Answer

Personal Reflection: Chairing Consultancy Meeting

                Experiential learning is one of the effective strategies of learning. According to Juergens (2012), experiential learning process exposes an individual to an environment where mastering the real world applications can be accomplished through the process of learning by doing. Various full-time MBA learners are increasingly embracing the concept of experiential learning to close the gap of applying the concepts learned in class to an actual world experience (Johnsson, 2018). The experiential learning process refers to a form of learning whereby knowledge is established by transforming an experience (Sinha, 2012). Learning by experience creates a learning opportunity whereby building on knowledge is achieved by allowing a person to think consciously about what they could do better in future (Nkhoma, Sriratanaviriyakul, Hiep & Lam, 2014). In this reflective log, I build on my experience derived while chairing a consultancy meeting, working alongside my peers in a group-setting. Through the implementation of Gibbs’ model of reflection, I make sense of the situation to understand my areas of strengths alongside those which require improvement.

Description

                While in the MBA 2019/2020 Leadership Development class, each learner was required to complete project consultancy tasks provided in the form of task briefs shared on canvas learning aid. The learners were divided into several groups whereby each had to complete a unique activity with the contribution of each team member. My group was tasked with the obligation of completing a project with Carbon-Track, an organization involved in the process of tracking hardware and software usage of other players in the marker. Every member of the team was confident that they will easily accomplish the allocated tasks at this point.

                The group was composed of four members. Each person was required to take part in the process of examining the entry strategy of Carbon-Track as well as exploring the firms’ financial modeling with a focus of understanding its performance in the market. As a way of preparation to meet with the client business, we agreed that it was effective to lay down a plan of communication. The team members agreed that this was a way of identifying all the important areas which need to be addressed to have a proper understanding of the scope of work when it comes to consultancy. Besides the team responsibility, I was personally required to foresee all the communication aspects of the meeting with Carbon-Track’s representatives. To guarantee this, I was required to keep track and maintain documentation of all the communication between the member of the team and the business. Moreover, it was also my obligation to chair the first meeting scheduled between the group and Carbon-Track.

                With an aim of facilitating communication between the members of the group, one of the members created a Whatsapp group which included a photo of group members. Subsequently, I initiated communication between the group and the client by sending an introductory email outlining the bios of the group members and photo before attending the first meeting. We agreed that each member was to play a unique role during the meeting and that we had to come up with an agenda to guarantee that all client requirement needs were addressed. All members agreed that setting a Q & A session was effective in meeting all the agenda requirements. The meeting took approximately 58 minutes to understand Carbon-Track’s needs.

Feeling

                When the task was first delivered in class, I was happy because I knew this was going to be one of the simplest projects going to be completed under the course. I felt confident of a positive outcome because I believed that working as a team was less demanding. Evidently, Grego-Planer and Sudolska (2018) state that working in a team is associated with a positive outcome as the complementary strengths of the members are blended. However, this feeling did not last as the actual date of the meeting came closer. Notably, I was focused and anxious at the same time. I was also worried about how I was going to create a lasting impression that would encourage the members of the team to participate cordially during the meeting. However, I felt confident and motivated after introducing out agenda. At some point, I felt lost and challenged as the client introduced the company’s business model defined by several technicalities which I did not under. Despite this, I was grateful to be a part of my team as one of the member who had experience in the energy sector took the initiative to stair the meeting to guarantee out engagement with the client. Getting into the aspect of the company’s entry strategy into the UK market, I felt more comfortable because I had extensive knowledge about this field. Despite this, I was still looking forward to understanding how Carbon-Track successfully found its way into the market.

Evaluation

                One of the things which worked well during the experience was the fact that all the team members were focused and engaging. This quality of the team members made it easier for me to chair the meeting and explore all the relevant strategies associated with market entry strategies which the firm could have exploited to enter the UK market. It was also good that the client was willing to take part in the meeting and was focused on answering all our questions regarding the strategies of UK market entry. With this, I could easily outline my points about the advantages and disadvantages of the market entry strategies and the factors which drove Carbon-Track to find its way into the market. Additionally, it was also a good thing that my team members were willing to work collaboratively during the process. Team collaboration fosters a collective understanding of the group members as each strives towards ascertaining the common goal of the group. Also, the fact that Carbon-Track was willing to set aside some time and show up for the meeting was a source of motivation because it guided the process of generating the right information and understanding about the UK market entry strategy which was a part of the requirement of completing the course.

                The major factor which did not work well is that we failed to consider team diversity and conflicts likely to arise in the process of working as a team. Evidently, some of the team members had different preferences on aspects such as tasks allocation. As a result, substantive conflicts arouse regarding the members who were going to interact directly with the clients especially during the Q&A session. Failing to acknowledge this factor resulted in time wastage since we spent most of our times trying to resolve conflicts about the respective tasks to be accomplished by the members. Additionally, we also failed to carry out prior research on the market entry strategies utilized by Carbon-Track’s competitors to enter the UK market. As a result, it was difficult to gain enough information why our client company did not consider alternative strategies which may have worked well for the competitors in the market.

