Ans 1: Nikki Brush, a Design and Development Manager at Holden Outerwear, is indisputably a part of a team. The establishment founder, Mr. LeBlanc’s declaration about the importance of team work and his concept of being together confirms the working style of its employees. Brush differentiates the two aspects of how people in a group work together but do not have a common motive. Whereas in a team each member instills trust in their counterparts and they all work together towards a common purpose. As stated by Elearn (2008), in a team, collaboration is more important than any one individual’s skills.
Ans 2: Nikki Brush describes her first experience as a freelance designer as completely monotonous. Each member was assigned a work which was to be done irrespective of the total outcome. Acquiring new skills was a challenge and nobody would take the responsibility of the project. As a full-time employee at Holden, Brush underwent a career altering experience. Each team member had to take responsibility of the project and work together to achieve a common objective. Independent working concept was replaced with team concept that emphasized on a practical, inspirational and productive approach. Brush pays great attention to every design aspect and actively participates in setting the course of targets for the company.
Ans 3: Advantages of teamwork at Holden are better than its disadvantages, as the designers get to work together and suggest their views to have enhanced designs. The constant increasing workforce, individual maintaining of projects becomes unviable and teamwork gets down the burden. The possible disadvantage of teams mostly comes in upholding the trade secrets within the members, and maintaining equal work to all members is a challenge. These hitches can be managed by setting individual goals and offering rewards. Trust is the central core of any team and measures should be taken to inculcate this attribute in each team member.
References
ELearn, Elearn Limited (Great Britain), (2008), Leading Teams: Management Extra, illustrated,
revised, Elsevier.