The article demonstrates the processes and procedures that must be put into consideration toward the formation of a team. The first section of the article demonstrates that effective teams are grounded on coherent goals and objectives, and that these goals and objectives must be rational, achievable, and oriented towards improving the status of the organization.
It is very clear from the article that the underlying goal of the team is to improve the care of hospitalized patients receiving antibiotics through setting out clear and coherent objectives, key among them implementing evidence-based practices and interventions to minimize the use and duration of intravenous antimicrobials.
Such bright and coherent goals and objectives function as the foundation for the establishment of effective and efficient work teams in organizational settings.
The second section of the article deals with some of the critical issues relating to team formation and development, including team composition, team size, roles and responsibilities of each team member, as well as the capabilities that each team member should demonstrate in order to be included in the team.
This section clearly captures the ongoing shift in organizational settings where work is no longer organized around individuals; rather, it is organized around team-based work structures and frameworks for optimal efficiencies and competitive advantage. The section clearly details the number of professionals to be included in the team, their exact functions, and responsibilities, as well as how these job roles are related to each other.
From the article, it is also very clear that organizational planners must put into consideration the capabilities and expertise of each team member to achieve maximum productivity. The team members should exposed to additional training if it is felt that such a need exists to make the team more functional and efficient.
The third section of the article deals with yet another critical component of an effective and efficient team – identity formation and development. The rule of the thumb here is that work teams in organizational settings are able to achieve successful results if they share common values, attitudes, and expectations.
It should be remembered that members who comprise a work team are not sourced from homogeneous groups, thus the importance and urgency to identify common values from the team members that could be used as building blocks in the process of identity formation and development. In this case scenario, for example, team members share the concern to enhance patient safety.
It is such values, attitudes, and expectations that organizational planners should use to ensure that team members not only stick together but also speak with one voice in attempts to solve the issues that made them to come together.
Lastly, in the final section, the article deals with two other very relevant factors in the development of work teams – remuneration, social identity, and support. Team members must be remunerated fairly and adequately for their work and effort. It is important to note that remuneration can be done using financial incentives or non-financial incentives such as mere recognition, time off, or paid holidays.
It is a well-known factor that differences in social identity certainly occasion problems in work teams; thus it is important for the relevant stakeholders to use various avenues, including harmonizing remuneration packages to iron out the differences. The article also highlights some of the ways that could be used by team leaders to support the team members and through this achieve optimal outcomes.
These methodologies include allocation of an executive sponsor, identifying a strategic goal for the team, communicating why change is needed, scheduling time to review progress, as well as resourcing and rewarding team members adequately.
The fact that people come from diverse cultural backgrounds plays an important role in human interaction. This happens when they exhibit their diversities during normal interaction. People coming from different cultures normally have unique ways of doing certain things. There are conflicting perceptions about time and its management in different cultural societies.
The conflict in perception about time is a predominant problem in many global organizations and corporations. The problems emerge because people attach different meanings to time management. Therefore, their take on project activity tasks such as when to submit reports and complete certain tasks are different. (Curtis and Dreachslin, 2008).
The notable regions where such challenges have been reported include Russia and Western Europe. The many conflicts between top management and workers in these regions have been associated with issues of time management.
These disagreements have presented difficulties in project management (Dubrin, 2012). These challenges necessitate innovative ways through which project managers can deal with the project team who come from different cultures with then.
This paper seeks to discuss how a project manager can deal with members of the team when their approach to time management conflict the leaders perception. This paper seeks to discuss the relevant issues by borrowing ideas from theoretical insights as well as realistic advice. It uses theories to explain some pressing global work environment challenges.
The paper has significantly featured Greet Hofstede’s servant leadership theory and its application in management. It has used it to build a compelling argument about how the project leader can effectively handle program team members who have a different approach to time management based on their cultural origins.
Varying Perceptions about Time and its Management
Differences in the way people approach time in cross-cultural regions can present massive challenges for leaders. Coordinating project members when they are from multicultural backgrounds appears to be the most difficult thing for managers (dekola and Sergi, 2012).
In cases where a project manager is working with team members from other cultures who have a different approach to time management, issues such as project forecasting, decision-making, or timelines normally becomes challenging. These challenges normally emanate from miscommunication and conflicting expectations (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2012).
For example, a German project manager leading a multicultural group of Indians might face frustrations because he may think that the Indians like meandering and lack exigency. On the other hand, Indian workforce may consider their German leader as being forceful and insensitive about the need for team harmony.
