Benefits
of TEAM WORK to an organization
Definitions of teams?
According
to Handy (1993,p.150)
a team “is any collection of people who perceive themselves to a common goal “
where as According to Kozlowski and Ilgen (2006.p.1) Teams are where “people working together for a common purpose”. Further, according to
Apex (2012,p11) team is “when individual strength and skills are combined
together in pursuit of a common direction or cause, in order to produce
meaningful results for the member or organization”.
According to Skripak
(2016) there are four types of teams. First type of these teams is the Manager-Led Teams, as
its name implies, in the manager-led team the manager is the team leader and is
in charge of setting team goals, assigning tasks, and monitoring the team’s
performance. The individual team members have relatively little autonomy. When
compare to Manager-Led teams Self-Managing
Teams- have considerable autonomy. They are usually small and often absorb
activities that were once performed by traditional supervisors. A manager or
team leader may determine overall goals, but the members of the self-managing
team control the activities needed to achieve those goals. But in many cases
most of the companies are using the concept of Cross-Functional Teams. These types of teams as the name suggests,
cut across an organization’s functional areas (operations, marketing, finance,
and so on). A cross functional team is designed to take advantage of the
special expertise of members drawn from different functional areas of the company.
Unlike the teams describe above Virtual
Teams is a concept developed in the recent past in the world. Technology
now makes it possible for teams to function not only across organizational
boundaries like functional areas but also across time and space. Technologies
such as videoconferencing allow people to interact simultaneously and in real
time, offering a number of advantages in conducting the business of a virtual
team.
Importance of
teamwork for an organization
According to Handy (1993), benefits of
teams are as follows.
- For the distribution of work. To bring together a set of skills, talents, responsibilities, and allocate to them their particular duties.
- For the management and control of work. To allow work
to be organized and controlled by appropriate individuals with
responsibility for a certain range of work.
- For Problem-solving and decision-taking. To bring
together a set at skills, talents and responsibilities to that the
solution to any problem will have all available capacities applied to it.
According to Stugess and Higson (2012), the
benefits of teams are illustrated on figure 1.0
Figure 1.0 Benefits of teams
(Source: Stugess, and, Higson,2012)
1. Creates synergy – where the sum is
greater than the parts. Perhaps the most significant impact a team can have is
the ability to achieve more together, than if each member worked individually.
It’s in the combination of skills and expertise, when the skills of one member
complement the skills of another, and compensates for each other’s weaknesses,
that teamwork really works.
2. Supports – a more empowered way of
working. It helps to remove the constraints which may prevent someone from
doing their job properly. Teams can hold themselves accountable, and often this
positive peer pressure encourages people to take on responsibility and be
pro-active.
3. Promotes flatter and leaner
structures – with less hierarchy. Teams have the capability of solving problems
and making decisions together. When they work well they can be largely self-managing.
Teams can inter-act with other teams in an organization reducing the need for
excessive hierarchy.
4. Encourages multi-disciplinary work
– where teams cut across organizational divides. Teams value the different
skills and expertise of their members and can combine those skills in different
ways to meet changing needs. When people have developed good team working
skills (they know how to work well in a team), they can use those skills to
work well with other teams in the organization.
5. Fosters flexibility and
responsiveness – especially the ability to respond to change. Teams can take
responsibility for complete processes. They can inter-change and respond to the
needs of customers, and of the processes they manage
6. Pleases customers who like working
with good teams (sometimes the customer may be part of the team). When
customers experience a team which responds to their needs, as opposed to being
passed on from one person to the next in the organization, they see the value
of the team. Increasingly customers are a part of what we do. This is
especially the case with services, where customers are often a part of the
service. In some ways they can be seen as part of the team. This is potentially
a powerful way to engage customers in the services your organization delivers.
7. Promotes a sense of achievement,
equity and camaraderie – essential for a motivated workplace. Working well
together builds a sense of togetherness, which is not only experienced by team
members, but a visible encouragement to others too.
Benefits to individuals working in a team.
According to Handy
(1993) it benefits in individual aspect as well, and is as
follows.
v A means of satisfying their social or affiliation needs; to
belong to something or to share in something.
v A means of establishing a self-concept. Most
people find it easier to define themselves in terms of their relationship to
others, as member of a role set with a role in that set.
v A
means of gaining help and support to carry out their objectives. Which may or
may not be the same as the organization’s objective.
v A
means of sharing and helping in a common activity or purpose which may be
making a product or carrying out a job or having fun or giving help or creating
something.
