Question

Please reply to each of the discussion posts in your own words:

Discussion 1

Yes I do believe this because I have been a part of scenarios related to this in my workplace. We all have one goal as a team and that is to accomplish our tasks and do it efficiently and quickly. Our boss always says “how can we do more with less.” The biggest part of achieving this is by having trust and cooperation within the whole team. If you don’t have faith or trust in one of the team members, then it creates a negative environment to work in. We as a team have to cooperate together to make these goals happen and by having the trust in each other to complete their part of the work is when we see a successful result.

Our company has recently started a new quality program where the person who has the highest score receives a paid day off and they are recognized companywide through a mass email. Obviously everyone wants to win and achieve this goal which creates an environment of competition. When it gets closer to the end of the month, you can feel and see the trust within colleagues get a little thin. People start doing things on their own and try to reach higher scores without working with other teammates. Competition is bound to be in any type of job and that is something that needs to be worked on to provide everyone some type of reward or recognition so trust or cooperation within a team isn’t ruined.

I think that if employees are competing against each other it creates a higher success for the company itself. When you put a reward on the line, everyone is going to work harder to achieve that goal which in the end provides better results for your company. It’s proven by the numbers that towards the end of the month, everyone’s productivity and call scores skyrocket because they want to win the reward.

I feel that working with a team brings out the most success in me because I enjoy all coming together to achieve one big goal. I find it better that we all reach the same goal together and it shows us as a person how we can work together. Unfortunately, we get a nice reward if we win the top score for each month so my competition takes over. I don’t like being competitive because I think it sometimes may bring out the worst in people but I also need that extra time off so I am obviously going to work harder.

Discussion 2

I do believe that positive communication comes from a high level of trust and cooperation. Trust and cooperation are given when both parties have trust in those they often deal with. The higher the trust and cooperation, the more people are willing to let their guard down and openly communicate, creating an overall positive communication experience that is honest and insightful.

In a competitive culture, trust and cooperation begin to disappear as the competitive side of people comes out. Everyone wants to be recognized, be promoted to a better title and receive better pay for the job they do. While this can be done, most people feel the need to betray the trust of others in order to further themselves. Cooperation begins to become less and employees become frustrated, leaving them less willing to cooperate with each other. In the end, this only creates a toxic working environment for all involved.

I don't believe so. An organization can maintain their competitive rivalry only for so long. When employees are competing within an organization, this may bring about some great ideas for organizational change but it also brings out low morale and decreases productivity. I think if employees are too busy competing between themselves and there is a lack of trust and cooperation because of it, it is only a matter of time before the negative internal environment reflects the overall organization.

I find myself to be a combination of both. I am not one without the other. I believe I am highly competitive in regards to wanting to advance myself and my career, wanting to be the best and what I do, and wanting others to look to me for guidance because they value my opinion. With my competitive attitude comes cooperation on both my end and of those I work with. I have to be cooperative in understanding the process of how things work and how to work with others in order to achieve the best outcome. My performance is high because I am competitive where I want to be the best but I also cooperate with others to get the job done with the best outcome possible. Sometimes this means letting others take the lead in places where I know they strongly specialize and I may lack experience or understanding. I think having a combination of both competition and cooperation makes for the most successful outcome if those involved are willing to put in the effort to utilize both of these factors.

Answer 1

Discussion 1

Working together in a team is far more reaching then working alone. The Goal of an individual when align to the goal of an organization results in achievement of Organization’s Goal along with team success. A team needs to be cooperated and coordinated towards the same. To motivate the employees and each team member, leader provides the motivation in terms of recognition and rewards. This create a sense of competition among the members. To maintain the competition positive impact and increase productivity, for a team incentive must be for the whole team effort rather for an individual goal, else, this will break the team cooperation and bond. In this case, if the target is achieved well in time and as expected, team paid day off should be granted and individual performance can be analysis separately for annual appraisal so that none feel bad at this point of time.

Discussion 2

Organization focus on culture of open communication and coordination among the employees so that everyone is free to present their views and ideas, and all can work in cooperation. Mistakes are admitted openly, and solution is provided in return which maintains the high level of productivity and positive environment. But due to internal competition among employees either for promotion or recognition, people are afraid to share their knowledge so that other would be promoted in place of them. This will spoil the organization’s culture. The organization that face the competition within the internal environment may lack behind to face the competition outside. As the employees must work as a team together to face and compete the other organizations rather than competing themselves. We should be ready to provide the opinions and assistance to our colleagues and ultimately you would be recognized by your nature of cooperation and good deeds.