Managing Effective Teams
Organizational Theory and Behavior
Effective Teams
Part of being a manager for a company is managing teams. These teams can be created for many different reasons and can have various goals put upon them. Companies want managers that are capable of constructing teams that can effectively meet goals and set standards. The four types of work teams most commonly found in organizations are: problem-solving, self-managed, cross-functional, and virtual. In completing the simulation for this course, I will use cross-functional work teams as a foundation for my investigation of effective team management.
There are four relative features that make up an effective team. These factors are situation, work, work design and process. Within these factors are workings that a manager can employ to ensure team efficiency. The components also help a manager better understand his team and how he can help them reach their goals when off-track (Robbins, 2005, p278).
"’In general, there must be a very clear sense of what the team is trying to accomplish and a timeframe to accomplish it in,’ advises Michael E. McGrath, a principal at Pittiglio Rabin Todd & Mc-Grath (PRTM) in Weston, MA (Craft, 1995).”
In the simulation for the course on effective teams there is a timeline and specific goal. The objective is to come up with groundbreaking ideas that will put the auto company Luxurion ahead of its competition. This work team will be cross-functional because once the goal is achieved each member will return to work in his or her designated area within the company.
The first part of the simulation is the selection process in which managers choose members for the team. Managers are given seven individuals to decide from to create a team of five. The model clearly has its idea of what the ‘best team’ is, and that will be discussed later on. For now, I will go over the members that I chose during my first run of the simulation.
I chose Petra for the assessor/advisor position, Amrita for the creator, Marcell as controller/organizer, Janice as the promoter/maintainer, and Harvey as the linker/producer. Selecting well-suited individuals for the positions available in a team is essential. Incompatibility can create unnecessary interruptions within the team. The selection of members in a team is part of the composition aspect of making a successful team.
I believe that this team it’s composed of three members that bring a well-defined set of skills, strengths and social and ethic believes that make it into a well-balanced management team. “Whatever the business, a small firm needs managers with an appropriate combination of education, experience, and skills.” (Longenecker, Petty, Palich, Hoy, Pg. 197) Having a strong management team should be an important part of a business plan when appropriate and I believe Fenton, Hoffer, and Le Tuan accomplished this.
In conclusion, by going through the five stages of team development, resolving the conflicts along the way and utilizing an efficiency model along with an execution strategy, my team effectively completed the task we were assigned as well as gained plenty of team experience for use in our future projects. My team now knows each other’s strengths and weaknesses much better and will definitely utilize this knowledge to further enhance our team’s efficiency and effectiveness in the future.
“The Forming – Norming – Storming – Performing model of team development was first proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965. This model has become the basis for subsequent models of team dynamics and frequently used management theory to describe the behavior of existing teams (Wikipedia).”
Creating and managing effective teams in today’s work environment is much different than it was just a short time ago. With each generation of American workers come new ideas, rules, and methodologies that must be considered when developing an effective team. Some of the newer ideas may have been foreign to managers even ten years ago. An example of this is that many companies today are becoming more socially responsible. A recent article in Incentive states, “Social responsibility, it seems, is the new signing bonus” (Flanagan, p4, 2006). Rarely are managers given a perfect set of employees, a perfect environment, or a team without conflict in order to develop an effective team. These issues make it more important than ever to be able to effectively manage these teams. The simulation for Luxurion was an excellent example of managing a team well, even when the team is not put together perfectly. This paper will examine what team member were chosen, why these choices were made, issues that were worked through during the simulation and the final outcome after completing the simulation.
Seven tasks must be included in consideration of team dynamics and structure. The first of which is defining the goal, mission or function of a specific team. The team must know what it is being asked to accomplish. The second area of consideration is assessing what skills, abilities, knowledge or potential to acquire such would be needed amongst selected team members. Identification of potential team members should include an assessment of the skills, knowledge and abilities or the potential to acquire such so that ultimately the team has the building blocks with which to succeed in its mission, goal or function. This assessment must include an understanding of realistic potential contributions by potential team members with the included assessment of whether or not the acquisition of skills and knowledge can be made available through research and analysis.
Currently present managers are chosen by first the need for the position, and those that volunteer for the position. The managerial candidates
Larson, C. and LaFasto, F. (1989), Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong. Newberry Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
The Everest team simulation was a valuable experience that taught me how to apply the foundations of the management course into real and first-hand team situations. The success of a team and their performance depends on their initial stage of development as well as their structure. A team with an established team structure and maturity over the different stages of group development proved to be extremely successful. The decision making and conflict resolution techniques were also influential in the overall performance of a team. Ultimately, effective communication is the key to success when working in a team. On the other hand, ineffective communication may be the team’s downfall. The simulation exercise was a solid example towards work group situations and is a valuable first-hand experience.
The area of team leadership attracts a lot of attention in the modern world because of the need to assemble and deploy diverse teams for the completion of projects. The future of many corporations relies more and more on the kind of team leadership they have for their projects. This paper explores a number of facets that constitute effective team leadership.
Similar to understanding the context of the team, to effectively manage and understand the composition of the team it is important for the team and its members to answer the following questions: “(1) to what extent do individual team members have the technical skills required to complete the task?; (2) to what extent do they have the interpersonal and communication skills required to coordinate their work with others?; (3) to what extent are individual team members committed to the team and motivated to complete the task?; and (4) is the team the right size to successfully complete the task?” (Dyer & Dyer,
Working in teams provides an opportunity for individuals to come together and establish a rapport towards others within a group. Teamwork is classified as people with different strengths and skills who work together to achieve a common goal. When a team works well, specific objectives are fulfilled and satisfied. Teamwork plays a crucial role in implementing and fulfilling a common goal in a team project. Each member plays a role and takes on different responsibilities combined together. In different stages of teamwork, conflicts and arguments may occur for as members have different standpoints which need to be harmonized within the team. The key to having an effective teamwork is to explore each member's unique abilities to motivate them.
A work team will be defined for the purposes of this paper by a definition borrowed from Bateman and Snell (2004). A team is formed of people (usually a small number) with complementary skills who trust one another and are committed to a common purpose, common performance goals, and a common approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Teams generally see themselves and are seen by others as a social entity, which is interdependent because of the tasks performed as members of a group.
There are four different types of teams. These teams are problem-solving teams, self-managed work teams, cross-functional teams, and virtual teams. Problem-solving teams work together to help find methods to improve the work environment or have suggestions to increase employee’s morale. Self-managed work teams organize the responsibilities of the employee’s such as assigning tasks to individuals, scheduling conflicts, and evaluate employee performances. Cross-functional teams are individuals whom all have experience in the same work field. The individuals come together as a team to incorporate their thoughts, designs, and new ideas to accomplish what the company needs to improve or create. Virtual teams are individuals that work together, but only by technology such as the internet, emails, or web cam.
Organizations use teamwork because it increases productivity. This concept was used in corporations as early as the 1920s, but it has become increasingly important in recent years as employ...
Many businesses place an emphasis on the importance of teamwork. A good team consists of people with different skills, abilities and characters. A successful team is able to blend these differences together to enable the organisation to achieve its desired objectives.