Characteristics of effective team
According to Micken and Rodger (2000) a
successful team should have the
following characteristics
Organizational wise
Individual wise
Team wise
Table 1:
Characteristics of effective teamwork
In elaborating the above
framework, I would like to take an example from a leading beverage company in
Sri Lanka which is Elephant House, a subsidiary of John Keells Group. In 2017,
Elephant House as a beverage company decided to move in to beverages with less sugar due to changing
consumer preferences and high taxes on imported sugar.
To make the new initiative
a reality, company management decided to nominate a team consist of selected
employee from each department. In defining the purpose of this nominated project company gave a goal of launching
5 brands of soft drinks with the concept of “Low Sugar Beverages”. Management gave a time line
of 4 months for this task while the team was
selected from different departments such as sales and marketing, finance,
production, R&D and legal. The leadership of the team was directly handled by the
senior management to mitigate possible conflicts between team members or
different departments, and to drive the project forward.
Further, due to the fact
that the project team was nominated covering all the important departments of
the company, each person carried self-knowledge
from their respective areas. By end of the 4th month Elephant
House as a beverage company were able to produce more than 5 low sugar soft drinks brands,
purely through the effort put in by the project team which helped the company
to achieve the intended financial target while ensuring the future stability of
the organization.
The above elaborates the importance of having effective teams as
different people with different specializations are needed to implement
projects in a relatively quick span of time.
References
Ducanis AJ &
Golin AK 1979, The Interdisciplinary Health Care Team, Aspen Systems
Corporation,
Germantown, Maryland.
Green SG &
Taber TD 1980, ‘The effects of three social decision schemes on decision group
process’,
Organizational Behavior
and Human Performance, vol 25
Handy, c. (1993)
Understanding Organizations. New York, Oxford University Press.
Katzenbach JR
& Smith DK 1993, The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance
Organization, Harper Business, New York.
Kozlowski,s.w.j., iigen,D.R. (2006) Enhancing the
Effectiveness of Work Groups and Teams.
Psychological science in the Public Interest,[online]. Available at <http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1529-1006.2006.00030.x > [Accessed on 03rd june 2018].
Kirkman, B.L.,Rosen,B.
(1999) ‘Beyond Self-management: Antecedents and Consequences of Team
Empowerment’, Academy of Management Journal, vol 42, no 1, pp 58-74.
MICKAN, S. RODGER, S.(2000)
Characteristics of effective teams: a literature review. [Online]
Available at <http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.529.9166&rep=rep1&type=pdf>
[Accessed on 03rd
june 2018]
Skripak, S.J. (2016)
Teamwork in Business. 1st ed. Virginia .Pamplin College of Business
and Virginia Tech Librarie
Stugess,a., Higson,P.(2012) There’s no I in Team. 1st ed. Ventus
publishing ApS [Online]. Available at < http://www.sterrenstages.net/manager/files/books/theres-no-i-in-team.pdf>. [Accessed on 04th june 2018]
West, M.A.(1994) Effective Teamwork, .1st ed. British
Psychological Society, Leicester.
Don Clark (2011) suggests that an effective team can maximize the organization's human resources. A team can be effective if there is trust and mutual accountability between the members. Team members help each other and each member will lead other members at various points throughout the relationship. Successes and failures are equally felt by all members, not just an individual. This gives members more courage to take risks and therefore, realize bigger gains. Most importantly, a team’s output is superior to a group of individuals due to the synergistic effect of a team
ReplyDeleteAs stated by Mark Miller (2001), successful teams begin with a focus on results. Having talented people in a team builds a strong foundation; however, the skill set within the team members and the sense of community/team spirit must be built simultaneously in order to get optimum results. If given an opportunity, effective teams should be built strategically. The members should not only be competent, but also have a strong character and a unique skill set that compliment others' in the team. There should be chemistry between team members with each member being a custom 'fit' in the team
Agreed with Dilakshan, further according to Hackman (1990), a team require the right number of members with the appropriate mix and diversity of task and interpersonal skills. A balance between homogeneity and heterogeneity of members’ skills, interests and backgrounds is preferred. Listening Skills, self-knowledge, discipline, commitment, bravery are some of the unique skills that team member should equipped with.
DeleteTuckman (1965) was the pioneer for introducing a designed theory for addressing teamwork. Further, was also been highlighted by Hackman (1976). A number of studies are conducted to gauge the impact of teamwork on performance in developed as well as developing countries; Manzoor, Hafizullah, Ahmad and Hussain, 2011 Tohidi, 2010 According to Aydin and Ceylan (2009) the incentives of the teamwork for firm are quite tricky to abstract and identified which makes the topic more puzzled for the researcher as when the teamwork is associated with the performance(Kennedy and Nilson, 2008).As seeing the paced corporate world with race of grabbing opportunities organizations has to be quite fast and efficient with their stuff and work to be in the business competition so high target make the teamwork more significant for achieving desired business targets (Becton, Wysocki and Kepner, 2002).
