Teamwork Processes

What?

Last year, I volunteered with my peers around campus in a program put on by the YMCA. In order to fully understand the program, I attended an orientation session in Squires. Tuckman would best describe this as the forming stage of group development. I began to meet some of the other students that would be participating in the same program. At first, we mostly kept to ourselves but we were all excited to go out and help through service in the community. With common interests, we eventually warmed up to each other and were ready to work as a team.

So What?

In order to help the community, we were broken up into small groups to coordinate with each other to perform different services. As with any group, the members each took on a different role. Benne's study on groups can be applied to my own experience. To organize everyone together, an initiator proposed new ideas for service projects in emails. For example, I worked with three other students to visit a local apartment complex to spend time with the children of the residents. We helped the children with their homework, played games with them, and had snack time. Having our team there helped keep everyone motivated. The kids really enjoyed us being there, and it is a good feeling to know that we helped.

Now What?

Service projects are a great way to help the community. And as an added bonus, it makes me feel good knowing that I can make a difference. Working in teams gives everyone a common goal and keeps the members of the team focused and motivated. Looking to the future, I can't wait to work on more projects with others to bring smiles to people's faces through service. As long as my teams can effectively avoid social loafing, the group will accomplish much more than I can alone.