Analysis

                I think that choosing to work in a team contributed to the successful outcome of the group ascertaining most of its goals. Evidently, group work has proven to be an effective strategy as it enables the member to bond with each other and improve on accountability (Bell, 2016). Working in teams made it possible for each member to contribute on the meeting’s agenda which was effective in ensuring that all the fundamental aspects about the market entry strategies are identified and tackled. Beach (2014) mentions that when the members of a team are focused and engaged, chances of meeting the set goals of the team are enhanced. Through the implementation of the theory of management, it is evident that working in teams is successful since the members are provided with a unity of command, equity and fairness in accomplishing the team processes. I have experienced working individually on some of the course projects and I can easily compare the benefits and downsides of the team and individual work. With my experience, I acknowledge that the success rates of working in a team are highly than working individually.

                I think operating on the notion that the assigned task was a simple one made us overlook the challenges which we were likely to experience when meeting with the client hence hindering our ability to achieve a fully successful outcome. Arguably, overlooking the fact that we can face conflicts in a team cost my team members and I time. Notably, we did not have a strategy of conflict resolution which we could implement when the members failed to agree of the proper approach of task allocation thus spending more time addressing the conflict. Through Belbin’s theory, a team role is the tendency to interrelate, behave and contribute in a unique manner in a team (Batenburg, Wouter & Wesley, 2013). With this definition, I believe that our failure to clearly outline the roles of the members contributed to the conflict, hence the time wastage. Notably, Belbin’s Team Roles theory guides that team roles offers a common language for the members to communicate and work together towards a better understanding (Scarlat & Falcioglu, 2013). Although we failed to look at our team in the same manner as Belbin, work delegation and effective team work arouse from the fact that the members were willing to counteract each other’s strengths towards a common goal.

                Also, I believe that the failure in the group to achieve all its set goals was founded on the fact that we failed to engage in group thinking. Through the groupthink theory established by Irvin Janis, faulty decision making processes within a group setting is as a result of the group cohesion forces (Parker, Kunde & Zeppetella, 2017). In our team, raising different opinions to the dominant decision was not common. Most members tended to agree with the dominant opinion to avoid being considered as outsiders. As a result, we failed to become critical which made it easier for us to overlook the question about the competitor’s UK market entry strategies. Collective rationalization is one of the groupthink features commonly experienced in our team as we constantly engaged on questions about the positive sides of the market entry strategies while operating on the illusion that the client business was not vulnerable to it competition.

I believe that providing groupthink with a priority in future teamwork projects would aid in successful group work when making fundamental decisions related with project and team goals.

Conclusion

                I learned that success of a team in achieving its goals is founded in its members and the ability of the team to recognize the strengths of the team members. Evidently, working in teams enables members to counteract each other’s strengths which are related with a successful outcome. Additionally, I also learned that groupthink is a critical element which enables team members to explore all the possibilities and eliminate the potential for overlooking important factors that may inhibit a team from achieving its goals. Acknowledging that speaking against a dominant decision in a group will benefit it in the long run is necessary since it will create an opportunity for the members to engage in a form of critical thinking which is fundamental towards guaranteeing a successful outcome. I also mastered than ensuring that the members of the team are aware of the roles they are supposed to play in a team is important since it reduces the potential for conflict and time wastage of the resolution process.

Action Plan

                With the knowledge and experience gathered in this case, I plan to do several things differently in the future when working in groups. For instance, I plan to raise my concerns at any point when engaging in group discussions even in the events when dominant decisions have been made. This is an easy way to encourage the team members to engage in a form of critical thinking to ensure that all the critical aspects associated with the discussion and project goal are identified and addressed. Moreover, I plan to encourage my group members to do the same in the future as this will increase the potential for meeting the project’s goals and ascertaining a successful outcome. Also, I plan to ensure that when tasks are being subdivided among the members of the team, I will insist that the team leader clarify on the roles of each individual and allocate tasks based on individual strengths. Through this, it will be simpler for the members to understand what is expected of them and why specific tasks were assigned to them hence, reducing the potential for conflict development. Furthermore, I will also encourage my peers within the team to exercise courage and confidence, as I plan to do, when working in teams as this is the start-up point of reducing the element of time wastage. Notably, courageous and confident people will not fear challenging any decisions even when the dominant majority believes otherwise. I believe that implementing these considerations in the future will not only make me an effective team player but also improve on the successful outcome of the team when it comes to meeting its set goals and agenda.