Team Simulation Reflection

The team simulation exercise allowed the team to practice our collaboration skills and emotional intelligence. During the past two days, I have had the opportunity to learn a great deal about myself as a leader and team member and observe others’ behaviors and how they influence the team’s dynamic and effectiveness. As a result, there were many lessons gained that helped to guide the learning environment.
To begin, I exhibited what is categorized as self-limiting behavior during the first day due to my lack of comfort with the simulation exercise and my lack of familiarity with marketing. As each round occurred, I became more comfortable with the material and understood the group's end goal more clearly. This comfort elicited my quantitative, facilitator and encourager skills to emerge. I leveraged it to provide …show more content…
I utilized the data provided on the dashboard to identify marketing and pricing trends to provide a bigger picture to my team. However, without the full context from other divisions it was difficult to know how to translate the analysis. Despite my attempts at a thorough data review, there were several times where lack of information prevented me from being fully immersed in the conversations. I did my best to stay engaged by asking clarifying questions and relying on the expertise and strength of my team members to conduct due diligence. This often resulted in our team showing mild signs of the Abilene Paradox by going along with the findings or course of action from a member.
My level of engagement was easier to maintain since our team abided by the optimal group size of five to six people. The small team size and simulation exercise allowed me to practice both my listening skills and patience as I participated and watched how others approach their responses. The intimate nature of the team reflected positively in other team member’s