Analysis of Is Google Making Us Stupid by Nicholas G Carr Essay

Analysis of Is Google Making Us Stupid by Nicholas G Carr - Essay Example AI is nothing more than the collective compilation of human knowledge accumulated over bodies of knowledge previously learned.people with very high I.Q.s may think so (from whence such comments may come), they missed to consider the fact that a person with the highest I.Q. still cannot match the speed by which a computer makes calculations and even decisions on the most complex matters. In Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, quoted by Carr in this essay, â€Å"Is Google Making Us Stupid?,† Dr David Bowman’s and Dr Frank Pooles mission aboard the American spaceship Discovery One bound for Jupiter experienced trouble with their supercomputer HAL (an acronym for Heuristic Algorithm). After surviving several attempts to shut him out of the spaceship, Bowman coldly disconnected HAL’s circuits after it nearly sent him to a deep-space death after a malfunction. Whatever human qualities it has subsumed, machines are still made by men. Bowman’s attachment to this machine was a product of science which allowed the machine to possess a seeming human quality. If a man does succeed to make a replica of himself and enhance this subsumation to make the machine assume fine human qualities, there exists an ethical issue. If that machine, as most people and Carr fear, dominates over man, there is a question where to set the limits of manâ€℠¢s reliance on artificial intelligence must end. In the end, that machine still has no soul. It is still a machine unless you can manufacture the soul and add it to that contraption. The author’s personal experience using Google, with so many features on the fly, was enjoyable saved for unavoidable ungrammatical chat language (jejemon). It has shaped language so that it is deliverable in short quips as in telegrams cutting across language barriers, with its ultimate aim, among other things that the information technology may bring.  

Employee Motivation At Utiliscan. Utiliscan case analysis Essay

Employee Motivation At Utiliscan. Utiliscan case analysis - Essay Example As the paper describes the situation at Utiliscan, it also provides motivation strategies and the motivational plan for the company. Introduction Considering the fact that the company has a tight financial constrictions, Paul should have focused on the problems that are experienced within the company and in the workplace environment. Lack of trainings among the employees would necessarily mean that there will be no improvement in the workforce, according to the eighty-nine percent, that would at the end, hinder promotions. These are some of the factors that would lessen the motivation of the employees with their work. Another thing that needs to be given proper attention is on the part of the competitive employees whose working so hard and efficiently but not given the proper and deserving salaries. It is the relationship of the salaries versus the performance which can demoralize employees who is performing well in their jobs but the payment is not according to the seventy-four perc ent of the survey. Strict supervision among the workplace in the company is also a problem that needs to be addresses as it has being manifested in the seventy-eight percent of the employees. Favoritism among the employees are also regarded as not good on the part of the company and benefits should be equally regarded and must also looked upon well according to fifty-four percent of the survey held by Paul. One of the main problems that needs to be given due course is the safety of the employees according to the forty-five percent of the survey result among the employees. These employees claim that they felt not being safe and satisfied with the health conditions in the workplace. Not being safe on the part of the employees or danger in the workplace would definitely be an accountability of the company. The best way to do business on the part of the company is to keep their employees safe from harm and danger. Without the satisfaction on the part of the employees with regard to thei r health would hold back or obstruct employee’s performance that would hinder them submitting their best in the company. Motivation Strategies One of the main jobs of a manager specifically in the workplace is to assure that things concerning the company must be done through the employees and to be able to attain this, managers are responsible to motivate the employees to get things done. In spite of the big number of research that was done inline with motivation of the employees with their work, the subject is still absurd or not clearly understood and in the process poorly practiced. Motivation, to be able to understand, must deal on the understanding of the human nature and there where the problems were usually manifested. The reality about the human nature lies on the fact that it can be very simple and up the same time can be very complex too. Learning the appreciation and understanding of the human nature is considered as a prerequisite to effectively motivate the workf orce in the workplace and in achieving this, vial requirement on the part of the company is to have an effective management and leadership (ACCEL team development, 2011). There are several motivational strategies that the managers could be considered in dealing with the problems in the company and the managers must necessarily be aware of the advantages as well as the disadvantages of each. It is relevant on the part of the manager how to effectively motivate the workers in the workforce to be efficient. How does the effectiveness would vary from certain situations to another? 1. Team work. Most of the managers are forming work groups to lower the level on the peer pressure. This is found to be an effective means of motivation 2.

