Pre-Reading Activity

Pre-Reading Activities

Activity 1

The success of our group depends greatly on how well we work as a team.First I suggest that you introduce yourself informally to the group. How do you see yourself? Write a brief profile of yourself (approximately 6 or 7 lines), outlining your personal qualities and highlighting any strengths and weaknesses you feel you have. Use the list of personal qualities to help you. With your assistance the list will be expanded.

If you want you can fill out a self-analysis questionaire, which can help you to look deeper into yourself.

Activity 2

It is now a recognised fact that one of the skills involved in running successfully a business is how you manage people. According to experts in this area, getting the best out of the people who you work with depends totally on managers having the right relationship with the people and those people in turn having a healthy attitude to their jobs and to themselves. This is why one of the most important functions of a manager is to build a team which will perform effectively and contribute to the success of a business. Imagine that you are faced with the task of building a team. Answer the following questions:

1. Is there such a thing as an ideal team?
2. What obstacles and problems do you expect and how are you going to deal with them?
3. What sort of problems emerge when a team is formed of people of mixed nationalities?
4. Is there room in a team for the complete maverick?
5. Are there ways of training managers in this respect?

Mail your answers to the class-mail list.