嘉文博译-写作中心原创写作案例

Describe a situation in which the relationships you developed enhanced the outcome of team effort and create a positive impact on a group or organization. (Requirement: 2 pages max, double space - 500 words)

One of my key challenges came when I was leading a team of software developers. I knew that one of my team members was good at soccer so I assumed that he was a competitive person, much like myself. I therefore assigned him the hardest part of the project while simultaneously expressing my confidence in his ability to succeed. However, after two weeks, he had come up with nothing and I was worried. I decided to talk with him about the situation, and to my surprise, he told me that the project was not interesting to him and he could not motivate himself to complete the task. I took him out to lunch so that we could further discuss this problem. It turned out that he was bored with his task because he was not learning any new technology. A difficult challenge was not what motivated him - he wanted to learn new technology instead.

From this experience, I learned that "each person breathes different psychological oxygen". Although I grew up with the traditional Confucian philosophy "treat people like you would like to be treated", I realized that perhaps a better rule is "treat each person as he would like to be treated." To be a good manager, I knew that I had to find out what each person wanted from me. Of course they all adhered to certain standards of behavior and certain rules, but each had his or her own personality characteristics that needed to be addressed to help them achieve their full potential. Some wanted me to leave them alone while others felt slighted if I didn't check in with them everyday. Some liked public praise while others preferred a private word of thanks. I learned to ask them what they wanted - about their career goals and how would they like to be treated in the workplace. I could therefore use this information to focus on each person's strength and turn his or her talents into performance - thus maximizing the team effort and positively impacting the organization.

As another example, as a team leader, I held a meeting on the design of a project. One new person present was too shy to tell me that there was a flaw in the design, and soon after the project was released, we had to follow up with a "patch" to fix the problem. I learned that everyone must be a contributor, and that it is my job to be a facilitator with an open mind to everyone's ideas. From that time on, I have tried to always find the time to talk to each member of the team to get his or her individual feedback. I remind the group (and myself) that I am a facilitator, not a dictator, and that they have unique expertise and experiences to contribute. Brainstorming is an important key to success, and it is my job to enhance that team effort by stimulating and then implementing those ideas that will allow us to succeed.