Religion Essays Cesar Chavez and His Movement

Religion Essays Cesar Chavez and His Movement Cesar Chavez and His Movement: The Religious Perspective Introduction At first, I didn’t know much about Cesar Chavez and his cause to help farmers. As I started reading several of his speeches, I discovered a common ground. During most of his speeches and strikes, Cesar frequently made references to the teachings of the Catholic Church. My research relates to why Chavez promoted his Catholic faith in his speeches, and what type of impact did it have on the migrant farm workers and the Catholic Church. Cesar Chavez and His Motivation for Justice Cesar Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, in Yuma Arizona. His family lived in a small farm that was granted down to the family by his grandfather.1 Trying to survive the Great Depression, the family had to migrate because they were unable to pay their property taxes. â€Å"The loss of land planted the seed of rebelliousness that would one day grow into Cesar Chavez’s willingness to protest against injustice to farm workers.†2 However, the main resentment occurred during school. Born speaking the Spanish language, the school reminded him he was an outsider: In class one of my biggest problems was the language. Of course, we bitterly resented not being able to speak Spanish, but they insisted that we had to learn English. They said that if we were American, then Villarreal 2 we should speak the language, and if we wanted to speak Spanish, we should go back to Mexico. When we spoke Spanish, the teacher swooped down on us. I remember the ruler whistling through the air as its edge came down sharply across my knuckles. It really hurt. Even out in the playground, speaking Spanish brought punishment.3 This type of treatment was the typical to Mexican-American immigrants and migrants. From a personal standpoint, my grandmother would tell me similar stories of how she was ridiculed by the teachers and the students when she emigrated from Mexico to the United States during the 1930s. Like Cesar Chavez, my grandmother never received a formal education. Her large family couldn’t afford sending everyone to school. There wasn’t enough money, and she was forced to drop out of school in order to help maintain the house along with her sisters while her brothers were out working in the cotton fields. This form of â€Å"Americanization† to speak English was forced upon many foreigners. For Chavez, however, this treatment didn’t just stay in the schools; it followed him everywhere he went as he remembers being forced to sit in segregated sections in movie theaters and being denied service in restaurants.4 All these experiences, from racial discrimination Villarreal 3 to the harsh migrant life, would later be the planting seeds to build a union dedicated to eliminating those injustices. The American Catholic Church was not too optimistic about Mexican-Americans either. The Catholic Church and the culture of Mexican Americans are very different. In Jay Dolan’s book, Mexican Americans and the Catholic Church: 1900-1965, â€Å"Hispanics bring to the Catholic Church spiritual and communal traditions which are very different from those of other Catholics whose origins lie in Anglo-Saxon and Eastern European cultures. The challenges presented to the United States Church by the large numbers of Hispanics will be formidable.†5 Mexican Americans has been criticized for their â€Å"faith expressions† that did not always reflect official American Catholic Church teachings and regulations.6 However, this was not the case with the entire Catholic Church. When Chavez moved to San Jose, California in 1952, he met a Roman Catholic priest who would dramatically impact his life.7 Father Donald McDonnell became acquainted with Chavez, and later began teaching Chavez about social justice and labor movements among farm workers. McDonnell introduced encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII that outlined the church’s support for workers who protests against injustices. These new ideas shared with Chavez sparked the development of his own personal Villarreal 4 philosophy that would inspire him to develop his own crusade to help farm workers.8 The Philosophy behind Cesar Chavez Chavez’s intellectual and moral basis for organizing farm workers came from not only from Father McDonnell but from studying a variety of subjects who were great leaders in history. However, he was particularly influenced by Mohandas Gandhi. It was through Gandhi that Chavez was inspired to introduce his own philosophy of nonviolence.9 After gaining vital experience from working as an organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO), Chavez decided to move to Delano, California in 1962 to start his own union devoted to farm workers. His first step in organizing was to learn the physical makeup of Delano and get acquainted with the farmers. Then, he mapped out towns between Arvin and Stockton and visited each one of them over the course of six months. When he saw workers in the fields, he approached them to see if they were interested in joining a union. In 1962, Chavez convinced enough farmers to form a union known as the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). The group would change its name several times, finally settling on the United Farm Workers (UFW).10 However, it was not an easy task forming an organization. In 1965, he delivered a speech at a