Application of Servant Leadership Theory and Principles
The project manager whose cultural background differs from that of the project team will definitely experience challenges in attaining program deliverables. Therefore, in order to enhance the realization of project objectives, managers should inculcate servant leadership in their lives. Servant leadership is crucial in enhancing how project managers handle their subjects (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010).
The project manager should implement servant leadership model according the theoretical proposals fronted by Hofstede. The theorist mentioned five cultural elements that give a framework for identifying likeness and distinctions across cultures and their application in management (Tassell, 2006).
Power Distance
First, Hofstede identified power distance as a critical element of cultural difference in management. He argued that power distance represent the degree of inequality among people, which the population of a nation considers usual.
He classified power distance from equal, which means small power distance and tremendously unequal representing large power distance (Tassell, 2006). Hofstede argued that for any leader to be effective, they require momentous participation and interaction with their workforce (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010).
This element of Hofstede’s theory is highly applicable in project management for managers working with subjects from multicultural backgrounds. This is because the project manager who practices servant leadership enables the program team to feel free in their work environment.
Therefore, the project team members are able to contribute their feelings, opinions, and suggestions (Tassell, 2006). The theory indicates that while the project team enjoys the freedom, the leader should also respect their contributions and apply them in building a more collaborative workplace (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010).
It is my suggestion that a project manager should apply the power distance element to build a working relationship with the members of the team.
The power distance element also suggests that managers should pay close attention to subjects’ empowerment in order to enhance their effectiveness at work (Tassell, 2006). In the current scenario entailing conflicting approach to time management, the project manager can handle the team by working towards their empowerment.
The empowerment of the team can focus on building their skills to work and ensure project deliverables are met accordingly (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010). It is notable that empowered workforce share in both preparation and decision making of project activities, which ultimately result into more dispersed working team where everyone recognize they have a role to play towards achieving success (Tassell, 2006).
Dealing with Individualism
Hofstede also identified individualism as the second element of servant leadership theory to management. He defines individualism as the extent to which people have a preference to perform as individuals as opposed to acting at members of a team (Tassell, 2006).
The servant leadership theory demands that the project director and the team work jointly much more strongly as a group. The project manager and the team jointly discuss issues in their work environment and as a group agrees on the outcome, which is of significance to everyone working in the same project (Steers, Sánchez-Runde & Nardon, 2012).
The project leader working with a multicultural team who has a different approach to time management identifies the most appropriate ways the team can deliver in their project areas (Tassell, 2006). The project leader must do this jointly with the members of the group. This is because the project manager must comprehend that success is not tenable as an individual but as a group.
Therefore, when the project manager is looking forward to succeed in managing the program towards achieving success, then the team must be involved at every stage.
The conflicts about time management between the project manager and the team can no doubt present challenges to the leader (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010). This is because failure to address such conflicts early enough can lead to factions and in fighting within the project team thus leading to withdrawal of support required to attain project goals.
The project leader must recognize that the attainment of project goals is not a one-man show, but a process that requires cooperation and involvement of all relevant persons (Tassell, 2006). Therefore, the manager can handle the team by developing and applying strategies aimed at reducing individualism in project activities implementation.
The project manager can also handle the team by empowering them to take responsibility and act like project leaders in their own portfolios Steers, Sánchez-Runde & Nardon, 2012). This is because the project team is only capable of offering their best at work when they feel a sense of responsibility and dependability to the achievement of the project objectives (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010).
The element also constitutes the peer comment system of a 360-degree feedback mechanism, which project managers can adopt. The 360-degree peer feedback is designed in such a way that there is all round exchange of information within a team.
This is critical for project managers because, once the sense of responsibility is inculcated among the team members then they should be able to find ways of providing feedback to each other (Tassell, 2006).
This strategy is crucial because when the team has a sense of responsibility then there will be an internal motivation from the members to perform the tasks appropriately to deliver on the project goals. The project leader can better handle the team when the team itself already applying self-management strategies, which must be put in place and be strengthened by the manager (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010).
The project manager can handle the team effectively by allowing them to devise their own strategy for managing time in such a way that the realization of project outcomes remains a priority Steers, Sánchez-Runde & Nardon, 2012).
The project manager should be there to develop the team into project leaders. The project team will undoubtedly perform to their best when they have a feeling that their project leader is working towards developing them and improving their personal growth.
In order to a work well with a highly multicultural team, the project manager should adopt a low to reasonably individualistic culture within the project team (Tassell, 2006).
Applying the Feminist Attributes to Management of Team Members
Hofstede also identified masculinity as the third element in the servant leadership that is crucial to management (Tassell, 2006). He distinguishes between attributes, which are considered culturally masculine against those considered feminine.
