When people with different abilities come together to accomplish a particular task or obtain a set goal, that is called teamwork. Like any other activity, teamwork has its own strengths and challenges, these challenges are explored well in project runway season eight episode five. The series, project runway season eight episode five displays more of teamwork and also the challenges that come with it. This episode is all about two groups of designers given the task of creating a six-piece collection for a fall 2010 line, these groups are different since one is made up of brilliant designers who are former winners and the other team is made up of losers. They face a couple of challenges to accomplish this particular task and that is our main interest.
The success of any team always depends on some factors, including the organization of the group, cohesiveness when tackling problems, maximum use of each and every one's best abilities, good decision making, how conflict is managed amongst team members and coordination of the group activities and even its members and performance feedback(WEST, M.A 2012).
In episode five of season eight, two teams compete. The first team, team luxe, consists of Michael .C, Gretchen, Christophe Any, A.J and Ivy and team two, consisted of April, Mondo, Peach, Valerie, Michael .D and Casanova. Gretchen named the Team, Luxe, so as to show off luxurious .so two teams one of the luxurious and the under-dog competing to make the best six-piece collection.
Peach who is a member of team 2, who are considered the underdogs, points out the essence of teamwork? While everyone in the group wanted to create their own looks, instead of creating six different looks, He suggested that they should have a similar design for the entire group as having different designs would lead to them working individually. In the group everyone was scared of taking up the leadership role, Peach saw the need of the group working together in a coordinated way so that they can beat their rivals.
Peach recognizes that no one in the group wants to step up for the leadership roles. While recognizing this she is not also not ready to become the leader of the group. Leadership is also one of the factors that contribute to the success of a group hence this was important for her group. Looking at some successful teams, they always have good leaders who also act as a good symbol of representation and coordinating the group operations.
They choose the military and lace style and goes with it to the top, at the final stage which was the presentation Casanova who was under pressure, pulls up himself together after a meltdown that gave them a good result making them the winners. This was the team process, other members understood what Casanova was going through and gave him a chance to take a break. Casanova displays a good attitude of never giving up despite frequent critiques from judges and Tim Gunn that he saw nothing good in him, he never gave up till the end, which was a good one thanks to the support of other team members. The individual sacrifice of team members always give good result and I think each and every member should be able to take necessary sacrifice for the team.
On the other hand team, one who considered themselves the luxurious designers chose to design the concept of "menswear for women" in the textile of a camel(series project runway 2004-2011). Gretchen who saw herself as the best immediately took the leadership role and even goes ahead to give the team its name which is a good thing. Michael .C who is bitter about the last challenge which does not go along with other team members, this is a challenge to the group if they are not able to work together. They boast of how good their work is even before the presentation kicks off. Most teams work with a mentality of winning at the end, but not boasting of how good their work is good. This is not healthy toward the success of a team.
Michael .C who brings forward his failure from the previous challenge instead of seeking for feedback and working on what went wrong, he does not show the role of teamwork. Holding to the past too much may lead one to prejudge your work and loss of confidence leading to failure of a team. Lack of teamwork is evident in this team from the start as April declares at the start of the challenge that Michael Costello of is such a dumb ass. Michael .C and A.J are the slow ones in their group and this brings about frustration, making them hire more members who end up overworking themselves. Gretchen who is one of the best designers could have used her abilities to lift the group instead she is all about herself. When people work as a team it is important that one uses his abilities to left others and at the same time bringing about a successful team. Conflict in team luxe is evident as most of the members don’t get along and the self-declared team leader cannot towards solving that to ensure smooth operation of the group. Conflict may result from many things including divided goals where each member has his personal goals within the team.
Conclusion
Challenges are always taken to be drawbacks but in a real sense, these challenges are the motivation to success the more you overcome them the more you work hard. How a team overcomes an obstacle is a key factor to their success.
Reference
Chi Chester, British Psychological Society, and John Wiley " Sons. http://cmich.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://lib.myilibrary.com/detail.asp?ID=342646
Project Runway season 8. Retrieved from(2004-2011); //www.dailymotion.com/video/x4wwi5d
WEST, M. A. (2012). Effective teamwork, practical lessons from organizational research. Malden, BPS Blackwell.
