Self Reflective Of Teamwork Experience Nursing Essay

Self Reflective Of Teamwork Experience Nursing Essay Good teamwork plays a crucial role in implementing and fulfilling common goal quicker and better in a team project. Every team member plays his or her particular role and takes on different responsibilities which combined together can make the team function well and achieve common goal. In different stages of teamwork, conflicts or arguments may occur as members have different standpoints which need be harmonized within the team. The key to effective teamwork is to exploit each team roles unique abilities to motivate them play up strengths and avoid their weaknesses with a proper balance. Through teamwork, I clearly recognize my role characteristics, learn to develop my strong points and circumvent weaknesses in the team, and draw lessons and reflections on how to deal with emergencies happened in teamwork. Every member in a team will have his or her role different from others. According to the Team Role Theory that Dr Meredit identified and developed, different individuals act different team roles to varying degrees which he grouped into nine general kinds (Belbin D.M., 2007). By identifying characteristics of different kind of roles, we can ensure to make the most of every member and manage weaknesses to avoid them. There are four roles in my team. Student A is a shaper; Student B and student C are team-workers; Student D is an implementer; and I am a completer finisher. Completer finishers, just as its name implies, are painstaking, conscientious and used most effectively at the end of a task worked as quality controller, to search out errors and omissions, modify and polish them, and finally make sure the task delivers on time (Belbin D.M., 2007). But on the other side, completer finishers are inclined to worry unduly because of their perfectionism and have difficulty letting go and delegating work (West M, 1994). My role is important to teamwork guaranteeing task finished as scheduled and improving team performance to high quality. As completer finishers are always perfectionists with conscientious and disciplined characteristics, I have the capacity for follow-through and attention to detail, to spot errors and gaps and modify them for better. I do not allow any delay in task completing and think highly of punctuality. Owning to my role characteristics, I always keep an eye on the team members work process to recognize if task is undertaken as scheduled timetable and finished per our completion requirements. This works effectively and efficiently to make our team goal accomplished and standardized. But I also need admit that I am easily irritable and worried unduly, which might bring unnecessary air of tension to the team members and will affect their personal emotions and somewhat derail the work efficiency. For instance, when student A did not finish the scheduled task on time, I will thin k it was quite an irresponsible act and get quite fussed. During the teamwork experience, I felt teamwork is not an easy job. In the evolve of team building, Tuckmans teamwork theory of Four Stages of Group Development can help me better understand and manage various problems or unexpected circumstances that might happen at different stages of team development (Miller DL, 2003). According to Tuchman, there are four phrases in team evolve: forming, storming, norming and performing (Tuckman, online). During my experience from this teamwork, in the four different stages of group development, both positive and negative circumstances happened and need be taken care of. The initial stage of team development is forming. In this stage, individuals are not united quite well yet and it will be difficult to reach agreement. Each member is eager to find their place and hardly can feel a sense of belonging within the team (Scott D. J., 2000). As members are nearly strangers, they do not know clearly about their purpose and strongly need a leaders guidance to tell them why they are together. To overcome the problems caused for the forming stage and prepare for the following team task, our team opened some meetings in the library to build trust within each other. But some unexpected thing happened in our first meeting. Student A did not show up when everybody else were waiting for his appearance. He was not in Preston and went outing at that time. He did not check email while the notice of meeting was spread within the team by email only as we usually use email for connection and not thought for the accident somebody might not check email sometimes. This was an unhappy accident and we learnt to recheck for some unconfirmed uncertainties to avoid such accidents happening again. Through meetings, my leader illustrated the team task and general agenda and regulations for task completion. Tasks were divided and allotted to each person concerned. This stage is important as it paves the way to next team stages smooth development. Each members strengths and weaknesses need be identified and thus can make sure each one play up strength and be arranged to finish the most appropriate part. If we can allocate different tasks to the right person, efficiency of teamwork will be elevated greatly which will do better to individual motivation and avoid less conflicts or complaints within the team. When the forming stage finished, individuals began to see themselves as part of the team and will sense a belonging and motivated to work together. The storming stage is coming as clash of views and collision of all sorts of train of thought slowly gather together which is enough to make a storm for both brains and teamwork (Tuckman, 1977). In