core committee members at times behaved
authoritatively and acted like they were the stooges of the higher level of management. It could
have been avoided since it lowered the self esteem and morale of the other team members. One
thing that I have learnt from my experience in the team is that one must not get too personally
attached with any of the team mates, and must clinically separate emotionality from the
professional mindset, in order to work in a collectivity. I had taken the aspect of the dominance
of the core committee members to my heart, but then I realized it was wrong on my part to have
done so. I should have realized that they have their share of duties and responsibilities as well to
perform, and they cannot help acting in a certain manner.

2INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCIES
Energetic, Eager, Enthusiastic, are the three adjectives which I shall be mentioning of to
describe myself as a team member. Coincidentally, they were my greatest strengths displayed
during my membership in the team work. I had contributed my energies and most importantly
the fresh memory of my academic pursuit which had equipped me with the theoretical
knowledge of the methods of functioning in a collectivity, had been of great help to me. I was
overjoyed to be able to apply them for practical purposes, and that had been the prime reason
why I could perform well in the group and generate a substantial amount of contribution in
bringing about success to the group activities. I could have been a little less impulsive and have
shown some interest in learning from the experienced members of the group instead of going
overboard with the hardcore adherence to theoretical constructions approach. I had definitely
earned the discontentment of many of my team mates because of my immaturity and my attitude
of not taking advice which are constructive in the correct spirit. I have learnt that for providing
practical solutions to situations, it is extremely necessary that cherry pick those aspects which
from a body of theoretical construction and apply only them, selectively.
From amongst the characters provided by Milne in the article, I can say that some of
them can be considered as having a commonality between them and my team mates. My group
comprise of two types of characters from amongst the assortment of characters provided by
Milne, and they are the likes of Winnie the Pooh and that of the Tiggers (Polmer). I belonged to
the category of being Winnie the Pooh, forever in a state of being carefree, lacking intuition and
the necessary foresightedness. We were driven more by our instincts than by the faculty of
judicious judgement keeping in mind the effect our action is likely to generate in the future. We
did not look, or rather did not make an attempt to look beyond the picture. Not that we were
unproductive or our actions were a cause of trouble, but we definitely lacked the maturity. The

3INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCIES
more experienced ones were similar to the tiggers and their presence was very much necessary in
order to balance our shortcomings. The tiggers were exactly opposite to what Winnie the Pooh
type of members were. Their futuristic vision and the stamina to take risk and sail through it
effectively was indeed a blessing, or else the binding force in the group would have gone
missing, and the cascading effect of it could have been faced in form of failure.

4INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCIES
References
Palmer, S. Building a Team With Advice from AA Milne.