He points out that a servant leader should espouse attributes considered feminine at the workplace. The feminine like attributes include quality of life, maintaining affectionate individual relations, service, and solidarity (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010).
The servant leader functions while working with a multicultural team is to espouse the culturally female attributes. The project leader should develop a personal connection with the team in order to be effective.
The leader must handle the team through developing awareness on their needs and desires Steers, Sánchez-Runde & Nardon, 2012). This is of significance because if provides the manager with insights on how to individualize the team members jobs demands and relevant training to enhance their skills.
The manager should also build trust and loyalty with the team in order to create an enabling environment for enhancing their performance.
Hofstede also identified uncertainty avoidance as a critical aspect of managing a team.
Enhance Effectiveness through Uncertainty Avoidance Practices
He defines uncertainty avoidance as the extent to which individuals’ desire structured situations as opposed to unstructured circumstances (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010). The uncertainty avoidance element is critical because the team leader should push the traditional responsibilities of management such as setting rules, assignment of roles, and evaluation of performance back to the team members (Tassell, 2006).
The project leader should be able to handle the team effectively through this, as there will no imposition of rules, tasks, and expectations on the members. However, every aspect of the team performance and expectation will be discussed to ensure that they are agreed (Tassell, 2006). The project leader will therefore embark on new management roles such as team excellence growth and development.
Putting Project Team to Work in Groups
The project manager working with a multicultural group can also develop strategies to enable the members work in groups whenever there are tasks to be completed urgently (Puck, Rygl and Kittler, 2007). It is notable that time management challenges among workforce from diverse cultures can lead to delays in meeting certain deadlines (Gassmann, 2001).
The project leader cannot allow people to work independently because they may fail to prioritize urgent activities. Therefore, the leader should assign urgent responsibilities to the team and ensure they work on it jointly (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2012).
The notable advantages for this approach may include improved completion of tasks and delivery of results within the timelines. The project team can also develop a sense of ownership when they feel that their joint approach to completion of tasks lead to quality outcomes (Silverthorne, 2005).
Furthermore, working as a group can make the team to learn about the roles and responsibilities of their colleagues. This is critical in project management because other workers can easily step in and assist others with a lot of ease.
Conducting Effective Meetings with Project Team
Project leader should also conduct effective meetings with project team to improve understanding of tasks and achievements. In global work environments where time management is a challenge, project managers can schedule daily meetings with the team. The team to brief the leader on their tasks for the next few days as well as achievements over the previous days can use the meeting (Falkheimer and Heide, 2006).
The meetings will also enable the team to talk about how they plan to meet project activity deadlines. Furthermore, the meetings will allow the project team members with massive workload that cannot be achieved over a given period to request assistance from colleagues (Terry, 2011).
The daily meeting may also be crucial for joint planning of project activities. For example, mounting a chart on the meeting table where different program members can indicate the timelines for their activities (Dowling, Festing & Engle, 2008).
The chart can act as a reminder to the members whenever they see them so that they can embark on completing the tasks as scheduled in the charts. The meetings also allow the project team to develop a common plan and strategy for integrated approach to implementing project activities.
Cross – Cultural Training
A project manager should undergo a cultural training in order to develop competence on how to deal with the group under their leadership. The training equips managers with skills on systematic cross – cultural understanding and appreciation.
Cultural training is crucial for program delivery team because it enhances awareness and understanding of limitations of different cultural perceptions such as time management (Bhattacharyya 2010, pg. 106). Organization of the training can take the form of role-plays, field trips, simulations, films, and sensitivity learning to enhance effectiveness.
Project leaders should also undertake cross – cultural training at diverse phases such as in country socialization, departure induction, and debriefing (Bhattacharyya, 2010). Multi – cultural training enhance leaders cultural literacy and ability to handle others by accommodating their traditional norms, proactiveness in cultural manners, and assimilation of varying norms into alternative manners (Bhattacharyya, 2010).
Strengthening Positive Workplace Relations
Project leaders should also purposefully strengthen positive workplace relationships and strive to develop inclusive work environments (Flannery, Stevens, Plaut and Sanchez – Burks, 2008).
This will ensure that the issues of time management conflicts do not emerge because the project leader will always interact with program team in order to understand the progress they are making in the implementation of project activities (Federman, 2009). This initiative can help project leaders a great deal, because workforce will rarely come up with such strategies.
The project leader will be able to realize increased performance of the team. Through, this strategy the project leader can also manage to create work schedule in partnership with the team (Latting & Ramsey, 2009). The leader can discuss with the team on how they can improve their performance in the workplace through proper planning, scheduling activities, and report writing according to the deadline for implementing such activities.