meeting of the California Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Fresno talking about how difficult it was to establish the NFWA. He spoke about the importance of the number of people in the union and the importance of outside help.11 Chavez found it useful to promote his newly established union to a nonviolent committee such as the SNCC to prove to the nation that this farmers union was a nonviolent one. However, nonviolence tactics did not attract all the support he needed, especially when the opposition resulted in violence. In 1966, two thousand Filipino farmers of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) protested over receiving lower salaries than braceros. Braceros are temporary workers from Mexico that are recruited by the grower industries. Larry Itiong, the head of the AWOC asked Chavez and the UFW to strike against grape growers. Chavez agreed to strike but the moment they began to hit the picket lines, the growers fired guns at the strikers. Chavez recalled: â€Å"in a period of seven days we had fourteen incidents where they actually fired a gun at the strikers.† 12 Chavez quickly realized the importance of outside help after the grape strike. Chavez thought that the strike would be only against the growers but he was wrong. He later recalled: Within twenty-four hours from the movement that we had hit the picket lines, the City Council had passed a resolution condemning the Red ties. The High School Board and the Elementary School Board had done the same thing. And the Chamber of Commerce did it also with the exception that their statement was a lot more wordy. And three days later when everything seemed to be against us the Church had not yet acted†¦At that point we were cut off completely. We had no friends in Delano except for the workers. We had no money†¦Things looked very bad for us.13 Using Religion Chavez knew that if he wanted to rebound from this negativity, he would need support from the Catholic Church. Since most of his UFW was composed of Mexican Catholics, the blessings of the Church would legitimize the union and unite their followers.14 However, the Catholic Church was not really helping his cause at first, but he was getting help from the California Migrant Ministry (CMM). At first Cesar was suspicious of the CMM because they were Protestant, but he later admired them for their help and condemned the Catholic Church for not helping his cause for justice. In his speech â€Å"The Mexican American and the Church,† he thanks the entirety of the Church, not the Catholic Church, for the help with the Delano grape strike. At about that same time, we began to run into the California Migrant Ministry in the camps and field. They were about the only ones there, and a lot of us were very suspicious, since we were Catholics and they were Protestants. However, they had developed a very clear conception of the Church. It was called to serve, to be at the mercy of the poor, and not to try to use them. After a while this made a lot of sense to us, and we began to find ourselves working side by side with them. In fact, it forced us to raise the question why our Church was not doing the same.15 It became obvious that the Protestant groups were deeply involved with Chavez and his cause. Chavez and the farm workers wanted the church to walk with them in their struggle for justice. Chavez wanted the Catholic Church to serve the farmers because their cause for justice was legitimate: What do we want the Church to do? We don’t ask for more cathedrals. We don’t ask for bigger churches or fine gifts. We ask for its presence with us, beside us, as Christ among us. We ask the Church to sacrifice with the people for social change, for justice, and for love of brother. We don’t’ ask for words. We ask for deeds. We don’t ask for paternalism. We ask for servanthood.16 This was a good strategy for Chavez since it placed the Catholic Church in a position that if they don’t help the farmers, the Church would risk getting criticized for helping the oppressors of the farmers. He finally got the help he was looking for. In 1966, Chavez planned to enter the DiGiorgio grape property in order to retrieve personal belongings left at the camp by the farmers. Chavez â€Å"wanted to have either Father Victor Salandini, a Catholic priest, or Chris Hartmire [an ordained minister] go into the camp as witnesses.†17 However, the priests were promptly arrested when they entered the property, but were later released. The result of the priests being arrested sparked a unity between the Catholic Church and the Mexican American cause to stop injustices. In 1968, the U.S. Catholic bishops addressed the need for the Catholic Church to assist in reconciliation between the growers and the farmers. â€Å"In addition, the bishops recognized the legitimacy of the workers’ demand for legislative protection for their right to organize for the purpose of collective-bargaining contracts†¦Finally, the U.S. bishops Villarreal 9 affirmed the moral teaching of the church with regard to the right of workers to organize and strike.