ReplyDeleteAgreed with Gehan. By giving targets team members will have awareness over priorities and failure. Even though there are many advantages it is important to give achievable and reasonable targets. Setting targets that are too vague can lead to poor performance compared to specific and challenging goals. Goals that are not properly crafted can become demotivating. If the goal seems too easy or not specific enough, then the employee is not motivated to achieve it Dr. Edwin (1968).
DeleteLeigh L. Thompson (2008) says teams, then, can improve company and individual performance in a number of areas.
ReplyDeleteNot all teams, however, are formed to achieve the same goals or charged with the same
responsibilities. Nor are they organized in the same way. Some, for instance, are more
autonomous than others—less accountable to those higher up in the organization. Some
depend on a team leader who’s responsible for defining the team’s goals and making sure that
its activities are performed effectively. Others are more or less self- governing: though a leader
lays out overall goals and strategies, the team itself chooses and manages the methods by
which it pursues its goals and implements its strategies.
Agreed with Yasiru. Leaders must not only be able to define departmental, unit or organizational missions, but they must also be able to coordinate the activities of others and motivate them to meet mission requirements. Additionally, they must circumvent or resolve issues impeding progress towards accomplishing organizational goals. Selection and implementation of actions to bring about goal attainment represents a form of problem solving which makes the generation, evaluation, and implementation of proactive and reactive solutions key to leader effectiveness (Mumford M. D., Zaccaro S. J., Harding F. D., Jacobs T. O. & Fleishman E. A.,2000 :14).
DeleteThe synergy of individuals is a powerful and strong instrument; don’t be fooled by the idea that working alone brings glory. Working alone may help your ego sometimes, however, will not necessarily make you a regular winner!
ReplyDeleteShada Wehbe (2017) has identified 5 Important Reasons why Teamwork is important for an organization;
Teamwork motivates unity in the workplace
Teamwork offers differing perspectives and feedback
Teamwork provides improved efficiency and productivity
Teamwork provides great learning opportunities
Teamwork promotes workplace synergy
Without the ability to effectively work in a team environment, you could delay the success of developing, formulating and implementing new and innovative ideas. The ability to problem solve is reduced, as well as the attainment of meeting goals and objectives, in turn, limiting the efficiency and effectiveness of growing a successful company is hindered.
Agreed Dinuka, if the team is not performing according to the plan, is team leader’s responsibility to rectify the situation. Leader can reassess and, if necessary, reassign the roles. If you still have a problem, revise the team process, Give everybody a crash course on how to engage in healthy conflict. As a final resort, invite the team to coach each other.
DeleteIn our own work we found that psychological team roles are largely a product of people’s personalities. For example, consider team members who are:
ReplyDeleteResults-oriented. Team members who naturally organize work and take charge tend to be socially self-confident, competitive, and energetic.
Relationship-focused. Team members who naturally focus on relationships, are attuned to others’ feelings, and are good at building cohesion tend to be warm, diplomatic, and approachable.
Process and rule followers. Team members who pay attention to details, processes, and rules tend to be reliable, organized, and conscientious.
Innovative and disruptive thinkers. Team members who naturally focus on innovation, anticipate problems, and recognize when the team needs to change tend to be imaginative, curious, and open to new experiences.
Pragmatic. Team members who are practical, hard-headed challengers of ideas and theories tend to be prudent, emotionally stable, and level-headed.(Harward business review)
Yes Nishan, further It is important individuals to have certain qualities within themselves such as communication and social skills, personal drive, sense of purpose and motivation, dependability, conscientiousness and persistence, ability to motivate others, innovation and vision, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, willingness to accept challenges and take risks, emotional maturity, ability to inspire trust, intelligence, knowledge about the organization you work for, genuine interest in others and valuing them, a team orientation (you like working with a team of people).
DeletePotential drawbacks of teamwork:
ReplyDeleteSo-called 'group think' can occur when a team is lulled into a deceptive sense of satisfaction and failures its critical edge. Team members can leftover time and energy in disputes and some associates may opt out of the practice 'social loafing' leaving others to do the entire job. This can occur particularly when individuals feel they are dispensable (Schwaber, 2004).