The leader can also strive to create team leadership and ensure that members develop cultural awareness of the others in terms of their time management (Sias, 2009). This strategy will help realize improvement in team performance across cultures.
Enhancing Open Communication
The project leader can also enhance open and inclusive communication strategies, which enable team members to share their reservations about time management issues. This strategy is highly effective in scenarios where the team members see their project leader as a superior person they cannot approach easily (Puck, Rygl and Kittler, 2007).
The project manager can initiate an interactive working relationship with the team members in order to obtain opportunities to know their feelings with certain tasks assigned to them.
Furthermore, the project leader can extend the open communication with the team members to periods when they are having breaks (Puck, Rygl and Kittler, 2007). For example, a project can take advantage of tea break discussion with the team members to remind them about pending activity deadlines.
Conclusion
In summary, project implementation in global organizations with teams from multicultural backgrounds present massive challenges to managers. This is because members of the team from different cultural regions have varying attitude and approach to time and its management. The difference normally causes conflicts between project managers and their assonants.
The project manager can employ diverse strategies to handle a team with a multicultural diversity. Firstly, the project manager can make the group to work as team in order to minimize delays associated with individual engagement. Secondly, the manager can schedule daily meetings for the team to enable members give feedback on their achievements over the last days as well as highlight their plans for the day.
Thirdly, the manager can strengthen workplace relations in order to promote free consultation between them and the team. Finally, the project manager can undertake cross – cultural training in order to develop competence on handling a culturally diverse workforce.
It is notable that multi – cultural training normally boost peoples’ cultural awareness and ability to handle others. This is possible because the training provides skills for accommodating other peoples’ traditional norms, and adjustment to varying norms appropriately.
List of References
Adekola, A and Sergi, B 2012, Global Business Management: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, Hampshire.
Bhattacharyya, D 2010, Cross-cultural management texts and cases, New Delhi: PHI Learning Ldt.
Curtis, J and Dreachslin, J 2008, “Integrative Literature Review: Diversity Management Interventions and Organizational Performance: A Synthesis of Current Literature,” Human Resource Development Review, Vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 107-134, via SAGE Journals Database.
Dierendonck, D & Patterson, K 2010, Servant leadership: developments in theory and research, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire.
Dowling, P, Festing, M & Engle, A 2008, International human resource management: managing people in a multinational context, London: Thomson Learning.
Dubrin, A 2012, Essentials of management, South-Western/Thomson Learning, Mason, Ohio.
Falkheimer, J and Heide, M 2006, “Multicultural Crisis Communication: Towards a Social Constructionist Perspective”, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, Vol.14, pp. 180–189, via Willey Online Library.
Federman, B 2009, Employee Engagement A Roadmap for Creating Profits, Optimizing Performance, and Increasing Loyalty, John Wiley & Sons Inc, New York, NY.
Flannery, G., Stevens, F., Plaut, V and Sanchez – Burks, J 2008, “Unlocking the Benefits of Diversity All-Inclusive Multiculturalism and Positive Organizational Change”, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 116-133, via SAGE Journals Database.
Gassmann, O 2001, “Multicultural Teams: Increasing Creativity and Innovation by Diversity”, Creativity and Innovation Management, Vol. 10, pp. 88–95, via Willey Online Library.
Jackson, S, Schuler, R & Werner, S 2012, Managing human resources, South Western cengage learning, Mason, Ohio.
Latting, J & Ramsey, V 2009, Reframing change: how to deal with workplace dynamics, influence others, and bring people together to initiate positive change, Praeger, California, CA.
Puck, J., Rygl, D and Kittler, M 2007, “Cultural antecedents and performance consequences of open communication and knowledge transfer in multicultural process-innovation teams”, Journal of Organisational Transformation & Social Change, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 223-241, via EBSCO Host.
Sias, P 2009, Organizing relationships: traditional and emerging perspectives on workplace relationships, SAGE, California, CA.
Silverthorne, C 2005, Organizational Psychology in Cross-cultural Perspective, NYU Press, New York, NY.
Steers, R, Sánchez-Runde, C & Nardon, L 2012, Management across cultures: developing global competencies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Tassell, M 2006, Called to Serve: Servant-leadership Perceptions at a Franciscan-sponsored University Correlated with Job Satisfaction. ProQuest, Michigan, MI..
Terry, J 2011, Managing a Multicultural Workforce, Human Resource Development, Massachusetts, MA.
