Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Techpoint Software Inc. is a company that specializes in software development for mobile applications. Most of its staff comprises of software engineers and programmers. The company typically has intense activities that run for extended periods of time (Benderson, 2010). Staff members and interns usually work long into the evening, and they report very early before the official time. Furthermore, workers report for work on weekends to catch up on pending tasks and also to bond with one another. One fact, however, was that these extra activities were voluntary.
Hard work or the appearance of it appeared to have a considerable importance within the company. For, the junior members, in particular, it was necessary to work during these extra hours. Jay Robinson, one of the employees, was facing a hard time when he wanted to recommend me for a promotion. He considered me as one of the sharpest engineers he had worked with in the company. I had managed to create a software application that could enable users to stream local television content on their phones. One fact to keep in mind was that I did this job as an extra project. The application was very impressive and earned the admiration of Jay.
One of my greatest work policies is always to establish a good rapport with my fellow workmates. For this reason, my teammates highly liked me due to my sociability and friendliness. However, one major misgiving that I never seemed to notice was that I was a latecomer. Furthermore, I did not work in the late evenings, and neither did I arrive for the early morning work. Additionally, I never volunteered to report on the weekends. One weekend, I missed an imperative cleanup exercise. The event was a once-a-year activity whereby all team members came in and cleaned up online and paper files, scanning documents that needed to get saved and erasing or shredding those that required deletion.
My teammates noticed this fact and tried to confront me in a subtle manner. I remember Alison telling me how she missed me at the cleanup exercise. This was a veiled accusation for not attending the activity, but I did not notice. I congratulated them for the good work and told her how fun it must have been. The reason for this confrontation was that the event served as a bonding experience, and all the junior teamers were expected to attend. Jay then meditates and notices that I am quite new to the organization and not yet well acquainted with the work culture of the institution. Moreover, I was the only member who had not been an intern at Techpoint before getting a job. Cahill also mentioned at one time that he had no idea of who I was.
During the summer internship project, Allison, Juan and Mirabel learned the strings of the institution. They bonded and learned how to work as a team. Alison, being the team leader learned not only how to divide work with Juan and Mirabel, but also how best to interact with the Techpoint managers. At one time a joint project came up. This project required getting undertaken by a team of junior workers at Techpoint. I joined Alison's team, and we immediately began discussions on the way forward. The project entailed the creation of educational software. This software would serve to teach young children and would have interactive features for both parents and the students.
However, my opinions got rejected by the rest of the team. The team felt my ideas slowly leaned on my expertise with programming and did not take other's views into consideration. This was the moment when I understood what Alison meant when she said she missed me at the cleanup. I immediately got a feeling that they were just rejecting my views based on my lack of participation in group activities and extra hours. Jay has become concerned whether the organization will grant me the promotion based on my behavior and how my teammates see me.
Trust issues
My teammates do not seem to trust me even though I never did anything that would appear to render me untrustworthy. They view me as an individual who preferred to work by himself rather than working as a team member. The reason for this perception was that I never participate in overtime activities. Never have I attended the early morning sessions, I never appear on the weekends, and the same applies to the evening sessions. Most importantly, my failure to turn up for the annual cleanup aggravated them more. My actions gave them a notion that I might not be a cooperative fellow.
Credibility issues
In my opinion, I am a person with high credibility and integrity. I diligently undertake my tasks and maintain a high level of professionalism in whatever I do. However, my teammates consider me as a person with low levels of credibility. They think I am not caring because I failed to participate in group activities. My lateness seems to give them a feeling that I am incompetent and lazy. They also think I am an arrogant person who does not care about the opinions of others. In the group discussion, they told me point blank that I base my views on my expertise and not the collective views of others.
Accuracy of perceptions
Their perceptions about me are inaccurate for some reasons. First, I am a new worker. I have not yet learned all the ropes regarding the work ethic of the organization. The team places a high emphasis on the cooperation of members and strong bonding. Though I am a highly cooperative person, I felt that I did not have to attend those extra activities for personal reasons. I had other parallel programs of my own. During my free time, I love to do minor programming projects of mine. Sometimes I undertake freelance programming tasks.
Furthermore, I never attended the summer internship program where new interns get rigorously trained. Juan, Alison, and Mirabel participated in the program and they had also been in the company long enough to master all the strings and policies. Second, the extra activities were voluntary, meaning that it was not a crime to fail to attend. Therefore, my failure to attend does not say that I am arrogant or not caring. I am just exercising my freedom of choice. Third, I give my opinions based on what I know, and I never insist that anyone adopts or accepts it.
Keeping agreements and breaking trust
I do not believe that I did anything that would make me untrustworthy. I kept all my agreements according to the employee policy of the company. I deliver quality work and even undertook extra programming tasks.
Establishing credibility
The following are the steps I would take to enhance my credibility within the institution.
Show concern- Whenever any of my fellow workers has a problem, I would always strive to listen to them. It is through this act that they would be able to assist me in times of need. The process also enhances bonding among teammates. My failure to attend bonding exercises isolated me from other workers.
Pay attention to perceptions- I have learned that it is imperative to consider how others view you. If team members have a negative image of you, they will not cooperate with you or even want to work with you at all.
I will also evaluate criticism and objection and try to understand accusers. I will also look into areas I can improve or the accusations to ignore.
References
Benderson, A. (2010). Critical thinking: Critical issues. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