this stage, team members can easily challenge each other due to individuals held different points of view towards the same thing. Using Tuchmans word to say, conflict and contradiction typify this stage as differences surface. Actually this happens many times in our team discussion. Each individual had different attitudes towards same question, and all would appreciate others to accept and think the way as has suggested. For example, when we were discussing in one of the meetings, student D expressed his opinions with his standpoints which student B and me thought good and gave support. But student A and student C had quite different ideas. The refore conflict is unavoidable. If we vote to decide which idea will be adopted, student A and student C will feel unsatisfied and reduce teamwork initiative. I figured out that student A and student Cs standpoints had some plus points if melted into student Ds ideas, so I tried to convince both sides to modify their ideas and harmonize a generally accepted scheme. For many times we felt the storming stage was wasting lots of time for endless arguing and loss of focus on the completion of common task. But through our efforts to polish each other based on mutual respects, we finally learnt the further meaning of teamwork and realized in a team the collective interests and team performance is above all. This is a stage for team members to harmonize their ideas and team leader played important role to coordinate and help for decision making to the method of how to get the task done. Besides, each team member should not only learn independent thinking, but also to appreciate and respect others ideas and opinions, thus to figure out some balance within the team and finish the team goal in a peaceful and beneficial way. When experiencing a smooth transition of the storming stage, the stage of norming seems to be overcome more naturally and easily. The norming stage is a stage where team members start to trust more on each other and unite together to process the task with more teamwork with a growing sense of togetherness (Gersick, 1988). With the forming and storming stages development, our team gradually grew more mature and teamwork was achieved more effectively and efficiently. Team members now would follow team principles and behave for the best of the team. The stage of performing is the final stage which focused on task refreshing, implementing and completing. All teamwork combined to provide synergy for performance is delivered through people working effectively together (Tuckman, online). In this stage our team had many modifications towards task structure and manifestation. Thus team members can be allotted for new tasks or complete for others tasks as well. We had an accident in this stage which was finally settled imminent but no threatening to final team performance. Task of conclusion was assigned to complete by Student A which I emphasized many times in our discussion. He did not spell any disagreement before but didnt finish for this part until the deadline for task completion. Despite his irresponsibility, I also made a mistake that silence did not mean agreement. But it was urgent and no time to look into who was to be blamed, finally team leader took on the responsibility to finish this part by himself. Despite this little accident, process executions of our teamwork were quite smooth and efficient. Team members finished their tasks as scheduled and we worked together to point out each others mistakes and improve team performance in final presentation. Through the four stages of group development, I learnt that good communications and discipline are very important to make a team work more efficient and unity together more tightly. Besides, mutual respects, trusts and understanding are essential to achieve common goal. When people learn to appreciated and support each others efforts, individual is highly motivated and inspired to improve work efficiency. That is the charm of teamwork which I enjoy for the most. From this teamwork experience, I strongly feel the importance of teamwork and the amazement it may bring for quality task completion and goal achievement. It teaches me to coordinate with others and as an individual to put group interest in the first place. Maximizing individual strengths and minimizing weaknesses to achieve a teams common goal and harmonizing team members standpoints to some balance is the charm only teamwork can bring and make each individual have better play. Reference: Belbin.D.M, 2007. Belbin Team Role Theory. Online available at: http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=8 Belbin.D.M, 2007. Belbins Team Roles:How understanding team roles can improve team performance. Online available at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_83.htm Gersick CJG, 1988. Time and transition in work teams: Toward a new model of group development. Academy of management journal. Miller D.L., 2003. The Stages of Group Development: A Retrospective Study of Dynamic Team Processes. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Volume 20, Issue 2, pages 121-134. Scott D. Johnson et al, 2000. Team development and group processes of virtual learning teams. College of Education, University of Illinois. Tuckman BW, 1977. Stages of small group development revisited. Group and organizational studies. Tcukman, 2001. FAMOUS MODELS, Stages of Group Development. Online available at: http://www.chimaeraconsulting.com/tuckman.htm Tuckman Theory, Tuckmans Team Development Model, online available at: www.e3smallschools.org/download/TuckmansTeamDevelopmentModel.pdf West M, 1994. Effective Teamwork. The British Psychology Society.

