Short Term Teams

One of my least favorite type of group to work with is a team that is tasked to work on a short term basis. One of the most difficult teams to work in, at least for me, are teams that are made to work together in the short term. Short term teams can last for hours, days or even months. In many cases these types of teams are not necessarily developed in such a way that cater to team development. Normally the short term team is thrown together and are not developed with team dynamics in mind. The strengths of the team members must be recognized by the group itself, and not necessarily by the entity that puts the team together. This is very likely much more commonly seen in teams  that work together on a project for hours or days. When teams work together for a number of months, I believe that more thought is put into the strengths and weaknesses of the individual team members as opposed to much more short term groups. The longer the team is to work together, the more thought and effort into selecting the members of the group. Inversely, the shorter the duration of the project at hand there is less thought put into that group. There have been many times when I have had to work within a short term team, and the majority of those experiences were not the most positive for me. In some team members were not always completely dedicated to the goals and objectives of the group. Work and responsibility was never equally distributed and the ending product or result was of mediocre quality. I am not saying that every short term team I have ever worked with was like this. However, when I think about working in a short term team I almost always have a negative perspective.

Learning Styles

I have always been a hands on person. In order for me to understand what is being taught to me, I need to physically see or touch whatever it is I am working with. It is very hard for me to understand a particular topic if I am being talked at, or am not given any form of visual cue or example as to what is being shared. I have always been very good at taking things apart and putting them back together and I feel as though I  have always been a kinesthetic leaner / activist.  There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to my learning style. Once I have been visually or physically introduced to the subject matter, I usually have a very good grasp as to what is being taught. Rarely will I need to review something multiple times in order to obtain a good grasp on the material. I also feel as though I am better able to dissect more complicated problems, and can develop solutions that are simple and efficient. One of the big disadvantages of being a hands on learner is the inability to learn when there are no visual examples or opportunities for experimentation. There will be many situations where I will need to be able to solve a problem or learn a new concept, and I will not have the ability to see or work with an example before I attempt to understand what is being shown to me. Overall, I do not reflect on the disadvantages my learning style places on me. I have always preferred this style and I do not think it is possible to change it. It's something you are most likely born or brought up with, like being right or left handed. It is something that is natural that places strengths in me that others do not have.