MGMT 5133

Teamwork and Leadership Skills: Theory in Practice

Professor Jay Tombaugh, Ph.D.

DESCRIPTION

Focus on knowledge-based skill and competency development in effective teamwork, teambuilding, and leadership as well as diagnosing and intervening effectively in problematic team situations.

SUMMARY OF COURSE WORK

This course kept us busy, but more importantly, it brought us together as a team.  After “forming and norming” we did some serious “storming” in the Lost in the Desert exercise.  It was an excellent opportunity to use tools such as KSS (Keep, Stop, Start), the TKI Conflict Management instrument, and my personal favorite, the GRP-I model (Goals, Roles, Procedures, and Interpersonal Relations.  My team within this course ended up with a creative radio infomercial which capped off a successful course with a lot of colloboration.

REFLECTION

I am so thankful I followed the advice in the UHCL catalogue and took this course early in my MBA studies.  First, it gave me language and structure that I had not been exposed to, in terms of team formation, team functioning, conflict management, communication, and more.  Now I know how to get a team off to a quicker, more productive start.

Secondly, I was helped very much by discovering my conflict management style, or rather both of them.  The TKI Conflict Management instrument we used in the class showed me that my dominant style of managing conflict was collaborative, which is viewed as the highest and most productive style.  Yet it was sobering to learn that in cases of prolonged conflict, my “under duress” style was one of avoidance.  The learning for me was the need to handle conflict early before my own stress response risked being counter-productive during challenging times.

This course demonstrated to me useful tools that can help any team I lead to be productive–even virtual ones.  The many assessments and feedback opportunities provided by Dr. Tombaugh gave me specifics to work on as well as positive affirmation for my strengths.

I could only wish that this was the model class at UHCL, but I am doing more than wishing when it comes to putting these same concepts into practice in my own volunteer and work teams.