Agreed with Shayamika, this is where traning and development and leadership skill come in to act. Traning and development can change task environments (DeRue, Hollenbeck, Johnson, Ilgen, & Jundt, 2008; Gibson & Vermeulen, 2003; LePine, 2003), team creativity (Pirola-Merlo & Mann, 2004; Taggar, 2002), and task and contextual performance (Barry & Stewart, 1997; Morgeson, Reider, & Campion, 2005). And also a capable leader should Support a team philosophy Open, honest and fair Act consistently (in equity of opportunity and discipline of staff) Display tolerance and flexibility Exhibit a willingness to change Treat team members with respect Keep a balance between the needs of the team members and the needs of the task Motivate the team members Value feedback or ideas from team members Show loyalty to the organisation and team members Maintain confidentiality, especially in dealings with team or individuals. Lead by example.
DeleteSome Benefits of Teamwork
ReplyDeleteThe benefits of teamwork include increased efficiency, the ability to focus different minds on the same problem and mutual support.
Many organizations rely on teams. Universities and colleges have included teamcommunication and team management in their courses of study. There are many benefits to teamwork. Some of these include:
*Better Outcomes: Teamwork can lead to better business outcomes because the team can bring more resources to bear against a challenge and there is more oversight to reduce risk of poor individual contributions. For example, in healthcare teamwork is associated with increased patient safety.
*Efficiency: When a team is able to work well together they accomplish more than individuals can do alone. This helps a company save money while being more competitive in their market.
Better Ideas: A good team is made up of diverse members. When these members apply different skills to the same problem, they come up with a more effective solution than one person working on the same problem.
*Mutual support: When teams work well together they are supportive of one another. Mutual support can encourage people to achieve goals they may not have realized they could reach on their own.
*Sense of Accomplishment: When members of a team work to achieve specific goals, there is often a greater sense of accomplishment than what an employee may feel when working on their own.
Further problem solving, healthy competition, developing relationships, mix of individual qualities, motivation and communication are some of the additional benefits.
DeleteBy what method Can Teamwork Be Trained?
ReplyDeleteCollaboration intercessions have used various preparing techniques keeping in mind the end goal to focus on the direction of group execution (i.e., arrangement, execution, reflection) and administration of group upkeep (i.e., relational progression) measurements. These intercession procedures by and large fall under one of four classes. Initially, the most fundamental way to deal with preparing and creating cooperation includes giving pedantic instruction to colleagues in a classroom-type setting, for example, addressing about the significance of giving social help inside the group or elevating approaches to oversee relational clash among partners. This kind of preparing has been observed to be helpful for upgrading group viability. A second classification of group preparing includes using a more intuitive workshop-style arrange, wherein colleagues participate in different gathering exercises, for example, having exchanges about the group's motivations and objectives or working through contextual investigations together. The third general classification of group preparing includes reenactment preparing, wherein groups experimentally authorize different cooperation abilities, for example, relational correspondence and coordination, in a domain that mirrors up and coming group assignments (e.g., carrier test systems or medicinal patient puppets). Albeit frequently utilized as a methods for encouraging responsibility abilities (e.g., instructing new specialists how to play out the specialized aptitudes of a medicinal activity), reenactment preparing has been observed to be an adequate way to deal with collaboration mediation. Notwithstanding these three preparing approaches that happen outside of the group errand condition (i.e., preparing inside classroom and recreation settings), cooperation can likewise be encouraged by joining group surveys in-situations (i.e., where the group really plays out its assignments), which enables groups to screen/audit their nature of collaboration on a continuous premise. These group audits include some type of group briefs previously (e.g., making activity designs), amid (e.g., observing colleagues' activities), as well as after (e.g., surveying the group's execution) group assignment execution, and have additionally been appeared to be effectual in past examinations.(D McEwan - 2017)
Agreed with Suresh, but these methods are useful to perform a team with a background of academic educational, to build a team in an organization Tuckman & Jenson (1977) and Drinka (1991) states five steps as follows,
DeleteForming: This is the initial orientation period. The team is unsure about what it is supposed to do, members do not know each other well or are not yet familiar with the way the team leader and the other members function. This stage is complete when the members begin to see themselves as a part of the group.
Storming: This is a sorting out period where members begin to find their place as team members. The team members now feel more comfortable giving their opinion and challenging the team leader's authority and recommendations. Some members may become dissatisfied and challenge not only the tasks of the team and how these will be carried out, but also the leader's role and style of leadership. This is the start of intragroup conflicts.
Norming: Team members begin to use their past experiences to solve their problems and pull together as a cohesive group. This process should result in the team establishing procedures for handling conflicts, decisions, and methods to accomplish the team projects.