France was ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte 1799-1815

During the French Revolution the years of 1799-1815, France was ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte. Although many people feel that Napoleon is one of dictatorship, the truth is he one for the country and did what he felt was in the best interest of France. Napoleon was a democratic leader for his country. By studying his role in education, the political aspects, and the social aspects of France, one can see he did good for the country although not everything was perfect, there is no perfect person or Utopia. Napoleon set out to make France the greatest nation of Europe, and education was one of the top priorities on his list. Since Napoleon believed in a system of merit not one of family hierarchy, he felt everyone needed to be educated. The government was getting numerous complaints regarding the lack of schools in many areas, lack of professionalism among the teachers, lack of discipline and attendance by students and, in a few areas, lack of religious education (Markham 5). The problem with religious education was partially resolved by the Concordat between Napoleon and the Pope. Religious elementary schools had opened but mostly for girls. Napoleon felt that girls and boys didn't need the same education. Girls needed domestic skills, which will be helpful once married. Although he did feel they needed to learn, numbers, writing, and the principles of their languages, as well as history, geography, physics and botany. Another part of education that was very significant to Napoleon was the idea of secondary education. He felt that boy's education should be separated into 2 parts; under age 12 and over age 12. The first 4 classes would include general topics, once finished with that they would have to choose between a civil career or a career in the military and the rest of their education would depend on that (Markham 5). To this day the Napoleonic educational system is still very popular in France. There has been some modification in the system such as, the separation of church and state was made complete. Now religion was not part of the public school's curriculum. The high schools know, as lycees are still there today and even plays more of an important role. Graduation from a lycee is good enough for most jobs. Napoleon also did good for the political system of France. He created a new constitution. It consisted of three consuls. The first consul assumed by Napoleon, but was voted in. Napoleon worked really hard to put France back together after the revolution. He allowed all types of political refugees back into France, and also appointed both radical republicans and royalist aristocrats to his government. (Hooker 2). While the most peerless act was to allow the Catholic church back into to France, The concordat with Pope Pius VII. While in rule he also created The Napoleonic Code. It was a complete revamp of the French law. It was based on 2 ideas: that all men are equal under the law (but not women) and all people have a right to property. The code stamped out all privileges from the law including tax laws. The code spelled out various contractual laws to ensure the inviolability of private property. (Hooker 3) Many people think that what Napoleon was doing was wrong, yet they voted him Napoleon I, Emperor of France in 1804. Napoleon also in all he did abolished feudalism, which was part of the Code. As was stated before Napoleon brought the Catholic Church back into France; Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII agreed that it was necessary for the peace of the country. Napoleon also created the Legion of Honor in 1802. It was Nobility but it was based on ability. At first not many people favored it, but by Napoleon's downfall everyone even the Republicans favored it. (Holtman 3) Napoleon also accounted for the improvement and better treatment of the Jews. He gave them the right to worship in private and in some cases allowed them to become full-fledged citizens. Napoleon also helped create a system of measurement for the whole country now used in many places the metric system. He also created the bank of France. It aided the unification of the country and made it easy for everyone. Before Napoleon came around marriages were only allowed through the church, he allowed marriages outside the church. The church never recognized divorces but Napoleon did. Which made life a lot easier for people in France. Napoleon might have wanted to have control over many lands, but most importantly he had improved the status of France from what it was after the Revolution to what it is now. He has helped shape present day France. His ideas with education, the government, and the social revolution he created were a huge part in history. He was a democratic leader in many different aspects.

Elie Saab Designer Analysis

ELIE SAAB Lebanese designer Elie Saab has long been a leading name in haute couture in the Middle East, where his romantic, crystal-encrusted gowns attracted princesses to his Beirut atelier, opened in 1982 when he was just 18 years old. His ready-to-wear line, which launched in 1998 in Milan, heralds the same feminine aesthetic as his couture dresses, with brightly colored silks, chiffons, pearl beading, and embroidered lace. With their Middle Eastern detailing and European sensibility, Saab gowns are also at home on the Hollywood red carpet.Halle Berry famously wore one of Saab’s designs to pick up her Academy Award for Monster Ball in 2002. Many other celebrities have been seen wearing his designs including Rachel McAdams, Mila Kunis, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Rihanna, and many more. Born in 1964 in Lebanon, Elie Saab is a self-taught fashion designer. His interest in dressmaking started at the young