GA5-240202501-AA1-EV02 - Essay on the basic stages of a company's process and the people in a work team

Oral and Written Communication

Relating

Key Words:

•Teamwork: The ability of a team to work in a coordinated and collaborative manner, supporting and contributing to one another.

•Communication: The process of exchanging ideas between people to convey a message; it involves a sender and a receiver.

•Assertive Communication: Expressing thoughts and feelings clearly and correctly, while respecting the ideas and opinions of others.

•Leadership: The ability of a person to motivate, influence, and guide a group of people toward achieving goals and objectives.

Introduction

The following case study describes a problem situation in a company where communication and leadership are failing, generating internal and external conflicts. This negatively impacts the company's customer service and order processing. Therefore, a company leader analyzes the situation and begins to reorganize activities, involving all stakeholders and employing assertive communication.

Case Study

At the company Tecnologías y Soluciones, there is a systems department with a team of eight professionals, not all of whom are systems engineers or have related backgrounds. This is because other professionals, such as administrative and financial staff, are required for the company's project development. As mentioned, there are several professional profiles working in the department, resulting in a different perspective on each situation. One day, the company asked the systems department to develop software to record customer and supplier requests. Therefore, one of the company's most experienced systems engineers began leading the process, involving only his colleagues. However, when the implementation of the new software was defined, the employees responsible for using the program realized that it did not allow them to record information related to purchases, sales, and equipment damage. Thus, what seemed like a solution turned into a bigger problem, leading to the systems department being divided into small groups where all sorts of issues were discussed.

Upon seeing the situation, the area coordinator decided to lead the project himself, relying on the professionals who had already developed part of the software and involving other professionals from different departments, as well as clients and employees—the stakeholders.

Analyzing the previous case, it is clear that there was a lack of leadership at the beginning of the project, preventing the establishment of a single communication channel and a unified work plan. Furthermore, it is evident that there was no consistent communication within the team. It is worth noting that the area coordinator was able to identify the problem and find a viable solution to the situation, ultimately achieving the company's objective.

Problem Analysis

In this case, we see that the area manager was not involved in the project from the beginning, which led to poor communication within the team. This is especially problematic since a leader should be providing guidance and direction to the team to achieve the objectives. Perhaps the area manager's trust in their most experienced colleague led this person to assume a superior position over their peers, excluding several from the project.

Communication Styles:

In this problem situation, three communication styles are identified. Passive communication is evident among the professionals who were not integrated into the project and should have requested to be included as part of the team. Aggressive communication is observed when the professional assigned as leader failed to recognize the valuable contributions of their colleagues, who have different professional backgrounds. However, assertive communication is observed on the part of the area leader, who identified the problem affecting the achievement of the objectives. Therefore, the leader, by conducting an analysis that involves all stakeholders, allows for cooperation and trust within their team.

Conclusion:

• As leaders, it is important to maintain good communication with team members, providing clear and specific guidance to achieve quality work.

• However, good communication is not solely the leader's responsibility; the other 50 percent rests with the team members, who must respect different viewpoints and contributions, which can prove valuable in the development of activities.

• This demonstrates that assertive communication can generate significant results in any context.

Literature

Universidad de la Salle, “Importancia del trabajo en equipo”, https://lasalle.edu.co/es/noticias/la-importancia-del-trabajo-en-equipo

Página web Asana (2005), “Trabajo en equipo en empresas: ventajas, herramientas y ejemplos” https://asana.com/es/resources/teamwork-in-the-workplace