Performing: In this phase the team has achieved harmony, defined its tasks, worked out its relationships, and has started producing results. Leadership is provided by the team members best suited for the task at hand. Members have learned how to work together, manage conflict and contribute their resources to meet the team's purposes.
Dissolving or reorientating: The team dissolves when the team has completed the project. It may be reoriented to continue on a next phase of the project .
Teamwork has been theorized within several models. For example, in their review, (Rousseau et al, 2008) reported that 29 frameworks related to teamwork have been published. Though there is much overlap across these models, there is also some distinguished differences. These relate to the number of dimensions of teamwork being intellectualized as well as the specific labelling of these dimensions.
ReplyDeleteTo make a team successful and to make a team performing team, none of these dimensions of teams can be ignored. All these dimensions are interlinked. For example, team communication, team cohesion, team conflict and team performance are related or positively associated. The team processes such as communication, coordination, cooperation, cohesion have impact on team effectiveness and performance. We have seen all these dimensions of teams and how to measure these dimensions and their relationships. Team work is very much required to execute current day complex projects.
DeleteTeam working is essential for every organization to achieve its success by utilizing the employee diversity in maximum. Encouraging team working and collaboration have been highlighted as one of the key factors of HRM by Caldwell (2004) in his 12 policy goals of HRM. Further, team workers who extend assistance to team members, increase team communications and raise team spirit (Belbin, 1981 cited in Armstrong, 2006). Team spirit can be immensely developed successfully through sports. That is why some of the large organizations prefer to recruit people who have done sports to their higher positions to gain the maximum advantage from team working experience.
ReplyDelete
DeleteAgreed, since all the good characteristics of a team member are already installed in a person who participate in a sport. Those qualities are as follows
• Works for consensus on decisions
• Shares openly and authentically with others regarding personal feelings, opinions, thoughts, and perceptions about problems and conditions
• Involves others in the decision-making process
• Trusts, supports, and has genuine concern for other team members
• “Owns” problems rather than blaming them on others
• When listening, attempts to hear and interpret communication from other’s points of view
• Influences others by involving them in the issue(s)
• Encourages the development of other team members
• Respects and is tolerant of individual differences
• Acknowledges and works through conflict openly
• Considers and uses new ideas and suggestions from others
• Encourages feedback on own behavior
• Understands and is committed to team objectives
• Does not engage in win/lose activities with other team members
• Has skills in understanding what’s going on in the group
Before deciding to go to teams, the disadvantages of teams must be considered. The following are the disadvantages: adapting the work of Medsker and Campion (1992)
ReplyDeleteSome people are not compatible with teamwork.
Workers must be selected to match the team as well as the required work skills.
Some members may have less motivating work as part of the team.
The organization can withstand changes.
There may be a conflict between team members or other teams.
Teams can suppress creativity and prevent good decision-making if a "group idea" becomes predominant.
Ratings and rewards may be perceived as less effective;
The team may have a "free ride".
Changing or relocating staff may result in less flexibility.
Katzenbach and Smith (1993) lists the following requirements for building effective teams: (i) it should be small enough in the number of members. (ii) adequate levels of complementary skills. (iii) truly meaningful purpose (iii) specific goal or goals. (iv) established clear approach to the team's work. (v) a sense of mutual accountability. (vi) defined appropriate leadership struct. However there are several team building programs in current society. Organization can use the expert service on team building. Further is is important to guide and monitor a ongoing team in an organization. Several factors may be indicative of the need for team building. Some of these include; negative reactions to the manager; decreased productivity; apathy and lack of involvement; complaints about quality of service; lack of initiation, imagination, innovation; routine actions taken for solving complex problems; conflicts or hostility among staff members; ineffective staff meetings, low participation, minimally effective decisions; decisions misunderstood or not carried through properly; confusion about assignments, missed signals, and unclear relationships as well as complaints of discrimination or favoritism.
DeleteTeam work is essential in corporates for better output and a better bonding among employees.
ReplyDeleteNo organization runs for charity. Targets must be met and revenues have to be generated. Tasks must not be kept pending for a long time and ought to be completed within the desired timeframe. A single brain can’t always come with solutions or take decisions alone. He needs someone with whom he can discuss his ideas. In a team, every team member has an equal contribution and each team member comes out with a solution best suited to the problem. All the alternatives can be explored to come out with the best possible solution. Thoughts can be discussed among the team members and the pros and cons can be evaluated.
Tasks are accomplished at a faster pace when it is done by a team rather than an individual. An individual will definitely take more time to perform if he is single handedly responsible for everything. When employees work together, they start helping each other and responsibilities are shared and thus it reduces the work load and work pressure. Every team member is assigned one or the other responsibility according to his specialization, level of interest and thus the output is much more efficient and faster.