†18 Chavez reaching out to the Catholic Church and the Catholic Church responding, portrayed to the nation that the farmer’s cause was a religious and moral movement to end injustice. The religious imagery, in turn, united the farmers and it’s followers. Conclusion Cesar Chavez and his religious perspective helped unite people to fight for the farmers. By being acquainted with the writings of Pope Leo XIII, Chavez understood the impact religion can have when fighting for injustices. The Catholic Church preaches good morals and ethics, so Chavez was able to relate his cause to the teachings of the Church. The religious ties brought respect to the organization especially among Hispanics. The majority of Hispanics are very religious people. I know this because I’ve lived in a Hispanic environment all my life. My mother and father are Hispanics and religious faith plays a big role in our lives. In fact, I’ve seen a lot of Hispanics go to the extreme of tattooing the crucifix or the Virgin Mary on their bodies to show their religious faith to the public. It’s the homespun religion we obtain from our elders that keeps the Mexican-American and Catholicism united. Chavez knew the relationships between Mexican Catholics and the Church, so he successfully united his followers by using religious imagery. Dalton, Frederick John. The Moral Vision of Cesar E. Chavez. New York: Orbis Books, 2003. Dolan, Jay. Mexican Americans and the Catholic Church. University of Notre Dame Press, 1994. Hammerback, John C., and Richard J. Jensen. The Rhetorical Career of Cesar Chavez. College Station: Texas AM Press, 1998. Ingram, Catherine. â€Å"Cesar Chavez.† In In the Footsteps of Gandhi: Conversations with Spiritual Social Activists, 98-121. Berkeley, Calif.: Parallaz Press, 1990. Levy, Jacques E. Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa. New York: W.W. Norton Company, 1975. Meister, Dick, and Anne Loftis. A long Time Coming: The Struggle to Unionize America’s Farm Workers. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1977. Mosqueda, Lawrence J. Chicanos, Catholicism and Political Ideology. Lanham, MD.: University of Press of America, 1996.

Identifying Heroes: The Godfather and Pulp Fiction Essay -- essays res

Identifying Heroes: The Godfather and Pulp Fiction The form of Classical Hollywood films is, first and foremost, invisible. In a Classical Hollywood film, the narrative is foremost, and style serves the narrative. Camera angles, lighting and editing patterns such as the shot/reverse-shot pattern aim to give us the best possible perspective on the unfolding events(1). These events are arranged in a strongly causality-oriented linear narrative, with one event causing the next. This narrative is arranged around a central, active protagonist, whose decisions and actions are the key to the pattern of cause and effect that drives the story(2). This pattern seems so logical, so natural, that the audience of the classical Hollywood film is supposed to feel that they are receiving the material without the mediating intervention of the filmmaker. The link between heroes and the spectator under this model is therefore one of relatively unproblematic identification. Even films that featured anti-social heroes, such as the thirties gangster genre , modified the pattern only through imposing the strongly moral, tragic sequence of rise and fall; the audience's identification remained firmly with the central protagonist(3). Such a situation, under these assumptions, puts the audience in an apparently perverse situation, and it is therefore hardly surprising that the infamous Hays code of the thirties moved to ensure that "the sympathy of the audience shall never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin(4)." The assumption of audience identity with the hero was never unproblematic, and of course the classical Hollywood model of filmmaking partially outlined above never existed entirely without challenge. Nevertheless, it is clear that up to the fifties the classical Hollywood model was relatively applicable and that challenges to it were largely ineffective. However, beyond the fifties, the model became increasingly irrelevant. The reasons for the downfall of the classical paradigm are complex, and related to economic changes within the industry (the forced dismantling of the vertically integrated studio system that placed production, distribution and exhibition roles under the one organisation) as well as wider cultural shifts that occurred during the sixties (the widespread social upheaval and increasing prominence of counter-cultural challenges ... ...he coffee shop scene around the body of the film isolates one couple at the exact moment they make the wrong choice. The cleverness of Tarantino's approach is in isolating the artificiality of his heroes' persona, and using that as an approach with which to undermine the audience's admiration of that hero. Just as Coppola's attempts to alienate the viewer from Michael Corleone were only partially successful, so Tarantino's approach is flawed: Tarantino was accused of glorifying his criminal heroes, and audiences do still see Vincent Vega as a modern day Fonze, the embodiment of coolness. A subtext is still, after all, a subtext, and not everybody can be in the ironic audience. Perhaps, though, the real reason that both Coppola and Tarantino still have problems in avoiding the audience identification with their heroes is the astonishing persuasiveness of classical Hollywood forms. The learned patterns of classical Hollywood narratives and the associated identification with a strong central protagonist are likely to take over if given even the slightest chance. This is the price Coppola and Tarantino must pay if they wish to harness this form of filmmaking for commercial advantage.

