In the engineering field, almost all work is done in teams
so collaboration and team work skills are vital for success.
The first
step to working well in collaborating, to learn and grow as a unit, is knowing
how to grow as an individual. The most common block to growth is defensive
reasoning. Defensive reasoning is a natural response to mental stress caused by
feelings of judgment, failure, inferiority, etc. During these stressful situations,
the mind naturally starts defensive reasoning, a mental fight or flight
response, and one becomes emotional, stubborn, and/or irrational. These
reactions cause a limitation of growth as one can never truly be challenged.
However, one can overcome defensive reasoning, a natural reaction by
recognizing it and making the conscious decision to move from the emotional,
irrational state to a logical, self- reflective state, which may require time
for the emotions to simply run their course. One system of reflective thinking
is called SII.
SII is
an acronym for strengths, improvements, and insights. The process requires one
to first identify personal strengths in actions, attitude, etc. that surround
the situation. When identifying the strengths one must also take note how one
made that positive action, etc. so one can replicate the strength and develop a
specific reason replication the strength is important. By identifying the how
and why of the strength one is both willing and capable of repeating the beneficial
action, etc. Secondly, one should identify areas that are in need of improvement.
Again the how and why need to be identified. One must recognize how to improve
and why it is important to improve the lacking action, etc. Lastly, one must
identify an insight in the areas that have been analyzed, i.e. a realization of
a process or idea that improves the area as a whole.
SII
Example: Collaboration
Strengths:
·
I work hard on tasks assigned individually for
later collaboration or application.
o
How- Once, these tasks are defined, I immediately
start outlining how I am going to accomplish these goals and begin execution to
provide the best possible contribution.
o
Why- My team is dependent on me to do these
tasks. Doing these well also develops dependability and confidence within the
team, which is essential for ambitious projects.
·
I am open minded to others ideas and encourage
other’s to be open-minded
o
How- I look for beneficial assets of every idea
as well as the flaws, encourage discussion of the positive and negative
attributes of the idea, and record the idea for later reference (both the
assets and flaws).
o
Why- Open-mindedness of all team members helps
reduce argument and increases innovative thinking.
Improvements:
·
I tend to get side tracked and begin discussions
on irrelevant things.
o
How- I can reduce this tendency by focusing on
the topics to be addressed with the group before collaboration begins so my
mind is primed with only applicable thoughts.
o
Why- These distractions are a waste of time and
destroy the team momentum generated by focused, energetic work, so
reducing/eliminating these will improve the results and effectiveness of all
collaboration.
·
I occasionally arrive late to meetings.
o
How- I should not take on tasks that will
interfere with the meeting times in any way, and should plan a departure time early
in the day so I can plan my day accordingly.
o
Why- Tardiness slows down the group and hurts my
dependability and hence overall team confidence in the team and myself.
Insights:
·
Teamwork requires all members to perform at
their peak. So, by performing at my best I will encourage others to do the
same.
The information in this blog is based off on Dr. Elger's website L4do.com
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