Work never suffers or takes a backseat in a team. Mike was taking care of an important client and was the only one coordinating with them. Mike took a long leave and there was no one else who could handle the client in his absence. When he joined back after a long vacation, the organization had already lost the client. Had Mike worked in a team, others could have taken the charge when he was not there. In a team, the other team members can perform and manage the work in the absence of any member and hence work is not affected much.
There is always a healthy competition among the team members. Competition is always good for the employee as well as the organization as every individual feels motivated to perform better than his other team member and in a way contributing to his team and the organization.
Team work is also important to improve the relations among the employees. Individuals work in close coordination with each other and thus come to know each other better. Team work also reduces the chances of unnecessary conflicts among the employees and every individual tries his level best to support his team member. The level of bonding increases as a result of team work.
Team members can also gain from each other. Every individual is different and has some qualities. One can always benefit something or the other from his team members which would help him in the long run. Everyone is hungry for recognitions and praises. One feels motivated to work hard in a team and to live up to the expectations of the other members. Each member is a critic of the other and can correct him whenever the other person is wrong. One always has someone to fall back on at the time of crisis.
Teamwork. blend together and keep close communications with each other to ensure that all elements of the strategic planning process are congruent with the stated objectives and end results. The ongoing effectiveness of this high performance, high commitment system requires constant planning and interaction among the various teams to achieve optimum quality and profitability on each project and will increase profits (Norb Slowikowski).
DeleteEmotional Intelligence plays a vital role in team work. Emotional intelligence (EI) helps a person to collaborate with others and become a better team player. Psychologists John Mayer, Peter Salovey, and David Caruso define emotional intelligence (EI) as the ability to understand “one’s own and other’s emotions and the ability to use this information as a guide to thinking and behavior. An emotionally intelligent person uses that understanding to choose how to think and how to act.
ReplyDeletePeople with high EI can typically do the following:
1) Accurately perceive emotions in themselves and others.
2) Manage emotions to attain specific goals.
In general, people with high EI are sought after team members because they have excellent interpersonal skills. Which helps to achieve the objective accurately.
DeleteEmotional intelligence can be assessed via three types of conceptualizations: 1) as self-reported measure, 2) mixed models, or 3) ability conception. Although self-reported measures have been criticized as too subjective and less valid because of strong social desirability tendencies, Bandura (1977) has claimed that people commonly behave According to their thoughts and feelings. Some of the benefits are as follows,
• Self-Regard: To accurately perceive, understand and accept oneself
• Emotional Self-Awareness: To be aware of and understand one’s emotions
• Assertiveness: To effectively and constructively express one’s emotions and oneself
• Independence: To be self-reliant and free of emotional dependency on others
• Self-Actualization: To strive to achieve personal goals and actualize one’s potential
Teamwork is generally understood as the willingness of a group of people to work together to achieve a common aim. But teamwork is not exclusive to teams. For example, you can see evidence of teamwork in a committee, which might not necessarily see itself as a team. In this context, teamwork might be random co-operation, effectively working together for periods of time. But not always
ReplyDeleteTo define teamwork it might also be worth clarifying what it’s not, and thinking about the distinction between teams and teamwork. In my view, a team exists when individual strengths and skills are combined with teamwork, in the pursuit of a common direction or cause, in order to produce meaningful results for the team members and the organisation.
It is important to create competition over individuals within the team. however, Tauer and Harackiewicz (2004) found that enjoyment, which may be considered as the process of experiencing the positive emotion joy (Jackson, 2000). These authors suggested that team competition should be more enjoyable than individual competition because it can foster a sense of relatedness through cooperation with teammates (cf., Deutsch, 1949; Ryan & Deci, 2000) Team competition has also been shown to improve decision making (e.g., Bornstein & Erev, 1994), group productivity (Mulvey & Ribbens, 1999), and performance (Erev, Bornstein, & Galili, 1993) in the workplace.
DeleteTeamwork is defined by Scarnati (2001, p. 5) “as a cooperative process that allows ordinary
ReplyDeletepeople to achieve extraordinary results”. Harris & Harris (1996) also explain that a team has a
common goal or purpose where team members can develop effective, mutual relationships to
achieve team goals. Teamwork replies upon individuals working together in a cooperative
environment to achieve common team goals through sharing knowledge and skills. The
literature consistently highlights that one of the essential elements of a team is its focus
toward a common goal and a clear purpose (Fisher, Hunter, & Macrosson, 1997; Johnson &
Johnson, 1995, 1999; Parker, 1990; Harris & Harris, 1996). Teams are an integral part of
many organizations and should be incorporated as part of the delivery of tertiary units.