Audience analysis Essay

1. Identify several controversial issues debated in your workplace, community or on campus. -The issue of the legitimacy of homosexual marriage is certainly on people’s minds.   It relates to questions of personal liberty and civic requirements imposed by the state, the right to choose, as well as fundamental issues related to marriage as an institution. -Universal health insurance is talked about and people are pretty strong divided about whether it would work and even be effective. -Whether we’re in a depression is argued pretty strongly, a lot of people don’t think that this is a problem because they talk about cycles and just about being on the wrong point on the cycle.   Other people are increasingly worried and predict that the situation will get much worse and that it is a depression but we only act like it’s not a depression due partially to increased credit availability. 2.Identify a policy or practice you would like to see changed at your workplace, community or on campus. -The equal employment act is kind of an issue because it’s successfully manipulated by a few people with access to good lawyers but is detrimental to people just entering the work force because the act makes it harder to fire someone.   Also, there’s possibly an increase of bias because employers will selectively fire people who would not sue and often times they deserve to sue more than people who do sue.   It’s a great abstract idea but it’s very variable and at times promotes both inefficient hiring and firing practices. 3.Select one issue, policy or practice as the topic for your persuasive speech. Should social security be privatized?(Yes) 4.Describe the rhetorical situation for your public speech. What features of the speech setting are important to consider in preparing your speech? The rhetorical situation is that I’d have to be convincing with sharp arguments that are crisply delivered.   As it’s a public speech the language would have to be very conventional and not have regionalism driven in too much in case it would be too distracting for various members of the audience.   Engagement is crucial, balancing myself with the surroundings is helpful.  Ã‚   It’s usually extremely useful to be very aware of where the speech will be delivered because extreme clashes or even minor clashes are disruptive and distracting. If my speech setting is a classroom the language could be more informal and include more jokes.   If it’s in a space where movement is very free and people could walk out anytime it would have to be much more planned out and well-executed.   Visual engagements are often times critical and knowing about the audio-visual equipment is extremely helpful so that preparations can be made to have everything run as smoothly as possible. 5.Identify your audience and discuss the demographic factors that may influence how you address your topic. My audience is my peers.   They are just entering the work force or have entered it on a more informal basis.   Most of my peers have faced a lot of frustrations related to jobs and their extreme inaccessibility.   During tough economic times young adults are usually the hardest hit because they have the least security and are given far fewer social services than the elderly. 6.Make a list of the questions you would like to ask members of your audience. 1. Would your grandparents fund a public school or would they move someplace where they wouldn’t have to? 2. If you grew up in a family-oriented neighborhood where schools really mattered did you come into contact with elderly volunteers who seemed to care about you? 3. How would you feel if you found out that social security operates exactly like a pyramid scheme and that most people under the age of 40 do not expect to receive anything from social security? 4. Would you voluntarily pay for other people’s retirements if you had a choice? 5. Have you noticed that your social security tax on your paycheck is often higher than your monthly cell-phone bill every month? 7.Why is it important to conduct an audience analysis? It’s essential for being prepared enough to give useful information and what’s useful depends on what they’re concerned about.   What truly interacts with their life and what really does have a formative impact on the choices they would make and the motivation they would have towards a lot of important life-steps. If I don’t do an audience analysis I could also risk alienating the audience if I talk about something they’re completely unfamiliar with or if I talk about something that is extremely disturbing or boring for my audience.   For example, if I talked about social security privatization to an older audience about to benefit or already benefiting I would not mention a lot of things that I would mention to people in my peer group.   An offended audience is probably one of the worst-case scenarios that could result and it’s a bad experience for both parties involved. To think about what the audience would have to deal with on a daily basis, what relates to issues that impact them in a significant way, and last of all, what would help them listen to what I have to say.   The audience never pays attention in an automatic way and a lot of competency needs to be earned, speeches are critical because they’re a great job-skill to have and also necessitate that more thought is given to how I present myself and what even persuades me.   If I choose a topic that’s unappealing to me it will most likely be the case that it will be infectious. If I properly try to analyze my audience at least I’d be better cued towards sensitivities and preferences.   Both are extremely important to be aware of as one relates to things I could say that could result in insult and the other is important because to be a truly persuasive speaker there’s a lot of interaction.   The audience also enjoys interaction and sitting still is often hard to many people, particularly when a speech is too irrelevant.   Audience awareness would in most situations allow for a speaker to feel prepared and to also have prompted a motivation to prepare.

