Availability in Teams

When working as a team, finding overlap in team member’s schedules is necessary for effective performance. Whether it is through the phone, skype, in person, or through email it is essential for teams to find the time to exchange ideas, expectations, worries, thoughts, plans, goals etc. When team members set aside time for each other, everyone feels more involved and motivated to reach the team’s goals. When I met with my team in COM 490, I felt like I was contributing to something greater than myself. From that feeling, I got a greater sense of individual and collective fulfillment. I have had meeting with groups where no work was done, but we still made progress by having meetings that gave ourselves a sense of identity. A lot of times when I am assigned a team, I don’t really feel like I am apart from it until we meet outside of class. A team's identity can come from the way we interact with one-another and accomplish tasks. There needs to be availability so that team members can check back with each other and monitor progress. I have been in classes where the team I was assigned did not have meetings because no-one was available. During these experience, I felt isolated from the team and confused as to what our goals were. No-one had a way to share information and foresee potential issues.

Appropriate use of technology when team members have busy schedules and little availability is a must. Unfortunately, most college students nowadays have schedules where there is little time to meet outside of class. So what to do when schedules of a team just don’t allow time for them to meet? I think using technology is a good plan B. Google docs is amazing! Each member of the group can log onto a single document and edit it on their own time. It also lets the user see who is online and where they are editing in real time. Another option for groups is an App called GroupMe. I used this app for my COM 490 class, as well as my Anthropology class. It lets group members communicate to everyone in a group through their phones. The app also lets the user share files with the group. This is not to say that technology should replace actual team meeting. I think that face-to-face is the best way to meet. And ideally, technology should be used as an aid to this. However, when meeting in person isn't an option, technology can save the day.