age of nine. Saab spent much of his free time cutting patterns and drawing sk etches for his sisters, using his mother’s tablecloths and curtains.The neighbors soon got wind of what he was up to, and by the time he was a teenager he already had a small network of loyal clients. Looking back, Saab says, â€Å"I was born with this passion of creating and making dresses and was always surrounded by beautiful women, from sisters to neighbors, so the desire to dress them and make them look elegant was my constant inspiration. † In 1981 he moved to Paris to study fashion, but ended up returning in 1982. That year, at just 18-years-old, Elie Saab opened his Couture Atelier in Beirut, managing over a dozen employees, he was already a master in the art of dressmaking. In 1997 Saab was the first nonItalian designer to become a member of the Italian Camera Nazionale della Moda, and in 1997, showed his first collection outside Lebanon in Rome. In 1998, he started ready-to-wear in Milan, and in the same year, he held a fashion show in Monaco which was attend ed by Princess Stephanie of Monaco. In May 2003, the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture invited him to become a member, and he showed his first haute couture collection in Paris in July of 2003.His first readyto-wear collection in Paris was the Spring/Summer 2006 collection, and Paris is now his permanent ready-to-wear runway. Beirut remains Saab’s main source of inspiration. In 2005, he inaugurated a modern fivestory building where the workshops are now located, along with his studio, ready-to-wear boutique and haute couture showroom. The atelier is where all of the haute couture gowns are made and pass through the hands of Elie Saab himself. Elie Saab’s target customer is certainly woman of status. All of his designs are hand made making them very expensive.He only has two shops carrying his haute couture lines. They are in Paris, France, and Beyrouth, Lebanon. His ready-to-wear lines on the other hand, can be found in multiple places in over 30 countries includin g the United States. Saab’s accessories are more like his haute couture gowns in that they are much harder to come by, they can only be found in Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, France and the United Kingdom. The most accessible item from Elie Saab would be his perfume, which can be found at Nordstrom, Saks, and Neiman Marcus stores across the country. Saab’s collections are glamorous and sophisticated, fusing a cultural myriad of fashion influences to give a distinctive and modern edge to his designs. His signature elements are definitely his very feminine, flowing gowns. He experiments with the central themes of femininity and romanticism, creating clothing that is cut-to-the-curve, with soft edges and exquisite detail including hand embroidery, beading and the use of luxurious fabrics such as mousseline and silk.He is scrupulous with his intricate detailing. A writer at Women’s Wear Daily stated, â€Å"He likes sexy, embroidered gowns. Period. Sequins†”the more the better. Flounces, fringes and everything that glimmers—give him more. † It is very true, if Saab’s designs aren’t dripping with sparkling embellishments they are meticulously embroidered. Saab creates fairytale designs whilst always maintaining a delicate sophistication. There is always some incredible detail on the dresses really displaying the designer’s talent.When Elie Saab was asked to dress Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy for her wedding to Luxembourg Crown Prince Guillaume it was no surprise for he has known the bride for eight years. The amount of effort he put into the dress was astounding and from Saab, one would expect nothing less. A writer from Women’s Wear Daily stated, â€Å"The dress required 3,200 hours of work and embroidery, and 700 hours of sewing by a team of 10 seamstresses and 15 embroiderers. De Lannoy’s wedding dress was embroidered with 200 transparent sequins, more than 80,000 different transparent crystals and 50,000 small beads.All that finery needed more than 10,000 meters of silver-plated thread, according to Saab. When all was said and done, the gown called for 50 meters of Chantilly lace, 40 meters of Calais lace, 30 meters of satin organza, 70 meters of 4 tulle, silk crepe for the lining, and 15 meters of silk tulle for the veil. † [1] Further proving his commitment to his work and his ability to create incredible designs to not only make any woman feel like a princess, but to actually fit a princess for her own wedding.Saab doesn’t do much to advertise his clothing. Besides runway shows he get’s all of his business from celebrities who already wear his designs and others who see the designs on those celebrities. Halle Berry accepting the oscar for â€Å"Best Actress in a Leading Role† wearing one of Saab’s designs made him an overnight success in the red carpet world. Since that day, it is nearly impossible to find a red ca rpet event without an Elie Saab design being worn. Taylor Swift is one of Saab’s most loyal customers.She has been spotted wearing his designs on multiple occasions on and off the red carpet. Elie Saab’s biggest competitors are Versace and Valentino. All three designers attract a similar clientele with their haute couture gowns. They have similar styles as well, all being very well versed in creating gowns that flatter a woman’s body and show a soft feminine side, but in my opinion Saab is the epitome of femininity. He just completely understands how to create a a breathtakingly beautiful and elegant design.Anyone celebrity wanting to impress on the red carpet with elegant beauty would know to go to Elie Saab. Personally, I have never seen an advertisement for Elie Saab designs but I am always blown away at his gowns on the red carpet. His knowledge of the female figure and