Building a High Performance Project Team Essay

In order to deliver a high-quality project [one that successfully balances scope, time, and cost] in which the needs and expectations of the users are met, the project team must not only be effective and work well together, but also the project manager must have the ability to lead and manage the team while focusing on people issues. This is often a difficult task since many project mangers are usually expected to lead teams without formal authority. Controlling a project blends the art and science of project management – building a strong, committed team at the same time you are making progress against the plan (Verzuh, 2012). This means that project leaders should seek to discover and solve problems while they are still small and at the same time monitor progress while putting in place measures to ensure the team’s continued focus on the goals and expectations of the project. Thus, it is critical for project managers to understand that project success does not hinge only on the science of project management, but also on the ability to build a committed, cooperative, and cohesive team. A project manger who exhibits practical understanding of how to evaluate and sustain an effective team performance, along with the ability to identify and quickly resolve key resource issues throughout the project life cycle, is more likely to reach a synergistic potential of the team. Consequently, drawing from contemporary projects, this brief study focuses on distinct human attributes the effects on leadership as the key to the aforementioned controlling activities that ensure that a project evolves in an orderly m anner, rather than turning out of control. 2Recruiting Project Team Members Every project manager plays a pivotal role in building a high performance team. While the leader must consciously invest in building a strong, cohesive team capable of working together, the process of selecting and recruiting project team members vary across organizations. Two important factors affecting recruitment are the importance of the project and the management structure being used to complete the project (Larson & Gray, 2011). However, it is the project manager’s responsibility to optimize the team’s performance regardless of whether he/she gets to choose the team members or not. Hence project managers must develop strategies that help build a high performance team right from the selection stage. 2.1Project Team Dynamics Negative interpersonal team dynamics is not only unproductive, but can make a project manager’s job a daily grind of frustration and resentment (Verzuh, 2012). When selecting and recruiting team members, project managers naturally look for individuals with the necessary experience and knowledge/technical skills critical for project completion (Larson & Gray, 2011). However, when identifying project resources project managers more often than not find themselves thinking about who they need rather than what they need. Thus, more emphasis is placed on pervious working relationships. Aside from selecting team members who hold the â€Å"right† level of skill and expertise needed to support the project requirements, it is just as important to identify team members who are able to work well with others and exhibit consistent levels of cooperation. These social intelligence skills include the ability to persuade, negotiate, compromise, and make others feel important (DiTullio, 2010) Consequently, the key to creating a high performance project team lies in understanding and embodying the language-action relationship. This is critically important to building relationships, trust, gaining alignment and commitment to produce breakthrough results (Strategic Momentum, 2006). 3Defining Criteria For Project Team Members To fully discuss this topic, we must start with a simple definition of a team. Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith define a team in their best-selling book The Wisdom of Teams (Harper Business Essentials 1994), as â€Å" a small number of people with complimentary skills who are committed to a common purpose, a set of performance goals and an approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable† (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). In other words, as Sarah Cook (2009) suggests, the characteristics of a high performance team therefore are: * A clearly defined and a common shared purpose * Mutual trust and respect * Clarity around individual roles and responsibilities * High levels of communication * Willingness to work towards the greater good of the team * A leader who both supports and challenges the team * A climate of cooperation * An ability to voice differences and appreciate conflict However, project teams have another characteristic: They will be temporary, formed specifically for the purpose of achieving the goal, after which they will disband (Verzuh, 2012). Thus, to get the people on the team to be mutually accountable to a common goal, trust each other, and be treated with respect while putting in the effort to accomplish a task, the project manager must be able to put the pieces together by establishing strong ground rules and team identity that is built on commitment to a shared goal. In this respect, the criteria is for the project manager to engage his team in simple exercises and hold multiple discussions with the team about the obvious benefits of teamwork by encouraging best practices and innovation for the benefit of stakeholders. 