A team I am currently involved
in would be the executive board of my house. Although not thought of as a
typical team, we do all the things teams do to accomplish goals through working
together. The team consisted of 7 guys, five graduating in 2016 and two
graduating in 2017. Each of us had our own individual role on the team. Our
Vice President of Communication, Martin, was in charge of sorting the mail,
getting packages, and setting up buying snacks for our Monday Funday every
Monday. Our Vice President of Finance, Jeremy, was in charge of budgeting our
house dues and making sure all the electricity, water, cable, and Internet
bills are paid on time. Our Internal Vice President, Mark, was in charge of
fixing things that break in the house, such as toilets, showers, and any fuses
that might go out. Our Administrative Vice President, Sam, is in charge of
keeping the house clean. Our Vice President of New Scholars, Mario, is in
charge of making the freshmen class successfully transition to college life
through activities like study hours and fun games they played. Our Executive
Vice President, Brian, was in charge of social events. Finally, there was me,
the President. I was a jack-of-all-trades, helping out all the remaining
positions, however my main job is to be the main liaison to the Western Golf
Association, the people who pay our tuition. I was entrusted with the grades of
all the scholars, along with their University Information, and had final say on
anything that occurred through our executive board.
The five of us that were
graduating in 2016 had all been close friends since our inception into the
house in 2012, so we were not foreign to the idea of working together. The two
2017s we had only knows for about a year and a half, but their easy going
attitude made it easy to work with them. In addition to all this, I was the
only new member of the executive board who had served on the previous one.
Although Mario and Sam, the two
2017s, weren’t our age, it seemed that they were a perfect fit in our puzzle.
After that, we all settled into the roles we wanted, and some we weren’t
expecting. For example, because of my small stature, I have never been quite
the “intimidator,” however, because Mario had to work with the freshmen on a
day to day basis, they had to think of him more as a friend so they felt
comfortable going to him if they had a problem, and because of this, I had to
be the bad cop. Whenever the freshmen were misbehaving, Mario would text me and
I would have to set them straight. Although never a the role I expected
playing, it still worked out.
Something that immediately
brought us all together and allowed us to become the successful eboard we all
wanted to be was the financial situation we were left with after the previous
executive board. We were left with about half of what we were expecting to be
left with, 90% of which we couldn’t spend on anything but utilities, cable, and
Internet. We spent many a night figuring out ways to solve the problem and to
still have a successful semester without breaking our budget. Through a lot of
blood, sweat, and teamwork, we were able to balance our budget but more
importantly, we passed an early test of our abilities. I can honestly say that
we would not have become the eboard we are today without this experience.
After this, the communication
between all of us was flawless. We all knew the state of the house budget at
all times, we knew who was and was not doing their work when it came to house
cleanliness, we knew what freshmen were doing poorly, and because of that, we
could all work together to remedy these situations. I would describe us most as
Mintzberg’s adhocracy, which is described as loose and flexible. Although all
of us had specific jobs, we all moved around to where we were needed and played
rolls that we had to in order for the best outcome. After the fiscal disaster
we combined forces to deal with, there was an understanding that we are a
capable bunch and no one had to be scared leaving some of their
responsibilities to any other member.
That also relates to Katzenbach
and Smith’s idea of team structure. They stated that a team structure develops
through individuals contributing to the collective good of the whole group, and
that’s exactly what we did. As an executive board, we all wanted to put as much
effort into our jobs in order to make the house and us better off as a whole.
Although I was the President and leader of the board, that did not mean I was
any more important or capable of doing certain jobs than anyone else on the
board. Everyone contributed to the betterment of the group, and this team dynamic
is something Katzenbach and Smith touched on a lot in their version of
teamwork.
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