Custom «Purpose of the Activity» Essay Paper Sample

Teamwork is very essential where a certain activity needs to be accomplished by more than one person. Some people are not very good team players or rather they don’t like working together with others to accomplish a certain given task. These kinds of people like to make a ‘one man show’ so that they are the ‘heroes’ at the end of the day.

The purpose of this activity is to alert the members on the team’s aims and goals and make the members commit to accomplishing the same by playing their respective roles. If well executed, this activity continues to bring strong bonds between the team members and their leader. The activity should further encourage each team member to coordinate with the other members and the surroundings, using their own skills and abilities in unison but not in competition with the aim of accomplishing the task given.

The activity was to help team members understand that they should not merely get along for they have no option, but rather work to having good relationships amongst the team members, each majoring on their strengths and having in mind that teamwork is all about winning or loosing as a team. It was also done in order to challenge the team members on the aspect of time. It was not a matter of how the work could be done but also whether it could be accomplished in time. In a few words, the activity tested on coordination, the variety of skills implementation and time.

Description of the activity

The activity involved creating a bridge to transport a two liter bottle. The bridge would be made of newspaper and tape. Of course we were not given the whole day to do this activity but rather allocated a couple of minutes to accomplish our task. Each team member was supposed to put in their suggestions, knowledge and skill in order to come up with a paper bridge and also emerge the best. We were first expected to design the bridge and then make within a short period of time.

Strategy used by the team to achieve the objectives.

Getting different people who have their own different ideas, interests and goals to work together is not quite an easy task although it is not achievable. We were able to assign each and every individual or team member, a role that was they were both interested to do and knew how to do it.

We all participated in coming up with the design. A few suggestions were put across by a couple of the team members then we tried to combine all the ideas to come up with one great design although we had to eliminate a few ideas. We asked those who were good in drawing to make a drawing of the final idea so that we had a clear view of what we were to make as our final product.

After that, we worked in coordination and unity as we cut the newspapers and used the tape to make the required bridge. Each team member was allowed to take part in one activity or another trying our level best not to leave any one out or make one feel unwanted or useless.

Ways in which our team functioned well

We tried as much as possible to listen to everyone’s views and ideas so that not one felt unwanted or left out although this was not very easy. Some members just wanted their ideas taken while other members’ ideas were not good enough to be incorporated in the final product.

We tried to explain to those members whose ideas we did not take and that made them more comfortable. We also tried to take advantage of what each member was good at. Some members are good at drawing, others are good at coming up with new ideas of doing something different from others, others are good at cutting and shaping something in the precise way etc.

Due to the incorporation of all this ideas, we came up with a very good bridge design although we were not able to finish the final product on time. Members were happy to be in our group for nobody’s views were ignored, no one was looked down upon and everyone tried to be comfortable. There was no difference between the leader and the other team members. Everyone felt equal and important.

Ways in which our team functioned poorly

We took a lot of time listening to everyone’s ideas and therefore consumed the time we were supposed to spend building the bridge. Although members were happy to be in our group, we were not able to manage our time well so that we could finish making the bridge which was the final task.  

Description of the role I played

My role in the team was that I was the team leader. My work was to coordinate the whole process and make sure that everyone was comfortable and that everyone felt equal. It was also to make sure that we delivered our task in time. My work was to listen to everyone’s views and suggestions, make sure that no one looked down upon another and no one dismissed another. It was also to make sure that no one escaped or abandoned their responsibilities and made the others do all the work. I must admit I failed to deliver the accomplished task in time as I was challenged in terms of time management but I was to perform my other tasks well.

Recommendation

Team leaders/managers should be able to balance all the areas. They should be able to make sure everyone is comfortable and their views and ideas have been heard but not to the expense of not delivering what they were meant to deliver to stat with. Team work can make work very easy if the team members agree to coordinate.