4Developing Trust Among Project Team Members As noted earlier, projects are temporary endeavors that begin and end, and so do project teams. Managing project teams is even more complicated given the trend towards cross-functional, organizational, and sometimes national boundaries. This unique characteristic only increases the likelihood that the composition of a new project team will comprise of more individuals with little or no previous working relationships. With this in mind, as (Verzuh, 2012) rightly suggests, â€Å"developing trust, respect, effective communication patterns, and the ability to maintain a positive relationships despite disagreements takes time. Most importantly, it takes a conscious effort by the project team leader†. Once the project leader understands that high performance teams rarely occur naturally, a strategy must be put in place to help transform the way team members think and act in order to create and maintain the highest level of commitment to the plan. According to (Strategic Momentum, 2006) conversational dynamics is critical in building relationships and trust. By conversational dynamics they mean the conversational mode used when the project team works together. Project leaders must encourage collaborative conversations among team members since they help build trusting relationships, and are able to effectively deal with real issues, thus accelerated results. Collaborative conversations are open and authentic and they breed mutual respect and commitment. Project leaders can rely on authentic conversations to deal with interpersonal relationships and trust issues. In the event of breakdowns, the focus is on restoring relationships and trust to insure on going alignment and commitment. It is apparent therefore that high performance teams have a culture that embraces trust, continuous review and clarification of goals, robust communication and holding each other accountable (Wagner, 2006). 4.1Communicating Effectively with Project Team Members Once an atmosphere of trust has been established, the project manager’s biggest challenge is communication and clarity. Communication has long been ranked very high among factors attributing to project success. In this respect, Tom Wagner suggests that the project team leader must ensure the group stays firmly rooted in reality, sets clear goals and priorities, and follows through on all tasks (Wagner, 2006). This means that the entire project team shares the responsibility of all the project goals, and receives relevant and concise information at the right time. This also ensure that team member do not engage in conflicting agendas that arise when team members pursue incompatible objectives. Consequently, when communicating within the project team (Verzuh, 2012), outlines four major communication needs: * * Responsibility: each team member needs to know exactly what part of the project he/she is responsibly for. * Coordination: as team members carry out their work, they rely on each other. Coordination information enables them to work together efficiently. * Status: meeting the goal requires tracking progress along the way to identify problems and take corrective action. The team members must be kept up to speed on the status of the project. * Authorization: Team members need to know about all the decisions made by customers, sponsors, and management that relate to the project and it’s business environment. Team members need to know these decisions to keep all project decisions synchronized. 5Leading the Project Team Members In spite of advances in the project management profession, research studies have shown that many projects fail, underlining the importance of the project manager’s role as manager. Specifically, the manager’s leadership role is of great importance in motivating people and creating an effective working environment in order for the project team to meet greater challenges in today’s global economy (Anantatmula, 2010). In other words, there are four specific elements that help create an effective team-working environment. The leader must establish ground rules that explicitly define expected personal behavior in reference to team values; he/she must build a team identity based on shared commitment and objectives – the key here is goal and project scope clarity and a solid understanding of team members strength and diversity; a good leader must be able to teach his team to apply the proper problem solving techniques which involves exchange of ideas and thus the ability to listen to different perspectives; and last but not the least, the leader must be able to manage meetings effectively. By conducting team meetings that are actively steered toward the project goals, the team can share pertinent information, coordinate activities, uncover new problems and make informed decisions that produce synergistic outcomes. Ultimately, adding value to the team’s effort should be the goal and role of the project team leader. Defining a clear vision can do this and goal, facilitate a working environment, set clear expectations and responsibilities, and provide the team enough autonomy where they can work and do their jobs with full commitment and confidence (Wikibooks, 2010) 6Managing Challenging and Dyna mic Issues and Conflict It is not an easy task to get a team to jell but the productivity and joy that come with high performance teams are so significant for a project team leader to assume it can occur naturally. According to (Verzuh, 2012), every project team faces two central challenges, two obstacles to becoming a high performance team. * Project teams are formed to solve complex problems, and they must solve those problems together. * Project teams are temporary and so the must learn to work together. Thus, it is the responsibility of the project leader to understand these two challenges and harness the problem solving power of a rather diverse team. In other words, it will take a conscious effort on the part of the project manager to transform the team from a loose collection of talent and expertise to a cohesive unit. For the team to produce superior decisions needed to solve complex problems creativity is required. This means that disagreements are bound to occur and hence conflict-resolution skills become essential to make the best decisions possible without jeopardizing interpersonal relationships. Deborah Kezsbom, in her article entitled: (Managing the Chaos: Conflict among project teams (American Association of Coast Engineers 1989), perfectly concluded, â€Å"conflict is an inevitable and necessary part of the project environment. Given the proper atmosphere, attitudes, and training, conflict can broaden perspectives and stimulate innovative and cohesive interactions.