Team Communication

Team Communication

Charles Waxter

University of Phoenix

Gen 300

Olivia Miller

February 26, 2007

Team Communication

This paper outlines what positive and negative communication can lead to, plus things that may contribute to conflict. The bottom line is that some aspect of positive and negative communication is essential for good teams and is unavoidable. As a leader, you must determine how to deal with this situation.

Our ability at any time in anyplace with anyone is increasing our opportunities for interaction. The variety of ways that made communication or the ability to reach someone has grown increasingly easier through e-mail, cell phones, text messaging, and pagers. The Business Communicator, volume 44 Number1 1 January 1997.

Team Communication, participants learn to develop their ability to communicate effectively as members of a team. They acquire an understanding of different aspects of verbal and nonverbal communication and learn techniques for using both types of communication to create a supportive team environment.

Communication is the key for a team to function as a single unit. It requires that all team members to establish ongoing communication at all times. To provide effective communication a team must have an efficient plan for the exchange of information. Once the team is put together, they now must select someone to become the team leader. This individual must posses a clear open mind and must listen consistently to his team members. A leader who allows his/her members to voice their opinions on the project will find that they will get more effective productivity. One way to start developing a communications strategy is to look at the nature of the different kinds of work the team will be doing and what kind of communication is needed to support that work. An idea line of team communication would include:

* A regular scheduled meeting for the team to discuss any issues.

* A regular discussion to evaluate the team function.

* Always have an open mind to all suggestions

* Define goal, roles, and responsibilities

* Fair work distribution

* Appropriate leadership

Effective communication relies on listening, explaining, acknowledging and discussing the differences in views recommending appropriate answers to any barriers that may occur. Decision making and conflict resolution are also an important factor in the communication process. The key to the teams’ success is to value the differences on the team and use those differences to achieve the team’s goal. The following tips will be helpful for valuing the differences on your team:

* Learn as much as you can from others. Learning the different backgrounds, cultures, and the values of others will elevate your skills and the abilities of your team.

* Avoid comments and remarks that draw negative attention to a persons’ personality. Having fun is a key factor for a healthy team environment. But never use this at the expense of fellow team members.

* Do not ignore the differences among the team.

These differences should be welcomed and used to help achieve the teams’ goal. The danger for teams is that a weak communications strategy results in missing signals where something new happening in one place is grounds for

Something that will sooner or later have an effect on other parts of the team’s goal.

Communication breakdown can also lead to some positive results such as: Increased involvement of the team, lead to new ideas, and clarification of the objectives. Along with the positive results the negative may soon follow: lack of new ideas, personal attacks, withholding new ideas, resistant to changes,