By definition, teamwork refers to a group’s collaborative effort to attain a specific objective or accomplish a task in the most efficient and effective manner. In the current world, teamwork plays an important role, especially in heightening efficiency and quality, determining firm governance and strategy, launching and designing products, and reengineering systems (Balhareth, 2018). Furthermore, teamwork is responsible for bringing individuals together in a situation where they can be able to share ideas to achieve the same goal. Dimensions of teamwork are what determine the efficiency and success of a team. According to Schultz et al. (2016), there are five dimensions of teamwork and these include adaptability, communication, leadership, decision-making, and coordination. To establish the connection between teamwork and its dimensions, this paper will utilize different theories to define a mobile application for bio-products as an eco-friendly solution that brings together tradesmen, consumers, plumbers, electricians, and builders.
Theories are an essential part of a given business and have numerous benefits. They guide and provide meaning to what individuals perceive in their daily activities (Rubenstein et al., 2018). For instance, when researchers collect and investigate data via observation, the investigators require clear ideologies concerning the relevant data (Cullen & Wilcox, 2018). In the business environment, the social cognitive theory by Albert Bandura is one that has helped organizations, especially when it comes to teamwork. Bandura (1969) stresses the significance of imitating, modeling and observing other people’s emotions, attitudes, and behaviors. The theory focuses on the different cognitive processes that workers encounter during learning. Employees can gain knowledge from others in the sustainability and eco-friendly industry; this is what is referred to as vicarious learning (Font et al., 2016). In this case, employees observe others and learn about their skills and behavior by closely watching their different actions. The learner carefully watches how a certain model functions and what outcomes result from the same action (Connolly, 2017). When an appropriate situation arises, the learner attempts to replicate the action in order to achieve the same results.
David Kolb’s cycle is a theory that describes the learning process as one that requires experience. Schultz et al. (2016) state that for knowledge to develop, the experience is crucial since learning occurs through active participation and discovery. The theory has two sections that define the process of learning, particularly in the workplace. The first part details that the process of learning requires four stages: active experimentation, concrete experience, reflective observation, and abstract conceptualization (Levesque et al., 2017). In other words, Kolb perceived learning as a progression through the four stages, thereby transforming learners’ experiences into knowledge (McKinney, 2017). The second part of Kolb’s theory focuses on the different styles of learning. In this instance, it was Kolb’s perception that learners could show that they acquired knowledge when they could successfully apply it in inappropriate situations. Thus, Kolb believes that for knowledge to occur, an individual must encounter new experiences.
Currently, most households in the world are using materials that are not eco-friendly and unsustainable. To manufacture such products, most firms utilize raw materials origin from fossil fuels (Middleton et al., 2018). The issue, in this case, is that the burning of the materials further contributes to global warming because they release carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. Through teamwork, the group proposed the installation of the mobile app could bring together individuals with the same interest in preserving the environment. Arriving at this decision was not an easy task within the team and, therefore, specific theories were applied in the process of learning. For instance, some individuals learned on their own while others observed as explained by the social cognitive ideology. On the other hand, some individuals were encountering some dimensions of teamwork for the first time and had to learn through experience, thereby conforming to Kolb’s cycle.
The five-member team had its strengths and a few areas where they needed to improve. They were committed to the team and provided their energy and time to achieve the team’s goal. Every team member contributed without conditions, expecting any form of reward, and return, thereby strengthening the group. Individuals were also flexible enough to be responsive to change, resilient and versatile. They were able to manage and understand situations by observing them from a different point of view. Every person considered every decision they made in terms of how it would benefit tradesmen and consumers. On the other hand, there were a few areas where the team needed to improve. The engagement level of the team was slightly below what was expected. Some members considered working without involving themselves with the group as a contribution. The disadvantage of this is that some people were not able to grasp the concept these other individuals were using. The other area of improvement was in the responsibility and reliability sector. Some members did not want to take responsibility for their actions and thus were not reliable.
One critical component of teamwork experience, in this case, included adaptability. When defined in relation to Kolb’s theory, it is the ability of an individual to adjust to new experiences (Riley et al., 2016). Being able to learn from experience is advantageous because it allows one to develop. As a result, these individuals contribute to the team as a whole, thereby ensuring it successfully achieves its goal. Without adaptability, most team members would not understand the concept that is being proposed and, as a result, may lose interest in the group. A person’s engagement within the group is one of the techniques that could be utilized to evaluate whether one is adaptable. For instance, in this case, the most proactive group members show interest in the subject being discussed and, thus, are more helpful and adaptable in the group. On the other hand, the least proactive team members demonstrate a level of a lack of interest and this may be due to their lack of being adaptable.