† Project managers who realize that preventing conflict is as important as solving them, are likely to be effective. The author went on to recommend the following for improving project leader effectiveness and minimizing conflict: * Communicating key decisions in a timely fashion to project related personnel. * Adapting leadership style to the status of the project and the needs of the project team. * Recognizing the primary determinants of conflict, when they are likely to occur over the project life cycle, and the effectiveness of handling approaches. * Experimenting with alternative conflict handling modes. * * Proving work challenge to motivate team members. * Developing and maintaining technical expertise. * Planning early and effectively in the project life cycle. * Demonstrating concern for project team members. 7The London 2012 Olympics Construction Project The construction of the London 2012 Olympic park was widely praised for its successful delivery. With  £9.3 billion budget, the Olympic project was one of the most high profile projects one could ever imagine. The project finished on time and under budget much to the delight of its sponsors who according to Sir John Armitt, the man in charge of the team that built the park, knew what it valued, balancing cost and quality, and made that clear to its suppliers. But it was the ability of the project leaders to blend the art and science of project management that prompted some soul-searching about lessons that can be applied to future developments. The value placed on relationships between individuals and organizations working the project was a crucial ingredient in the projects successful delivery. According to a study conducted during the project which focused on the underpinning role of 13 distinct human characteristics – including respect, trust, clarity, motivation, collaboration, openness and fairness – and how these concepts have a practic al influence on effective leadership, worker involvement, safety culture, communication, risk management, monitoring and assurance. The lead researcher Helen Bolt said: â€Å"The most important thing we discovered in this research was the value of the relationships between individuals and organizations. Of all the characteristics of the relationships in evidence during the project, the most critical were respect and clarity -they underpin everything, are not costly or difficult to achieve, and can have a significant impact on safety culture and standards.† 8Conclusion As outlined throughout this paper, project team members are faced with the challenge to work interdependently to achieve defined goals. These goals can be simple or complex depending on the nature and scope of the project. Nonetheless, every project presents peculiar challenges for the team and its leader who essentially make a series of decisions in accomplishing these goals. As the magnitude of interdependencies increases so does the need for the team members to trust one another and rely on refined skills to work collaboratively. Since project teams are temporary, they must learn to work together to reach its synergistic potential. A high performance team does not evolve overnight, it take time and effort by the leader who facilitates the team, establishes a positive working environment and leads the team in learning problem solving as well as conflict resolution skills. It is no secrete that leadership is the foundation of a high performance team. Whilethere are many constant traits a leader must possess to be effective, there are however, many important components of leading a high performance team that lack a true definition. One of the components of great importance is the ability to be adaptable in your leadership style, and let your leadership adapt and evolve as the team progresses through its developmental stages. Project team leaders must also exhibit the same accountability they demand from the team members and display the energy, attitude and commitment to propel the team forward. Ultimately, communication is the key to all the aforementioned activities. Project leaders spend a great deal of their time communicating. In fact, every project management technique is a form of communication and hence it is crucial to communicate in a timely and effective fashoin among all stakeholders. References: Anantatmula, V. (2010). Project Manager leadership role in improving project performance. Engineering Management Journal , 22 (1), 13-22. DiTullio, L. (2010). Project Team Dynamics: enhancing Performance, Improving Results. Management concepts. Katzenbach, J., & Smith, D. (1993). The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization. Boston, MA: Havard Business School Press. Kezsbom, D. (1989). Managing the Chaos: Conflict among project teams. American Association of Coast Engineers. Transactions of the American Association of Coast Engineers , 9. Kortekaas, V. (2012, August 19). Retrieved on August 09, 2013, from http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/57d92e9c-d7df-11e1-9980-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2d6NUQRbS Project Management: Lessons can be learnedfrom sucessful delivery. Financial Times . Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2011). Project Management: the managerial process (5th ed.). New York, NY, USA: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Strategic Momentum. (2006). Retrieved August 06, 201 3, from Strategic Momentum.com: www.strategic-momentum.com/_downloads/the_critical_steps_to_building_a_high_performance_team Verzuh, E. (2012). The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management (Vol. 4). Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Wagner, T. (2006). Building high performance project teams. Loiusiana Contractor , 55 (3), 41. Wikibooks. (2010). Managing Groups and Teams.