Successful teamwork relies upon synergism existing between all team members creating an
environment where they are all willing to contribute and participate in order to promote and
nurture a positive, effective team environment. Team members must be flexible enough to
adapt to cooperative working environments where goals are achieved through collaboration
and social interdependence rather than individualised, competitive goals (Luca & Tarricone,
2001).
Synergism will increased by communication, A team can only be effective if its members communicate well with one another; consequently good interpersonal relationships in a team are of great importance. Parker (1991) presents a list of twelve factors that influence effective teamwork in the workplace, a considerable number of which deal with communication skills and interpersonal skills such as: participation in discussion, listening, coping with cases of disagreement, openness to a range of ideas, acceptance of criticism, sharing information, and providing feedback.
DeleteBenefits of Team Work to an organization;
ReplyDelete1. Boosts Productivity
2. Provides a Support Network
3. Encourages Innovation
4. Improves Morale
5. Attracts Talent
6. Establishes Strong Relationships
7. Improves Service
8. Allows Flexibility
9. Teaches Conflict Resolution Skills
10. Advances Your Career
causes conflict, compatibility problems, free-riding issues and loss of resources are some of the disadvantages over team work. With strategic leadership and random communication and monitoring are some of the disadvantages over team work. It is important to monitor and maintain clear communication among the member to prevent above issues.
DeleteWith regard to sample characteristics, teamwork involvements were shown to be effective at improving both teamwork and team performance across a variety of team contexts, including real-world contexts of health care, aviation, military, and academia. This highlights the efficacy of teamwork training as a means of improving teams; this is an important finding as effective teams (i.e., those that work well together and perform at a high level) are vital in many of the aforementioned contexts. For example, it has been estimated that approximately 70% of adverse events in medical settings are not due to individuals’ technical errors but, rather, as a result of breakdowns in teamwork Therefore there is a critical need to ensure that teams are effective across these settings, as these teams greatly impact (among other things) the welfare of others.
ReplyDeletehttp://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0169604&type=printable
Lynton, R.P (2000), suggest that training and development are indispensable strategic tools for effective individual and organisation performance, thus, organisation are spending money on it with confidence that it will earn them a competitive advantage in the world of business. Training is importation for the survival of any organisation. It is also imperative for effective performance of employees, enhancement of employees’ ability to adapt to the changing and challenging business environment and technology for better performance, increase employees’ knowledge to develop creative and problem solving skills.
DeleteCreativity thrives when people work together on a team. Brainstorming ideas as a group prevents stale viewpoints that often come out of working solo. Combining unique perspectives from each team member creates more effective selling solutions. What you have learned from your individual experiences is entirely different from your coworkers. Thus, teamwork also maximizes shared knowledge in the workplace and helps you learn new skills you can use for the rest of your career. Collaborating on a project creates an enthusiasm for learning that solitary work usually lacks. Being able to share discoveries with the rest of your team excites employees and fosters both individual and team knowledge. Working together lets employees build on the talents of their teammates. While your strength may be creative thinking, a coworker might shine in organization and planning. Do not hesitate to share your abilities with the team. Often, a team works well together because team members rely on each other to bring individual talents to the table. By observing the process behind these skills, you can learn how to combine your gifts and become a stronger team. Every time you see your coworkers utilize a different approach in sales, you have a chance to adjust or improve your methods.
ReplyDeleteRelying on other people builds trust, and teamwork establishes strong relationships with coworkers. Despite occasional disagreements, an effective team enjoys working together and shares a strong bond. When you put your trust in a coworker, you are establishing the foundation of a relationship that can endure minor conflicts. Trusting your teammates also provides a feeling of safety that allows ideas to emerge. It helps employees open up and encourage each other. Open communication is key when working on a team and produces effective solutions in difficult group projects. Without trust, a team crumbles and cannot succeed on assigned projects. Great teams build each other up and strengthen individual members to create a cohesive group. By working together, employees learn that wins and losses affect everyone on the team. Teamwork necessitates confidence in each other’s distinct abilities.