The other crucial element is the communication that exists within the group. According to Secheresse et al. (2020), communication is the most vital teamwork component and involves continuously informing team members. The essence of this constant update is to ensure that everyone has the same information, thereby eliminating any assumptions. To nurture good communication within the group, a leader must lead by example by being a good listener. One must learn to listen to others as this shows a form of respect, which is a vital part of building respect among group members. To measure the understanding of group members concerning the topic being discussed, the group leader, at the end of every session, would provide surveys that each individual could answer. The significance of this exercise is to find out which areas have the most reviews, thereby guiding the team in the right direction.
A team provides an opportunity where different people with distinct skills can come together and creatively engage in producing a positive result. Culture and dynamics are essential factors in situations requiring positive team feedback (Balhareth, 2018). Self-efficacy refers to a situation where individuals are able to rely on their knowledge to accomplish tasks on their own. As a leader, this is an essential factor that defines the nature and culture of the team. The topic of using the mobile phone application as an eco-friendly platform for tradesmen and consumers is an important topic that acts as a cohesive tool. The subject challenges each group member to think beyond the current technologies, thereby increasing their engagement and fostering their group dynamics. The culture further involves promoting self-learning in accordance with the social cognitive theory. To ensure those takes place, members are provided with resources that would help research the topic being discussed.
While operating as a team, there are those cultural biases that emerge that inhibit good decision-making. For instance, in the case of utilizing the mobile application, some individuals believe that it would be inconvenient to other like-minded individuals because they may be unable to access the internet (Font et al., 2016). To ensure that one successfully tackles these issues, it is important to understand the individual and how they perceive the essence of utilizing the mobile application. To achieve this goal, individuals must be self-regulated and this means that there are rules in place to govern how they behave. Furthermore, the idea of groupthink is one that may promote cultural bias and prevent problem-solving and good decision-making. Some group members with particular ideas might influence others to think in a particular way, thereby overriding the ability to provide alternative views. Discouraging groupthink is the most appropriate action that a team leader can perform to ensure that the objective of the group is met.
From observation, one can be able to see that the group has a strong structure. The team had the right number and mix of members, norms, and processes, and designs that encouraged positive dynamics and discouraged destructive behavior. According to Wallace (2019), an effective team is one that has members whose skills are balanced. Each individual did not have superlative social or technical skills; however, the team had an adequate number that had both. The team had diversified knowledge, perspectives, and views together with the age and race of group members. The importance of this is that people were able to avoid groupthink since this could have affected the decision-making of the whole group. The group’s composition was based on each individual’s skill and how it contributed to the topic of sustainability and eco-friendliness as essential elements for protecting the environment. These individuals brought technical skills and knowledge and expertise that could be applied in numerous sectors, particularly in the building, electrical, and plumbing industry.
From a different perspective, the foundation of the team was significant to its success. The team was engaged, oriented, and energized during the time it was discussing the issue of sustainability as an eco-friendly resource. According to Levesque et al. (2017), for a group to be inspired, they must have something that guides their work rate and, therefore, they must have explicit goals. Those objectives have to be challenging; however, they should not be difficult because this may negatively affect the team’s spirit. The objectives further have to be consequential, which shows that group members care about the outcomes of the objective. In this case, the results of the objective should satisfy the employee either intrusively or extrinsically. Providing direction makes it easier, particularly for members with different backgrounds, to share different ideas concerning a specific subject. The result, in this case, is that the outcome of the study would be more conclusive and convincing to the people it targets.
Leadership and group performance are further dependent on a shared mindset of the team. To avoid team members being divided along different perspectives of the subject, there is the requirement that they have a single mindset (McKinney, 2017). In the past, groups were made up of people from almost the same background and met in person during their meetings. Today, with the available technology, people do not have to conduct the face-to-face meetings. Therefore, today groups are made of a diversity of people who can attend them from anywhere in the world. Leaders should ensure that they encourage a unique mindset, which would allow the team to be more cohesive. A cohesive team is one that can engage all its team members from wherever they are into working on a particular objective. A disjointed team is one that does not take into account the impacts of different mindsets within a group. In this instance, people would be divided, thereby making it more difficult to work as a unit to achieve a particular goal.
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