1. Practice being a participant-observer as described in chapter two of the Johnson and Johnson (2017) text. Choose a group interaction over the next week in which you are a participant (work, home or otherwise), and follow the Basic Reflection Model described in Robinson and Rose (2007, p. 55):
a. What
i. What happened (was this scheduled? Where did it happen? When did it happen? Who attended? Were there people missing or late? What was the purpose of the interaction?)?
ii. What did you see (How was the physical space? Did you see anyone take a clear lead What body language did you see?)?
iii. What did you hear (How were people speaking [calmly, directly, etc.] What was said ?
iv. What did you do (How did you participate in the interaction? What did you notice about how you felt during the interaction)?
b. So What
i. What worked?
ii. What did not work?
iii. How is this like what you tend to do in this situation?
iv. What assumptions did you make?
v. What role did you play in the events?
c. Now What
i. What will you do differently next time?
ii. What will you do the same?
2. Taking the same interaction used for question one, apply the Ladder of Inference by Chris Argyris described in Robinson and Rose (2007, pp. 12-13) to yourself. Follow the descriptions for each step on the ladder as described in the text.
a. Observable Data
b. Data
c. Meanings
d. Assumptions
e. Conclusions
f. Beliefs
g. Action
3. Thinking back to what you learned about DiSC, what are two specific ways you can take potential challenges in your work group based on different DiSC styles and convert them to strengths?
4. Thinking back to the week three in-person session, how would you describe your work group according to the 5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team by Patrick Lencioni? (For each behavior, rate your team 1-5 and provide a description of at least two to three sentence in length that includes specific examples to support your assessment.) (1 = Very Low; 2 = Low; 3 = Moderate; 4 = Good; 5 = Excellent).
a. Trust
i. Trust one another on a fundamental, emotional level
ii. Are vulnerable with each other about their weaknesses, mistakes, and fears
iii. Can be completely open with one another, without filters
b. Conflict
i. Are not afraid to engage in passionate dialogue around issues
ii. Do not hesitate to disagree with, challenge, and question one another to find the best answers
c. Commitment
i. Engage in conflict to ensure that nothing has been left unsaid
ii. Achieve buy-in around important decisions
d. Accountability
i. Hold one another accountable for adhering to the team’s commitments
ii. Don’t rely on the team leader for accountability; go directly to their peers
e. Results
i. Set aside their individual needs and focus on what is best for the team
ii. Emphasize collective results that define team success
5. Reflecting on your responses to question four, what are two specific recommendations you have to help your current work team become higher performing? Imagine you will present this to leadership where you work and you are using this exercise to help develop your ideas. Recommendations should be supported and include citations and references. Add references to the existing reference list of this document. For each recommendation, provide ample detail that describes:
Recommendation 1
a. the recommendation
b. how it would work
c. to which of the 5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team it is aligned
d. the reasoning behind your recommendation
Recommendation 2
a. the recommendation
b. how it would work
c. to which of the 5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team it is aligned
d. the reasoning behind your recommendation
6. In what ways does technology either support or impede your team? For any on the list that apply below, describe them. Provide specific examples for those that do apply, and for those that don’t provide a one-to-two sentence description as to why it does not apply.
a. Missing technology
b. Slow or outdated
c. Too complex/team doesn’t understand it
d. Excessive communication channels that cause communication to be missed
e. Technology enabling increased productivity
f. Technology enabling increased collaboration
g. Technology enabling increased employee flexibility or work/life balance
h. Other
7. After reviewing both lectures in module 4, choose at least two articles from any of the four modules found in Course Resources. Choose a current news event or story in the news and write a one-to-two-page paper about the current event that addresses group anxiety and the role of dialogue. Your paper should incorporate both articles, the source for your chosen current event, and demonstrate graduate level writing at the analysis and synthesis levels according to Bloom’s Taxonomy.