During this week's learning journey, I have learned many useful topics about teams, groups, and some leadership skills. Good leadership skills combined with knowledge of group development will help any group perform at its peak level. Instead of just punishing employees when they are lazy, I think there are many ways we can create a win-win strategy to achieve higher goals without sacrificing anyone or anything. As a leader, we are not just hiring a team to help us achieve our goals. We also connect our goals to each member's goals.
Moreover, many issues that can plague groups can also hinder the efficacy of a team. Problems such as social loafing can be avoided by providing clear definitions for roles, expectancy, measurement, and rewards. Suppose that a four-member team is assigned to decode a separating sixteen-figure password, each member is allocated four numbers to decode. The team will get $1,000,000 in cash if they decode it. Each member has to work hard on the task they are allocated to do, to help the team complete the mission. In this case, each task is clearly defined. The expectancy, the measurement, and the rewards are all been put on the plates. Task independence also provides the team with the incentive to work harder since each member knows they must accomplish their own tasks.
In the case of PointCast, its founder rejected many acquisition offers and walked away from the bargaining table. Such missed opportunities happened frequently in the history of the business world. That reminds me of one successful acquisition, Google bought YouTube for stock that is valued at $1.65 billion. By successfully negotiating the deal, Google has ascertained that it is the Internet’s dominant company and an IT giant. Under the terms of the deal, YouTube will retain much of its identity and will keep its name. This acquisition of YouTube will enable Google to thrive in one area of the Internet where it has failed to gain footing, the online video traffic. Moreover, it was an excellent strategy and opportunity for both of them because the deal will benefit YouTube by having Google’s vast resources to help it navigate some tough issues and developing new software to prevent copyright infringement.
In addition, another significant knowledge point that I found during this week, is that keeping conflicts centered around ideas rather than individual differences is important in avoiding a conflict escalation. I think many people usually take it personally and then fight each other to prove they are right. However, it is not helpful. Sometimes, we have to resolve a conflict first to solve the actual issue. Moreover, conflicts are not always as bad as we think they are. Why? Because conflicts are often where the new ideas take place or while discussing something new. Just like appropriate stress keeps us growing, healthy conflicts also help a team to perform better.
Reference
Sources: Arnoldy. B. (2008, November 19). Why Yahoo’s Jerry Yang stepped down. Retrieved January 20, 2009, from the Christian Science Monitor Web site: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1119/p02s01-usec.html; Auletta, K. (1998, November 19). The last sure thing. New Yorker; Lipin, S. (1996, August 22). In many merger deals, ego and pride play big roles in which way talks go. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition, p. C1; Wired News Report. (1999, May 11). PointCast fire sale. Wired. Retrieved November 14, 2008, from http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/1999/05/19618.
Sorkin, A. R., & Peters, J. W. (2006, October 9). Google to acquire YouTube for $1.65 billion. The New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/business/09cnd-deal.html
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