Katzenbach and Smith (1993) lists the following requirements for building effective teams: (i) it should be small enough in the number of members. (ii) adequate levels of complementary skills. (iii) truly meaningful purpose (iii) specific goal or goals. (iv) established clear approach to the team's work. (v) a sense of mutual accountability. (vi) defined appropriate leadership struct. However there are several team building programs in current society. Organization can use the expert service on team building. Further is is important to guide and monitor a ongoing team in an organization. Several factors may be indicative of the need for team building. Some of these include; negative reactions to the manager; decreased productivity; apathy and lack of involvement; complaints about quality of service; lack of initiation, imagination, innovation; routine actions taken for solving complex problems; conflicts or hostility among staff members; ineffective staff meetings, low participation, minimally effective decisions; decisions misunderstood or not carried through properly; confusion about assignments, missed signals, and unclear relationships as well as complaints of discrimination or favoritism.
DeleteSet of people working to achieve a common goal is known as team work. And is identified as one of the best methods to get work done effectively & efficiently. Even though there are some drawbacks identified in team working, Team working is a mandatory part of every organization in today's business world. Especially in an IT organization, team working is part of the culture & organization promote & do their best to maintain team cultures within the workplace. Without team work most of the tasks performed on a day to day basis would take weeks or months if done as individuals. When working as teams, Brainstorming is one of the key benefits identified where the whole teams ideas are shared among each other & a best way to get the job done is agreed within the team.It not only brings the most innovative way to get the job done, but also get's the job done quite fast.
ReplyDeleteNot only in IT industry, in any industry if teams are to be effective, they must successfully perform both taskwork and teamwork (Burke, Wilson & Salas, 2003; Morgan, Glickman, Woodward, Blaiwes, & Salas, 1986). Taskwork involves the performance of specific tasks that team members need to complete in order to achieve team goals. In particular, tasks represent the workrelated activities that individuals or teams engage in as an essential function of their organizational role (Wildman et al., 2012b). Conversely, teamwork focuses more on the shared behaviors (i.e., what team members do), attitudes (i.e., what team members feel or believe), and cognitions (i.e., what team members think or know) that are necessary for teams to accomplish these tasks (Morgan, Salas, & Glickman, 1994)
DeleteWhen individuals form a team, the group gets credit for all the work, whether everyone contributed equally or not. This creates a sense of resentment and a feeling that a few team members contribute the vast majority of work while the rest make a minimal effort. This puts high achievers and hard workers at a disadvantage because they are equally recognized with their lesser-performing peers.
ReplyDeleteAgreed with Sonali, but with 360 degree performance feed back can prevent this feeling. The 360 evaluation feedback method was first used in the 1940s. Analogous to the multiple points on a compass, the 360 method provides each employee the opportunity to receive performance feedback from his or her supervisor, peers, staff members, co‐workers and customers. 360‐degree feedback or multi‐source feedback is an appraisal or performance assessment tool that incorporates feedback from all who observe and are affected by the performance of a candidate. • Offer a more comprehensive view towards the performance of employees. Advantages of 360 degree appraisal: • Improve credibility of performance appraisal. • Such colleague’s feedback will help strengthen self‐development. • It increases responsibilities of employees to their customers. • The mix of ideas can give a more accurate assessment. • Opinions gathered from lots of staff are sure to be more persuasive. • Not only manager should make assessments on its staff performance but other colleagues should do, too. • People who undervalue themselves are often motivated by feedback from others. • If more staff takes part in the process of performance appraisal, the organizational culture of the company will become more honest.
DeleteWorking together lets employees frame on the talents of their colleagues. Employees should not hesitate to share their capabilities with the other team members. Team members rely on each other to achieve the organizational goals. When working as a team, team members build a solid relationship with the co-workers. Although there are random disagreements, a powerful team enjoy working together.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to create a culture which help each other within the team. Leadership type is essential to create a correct culture in a team. Transformational leadership is more helpful to create the correct culture in an organization. Warrilow (2012) identified four components of transformational leadership style: 1) Charisma or idealised influence: the degree to which the leader behaves in admirable ways and displays convictions and takes stands that cause followers to identify with the leader who has a clear set of values and acts as a role model for the followers. (2) Inspirational motivation: the degree to which the leader articulates a vision that is appeals to and inspires the followers with optimism about future goals, and offers meaning for the current tasks in hand. (3) Intellectual stimulation: the degree to which the leader challenges assumptions, stimulates and encourages creativity in the followers - by providing a framework for followers to see how they connect [to the leader, the organisation, each other, and the goal] they can creatively overcome any obstacles in the way of the mission. (4) Personal and individual attention: the degree to which the leader attends to each individual follower's needs and acts as a mentor or coach and gives respect to and appreciation of the individual's contribution to the team. This fulfils and enhances each individual team members' need for self-fulfilment, and self-worth - and in so doing inspires followers to further achievement and growth
DeleteThank You For Sharing Useful information.
ReplyDeletebuilding effective Teams Training