how to flatter it is amazing. His gowns always cut in at exactly the right spot to make e very woman look beautiful. The market segment Saab is definitely missing out on is the middle class however. In a way, this doesn’t really matter because most of his designs, and the ones he is most famous for 5 re his haute couture gowns, which not many people other than celebrities or high-status socialites have a reason for wearing. One way I would remedy this divide however, would be by offering Saab’s bridal gown line in more wedding boutiques across the country. Although Saab’s wedding gowns start at around 10,000 dollars, many women are willing to spend huge amounts of money on their weddings, especially their dresses, so I think this would be a perfect way to reach a larger audience plus it would be great for more middle class women who still love and appreciate Saab’s gorgeous designs.Another way Elie Saab could reach the market he is missing out on would be to create a line similar to the Marc by Marc Jacobs. I more affordable line that could be carried in the same department store that already carry his perfume. With the way Saab has been able to expand his fashion empire in such a short amount of time, this more accessible line seems like the logical next step. There is no question that Elie Saab is an incredible fashion designer but he is also an incredible businessman.Today, the 46-year-old runs a truly global empire, with boutiques in Paris, London and Dubai. His clothes are on sale in 22 countries, and he has moved into bags, shoes and jewelry. But that is just the start: in recent years, Saab has expanded into designing the interior for the BMW X Series, worked with MAC Cosmetics and has also signed a deal to design three mega yachts. There is no question that his talents span far past just dress making. Elie Saab’s exquisite eye for detail, knowledge of how to flatter a woman’s figure and business savvy make for an incredible combination.The designer has already made such huge strides in the business in such a small amount of time, there is no question in my mind that Elie 6 Saab will continue to expand his fashion empire. There is really no limit for a man with the talent Saab possesses. 7 1. WWD Article Elie Saab Tapped for Royal Wedding By ROSEMARY FEITELBERG FROM: WWD Issue 10/25/2012 THE COUNTESS BRIDE: For Elie Saab, dressing Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy for her wedding Saturday to Luxembourg Crown Prince Guillaume was not an overnight occurrence — he has known the bride for eight years.The dress required 3,200 hours of work and embroidery, and 700 hours of sewing by a team of 10 seamstresses and 15 embroiderers. De Lannoy’s wedding dress was embroidered with 200 transparent sequins, more than 80,000 different transparent crystals and 50,000 small beads. All that finery needed more than 10,000 meters of silver-plated thread, according to Saab. When all was said and done, the gown called for 50 meters of Chantilly lace, 40 meters of Calais lace, 30 met ers of satin organza, 70 meters of tulle, silk crepe for the lining, and 15 meters of silk tulle for the veil. Saab said, â€Å"We met several times to discuss the design of her gown. At first, she explained to me what she had in mind and I came back with different sketches. She then selected one of them and we started working on it, choosing the different fabrics, color, and adapting the design. † The designer was with his own wife, Claudine, and one of their sons at Luxembourg’s Notre Dame Cathedral when the bride and groom exchanged their vows last weekend. 9

Swisher Mower - 1979 Words

Situation Audit Swisher Mower is a lawn and garden company that manufacturers lawn mowers in its plant in Warrensburg, Missouri. The company’s flagship product is the Ride King. In 1996, Swisher was approached by a national merchandise retailer offering to distribute Swisher’s standard mower under a private label. The retailer offered to distribute the product line, but included several stipulations that would change the Swisher’s distribution methods of its product. Sales within the industry are predominantly determined by changes within the economy. If the economy weakens, overall sales within the industry decrease. This cyclical effect can hinder or expand sales for a company, causing many companies to adjust their business strategies.†¦show more content†¦Wisher primarily distributes its mowers in farm supply stores and hardware stores located outside metropolitan areas. 75% of the company’s sales come from rural areas, while 30% of sales regenerated from who lesalers and 20% from dealer sales. Much of the company’s brand awareness comes from co-op advertising through all sources of media. Swisher’s target markets are the Midwest and Southeast, where the Ride King and their private label Big Mow are primarily distributed. The company focuses sales on consumers with over an acre of land, as well as farmers with several hundred acres. The Ride King has a distinct advantage over its competitors, since it is the only mower that has one front wheel that can turn the mower 360 degrees without shifting. As the economy improves, Swisher can take advantage of increasing sales by selling more of its mowers in large retailers. Its retail price would make it the cheapest product on the market. As other brands have distributed their mowers under private labels to the growing mass merchandisers, Swisher’s sales could be quickly depleted. In order for Swisher to fully compete, it must be able to gain market share on other private l abel brands. Many of its competitors have an advantage, because they use front engine mowers, while the Ride King does not. With other manufacturers selling their mowers in the same locations as Swisher, Swisher must create more brand awareness within urban areas by