Working as a Team

A community is a group of people who usually share the same beliefs and usually live by the same social norms. A community of people can exist as an informal group or as a formal group, but both types require some form of interaction between the members of the community. As described in the previous post, social media tools provide a wide range of new online communities to be a part of, for example Facebook and Twitter. However social media tools are also being used to support and enable more interaction in offline communities as well for example communication through email.

The term Community of Practice is used to describe some formal communities. This was first used by Eitenne Wenger, a cognitive anthropologist. Wenger’s theory explains that a Community of Practice has three main characteristics: the first is that the individuals involved have shared interests, commitment and competence in a particular topic or area; the second is that the members interact and engage in discussions and other activities together; the third is that members have developed a range of resources, such as experiences, skills and knowledge which could help achieve meet the aim of the group (Wenger 2006). Back in first year I had the opportunity to work as a Community of Practice with other Primary School Teachers, Social Workers and Community Learning and Development workers. Everyone in the group was passionate and committed about their profession and it was our regular interaction which allowed members to learn from each other’s professions and to work towards a common goal, our group presentation.

Through learning more about Communities of Practice this year in my ICT Elective, we were introduced to Belbin’s Model of Team Building. Belbin has come up with nine roles which are used to find out people’s behavioural strengths and weaknesses in group work. They each describe a way someone can ‘contribute and interrelate with others’ (Belbin, undated). It is thought that by figuring out our own role within a group setting we can make sure we use our strengths to advantage and we manage our weaknesses in order for group success. Here is a diagram showing the 9 roles.

It was interesting to look at my group and consider which roles each of us would be classed as. Personally I feel I take the ‘Team Worker’ role in our group as I am able to co-operate well with others through listening to all perspectives in the group and I can often be quite indecisive. Through identifying our strengths and weaknesses in our group it has made me more aware of the importance of having each different role in order to team success as each role relies on another.  

References

Belbin, M. (undated). Belbin Team Role Theory.

Available at http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=8 [accessed 23.01.12]

Wenger, E. (2006). Communities of Practice. Available at http://www.ewenger.com/theory/ [accessed 23.01.12]