Patel's Blog

Characterisitics of Team

I currently work at 3M Corp. as an intern in the project development department. In this department we often have to work in teams. There are various characteristics that define a good team in our department but I will talk about some that are of utmost importance.
Goal setting is of great importance at the beginning of each project. Every player in the project has his or her own goals, however in the end it all combines to one master goal.
In relation to those goals we all have tasks that we are responsible according to our skills and talents. The tasks are assigned so that each person has experience in the task or is able find resources to finish the task. For example, since I am only an intern, there are only certain minor tasks assigned to me, which I can handle with my minute experience. Since I have no decision making rights I am given tasks that have minor decision making tasks and the decisions that are important are ran through by my boss.
A team also needs to be organized. In my work, part of what I do is organizing the project from start to finish. I deal with scheduling meetings, finding resources to set presentations and making presentations to show the status of the project.
Since there are always a lot of resources, time and money involved in each project at work, accountability is important as well. Even though each person has his or her own task, others rely on each member to have their portion completed or know what needs to be done to complete the task. If one person does not perform at the best of their ability it can bring the team to a halt. In our specific department, a lot of money and time is at risk at all times. So the team has to know that they can count on me to finish whatever it is that I need to do.