Working With Others
Definition: Working with one or more people towards the same goal and solving any differences that could drive the group away from that goal.
Criteria for Effectively Working with Others:
When given a task and given the option to work independently or with a team, what would be your choice? Some people prefer to work independently yet others prefer a team environment. I believe that to work with a team you must first learn to work independently. Once you are able to be responsible of your own tasks and have a clear understanding of the end product then, you have the ability to effectively work with other people. This realization came to me when I was given the responsibility to plan my organizations' annual Corporate Rotational event.
At first it appeared to me that this was an event that I was to plan independently. The first step was to identify the ultimate goal for this event: Allow members and professionals to network and create relationships that can open doors to various opportunities. The second step was to establish a date. This was the first challenge I faced organizing this event but, it was also when I realized how crucial efficient leadership and teamwork was to this event. In order to set a date I had to contact the rest of the board members, my team. Once I delivered the goal of the event everyone had a clear understanding of our outcome and setting a date became a team effort. The issue we faced was having too many events set for the month of September. My initial plan was to have the event in September but one of our board leaders was also planning for one of our other big event of the semester. Although myself and other board members also believed that having the event in September would be best, we had to be open-minded of the opinion of others. We also had to be respectful of those opinions and cooperate with each other to reach a solution. After analyzing various options, my team and I decided to set the date for October 2, 2014. Once the date was set it was my task to plan the logistics, reach out to professionals to invite them to our event, and assign the rest of the team their tasks for the day of the event. I had to deliver that information to the team through meetings and creating a project plan, which you can find below. Once we all had a clear understanding of our tasks and our ultimate goal we were ready for the big day. The day of the event we faced a couple adversaries that led us to be flexible but most importantly patient with each other. However, I believe that because we, as a team, understood the ultimate goal of this event and we understood that we are all different, we were able to work with each other and made this event a success!
Criteria for Effectively Working with Others:
- Open-minded
- Respectful
- Cooperative
- Responsible
- Reliable
When given a task and given the option to work independently or with a team, what would be your choice? Some people prefer to work independently yet others prefer a team environment. I believe that to work with a team you must first learn to work independently. Once you are able to be responsible of your own tasks and have a clear understanding of the end product then, you have the ability to effectively work with other people. This realization came to me when I was given the responsibility to plan my organizations' annual Corporate Rotational event.
At first it appeared to me that this was an event that I was to plan independently. The first step was to identify the ultimate goal for this event: Allow members and professionals to network and create relationships that can open doors to various opportunities. The second step was to establish a date. This was the first challenge I faced organizing this event but, it was also when I realized how crucial efficient leadership and teamwork was to this event. In order to set a date I had to contact the rest of the board members, my team. Once I delivered the goal of the event everyone had a clear understanding of our outcome and setting a date became a team effort. The issue we faced was having too many events set for the month of September. My initial plan was to have the event in September but one of our board leaders was also planning for one of our other big event of the semester. Although myself and other board members also believed that having the event in September would be best, we had to be open-minded of the opinion of others. We also had to be respectful of those opinions and cooperate with each other to reach a solution. After analyzing various options, my team and I decided to set the date for October 2, 2014. Once the date was set it was my task to plan the logistics, reach out to professionals to invite them to our event, and assign the rest of the team their tasks for the day of the event. I had to deliver that information to the team through meetings and creating a project plan, which you can find below. Once we all had a clear understanding of our tasks and our ultimate goal we were ready for the big day. The day of the event we faced a couple adversaries that led us to be flexible but most importantly patient with each other. However, I believe that because we, as a team, understood the ultimate goal of this event and we understood that we are all different, we were able to work with each other and made this event a success!
Artifact for Working with Others 2:
When I was a Peer Leader for the Freshmen Business Initiative Program, I had the opportunity to lead 18 Freshmen to transition into "college life". However, I was not on my own through out this journey because I had my Peer Leader Partner, Ryan Burns, to help me lead our Freshmen. As Peer Leaders, our responsibility was to lead weekly lectures and activities for our freshmen but to also become their mentors. From the very beginning, Ryan and I had to get together to plan out what we wanted to share with our freshmen and who was going to lead an activity. We coordinated our tasks by learning each others strengths and allowing that person to use those strengths for the benefit of our freshmen. For example, I was very good with sharing my "freshmen experience" with our freshmen so I became responsible for finding a connection with our lecture topic and a life experience. Ryan, on the other hand, was very good at explaining instructions clearly and became in charge of directing activities. Together we were able to build new friendships with our freshmen while helping them with their struggles. We allowed them to learn more about the Mays Business School, and encouraged them to take one new opportunities where they can develop themselves professionally. I truly believe that Ryan and I worked together efficiently because we had the same goal in mind: to help our freshmen and become a mentor to them. We each understood our responsibilities clearly and used our strengths to perform better.
When I was a Peer Leader for the Freshmen Business Initiative Program, I had the opportunity to lead 18 Freshmen to transition into "college life". However, I was not on my own through out this journey because I had my Peer Leader Partner, Ryan Burns, to help me lead our Freshmen. As Peer Leaders, our responsibility was to lead weekly lectures and activities for our freshmen but to also become their mentors. From the very beginning, Ryan and I had to get together to plan out what we wanted to share with our freshmen and who was going to lead an activity. We coordinated our tasks by learning each others strengths and allowing that person to use those strengths for the benefit of our freshmen. For example, I was very good with sharing my "freshmen experience" with our freshmen so I became responsible for finding a connection with our lecture topic and a life experience. Ryan, on the other hand, was very good at explaining instructions clearly and became in charge of directing activities. Together we were able to build new friendships with our freshmen while helping them with their struggles. We allowed them to learn more about the Mays Business School, and encouraged them to take one new opportunities where they can develop themselves professionally. I truly believe that Ryan and I worked together efficiently because we had the same goal in mind: to help our freshmen and become a mentor to them. We each understood our responsibilities clearly and used our strengths to perform better.