Analyzing the rates of customer satisfaction is a rather complicated task, as quantifying the data that is supposed to be qualitative by its nature is a very challenging process. Although the calculations of the population standard deviation, the mean and the variance are not that complicated, operating with the data that needs to be converted from textual into quantitative is very difficult. Herein the key problem with the information represented in the paper under analysis lies; the accuracy of the numerical data represented in the paper can hardly be verified.
Apart from the problem mentioned above, the issue regarding the number of participants and samples taken in the process of research deserves to be mentioned. Particularly, some light must be shed on the fact that the number of samples used in the calculation of the standard deviation and the identification of the rest of the data reached thousands in every case. As a result, the variance of the samples considered in the course of the research could not be high. Moreover, the variance of the data used in the research approaches zero. As a result, the data sets regarding the customer satisfaction calculated for the first and the second year of the company’s operations are barely different from each other. Because of an extraordinarily large number of samples chosen for the research, the research cannot possibly show the areas, which the organization needs to pay special attention to; on the contrary, the standard deviation of the data analyzed shows that the company is relatively low.
More importantly, because of the number of samples used in the analysis, the standard deviation calculated for Year 1 (9.1 (1.1)) is practically identical to the one estimated for Year 2 (9.1 (1.2)). Thus, the report does not allow for a detailed analysis of the changes, which the organization has undergone in terms of customer satisfaction provision. It is assumed, therefore, that the sampling method used by the company in question should be readdressed. As far as the data in the Region 3 is concerned, given the above-mentioned considerations regarding the average approaching a doubtfully high mark, Southwestern sales clearly need to be addressed Given the fact that the method of data analysis chosen by the organization leads to a possibility of overrating the company, low indices are obviously a reason for concern.
The problem mentioned above is likely to affect both the Delivery Processes and the Phone-Based Representatives since the rates in customer satisfaction depend on both communications with the company’s representatives and the speed of the delivery. It is, therefore, suggested that the company’s logistics and communication processes should be improved.
Improving the Communication, Analysis and Logistics Issue
The problems related to the domain of logistics, statistical analysis and especially communication need to be resolved as soon as possible; otherwise, the company will be incapable of functioning properly in the contemporary environment of the global economy. To locate the factors that may affect the development of the problems identified above and, therefore, create the strategy that will help cope with the specified issues, one will have to consider additional data. The more information the organization has and the more angles it uses to evaluate the data retrieved, the more efficient the coping method is likely to be. Consequently, it is desirable that the information such as the number of delays, the number of refunds, the percentage of packages that get damaged in the process of transportation, the average speed of the product delivery, and the existing options concerning the choice of the transportation modes must be reviewed as well. The information concerning the issues in question will have to be represented in the form of quantitative data; thus, new statistical data regarding the time taken to deliver the product, the number of customers’ complaints concerning broken or damaged packages, the number of instances, in which the communication process did not deliver the necessary results or led to a conflict between the customer and the company, etc. will have to be collected, quantified and analyzed (Barner, 2012).
Much like in the specified case, the mean and the standard deviation for 2014 and 2015 will have to be calculated. The sampling process, however, will have to be different this time; in order to approach the process properly, one will have to consider the method of probability sampling, as it helps locate the predictability of random events and compare the latter to the actual outcomes in a proper manner (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Defining the type of probability sampling that will have to be used for the study, a multi-stage cluster should be viewed as one of the most reasonable options, since the data that the organization will retrieve is most likely to be very diverse and incorporate information on a range of subjects. In addition, the fact that the study will have to be carried out online will have to be taken into consideration (Cummings, Butler & Kraut, 2014).
Problems and Their Origin
As it has been stressed above, communication and the issues related to quality assurance in general and the transportation of the product to the end customer, in particular, will have to be considered in the course of the research. Getting to the bottom of the issue, one must admit that the communication concerns raised above may have been triggered by a vast variety of factors, starting from the flaws in the company’s communication design down to the culture clash between the company representatives and the Southwest states. Each of the scenarios above, however, requires that the communication methods should be redesigned completely. First and most obvious, the corporate values and the organizational behavior principles should be evaluated carefully. Perhaps, the lack of decent corporate ethics may have caused the current issues with the communication between the staff and the customers; for instance, the clients may be reluctant to give feedback to the company due to the lack of proper communication strategies and conflict-solving skills of the staff. Te issues regarding the quality of the end product may be attributed to the choice of cheap transportation options as a means of saving money. Each of the scenarios suggested above requires a detailed analysis of the company’s ethics and values and the following redesign thereof.
Meaning and Implications of Variation
As it has been stressed above, variation is one of the key tools for carrying out a quantitative analysis of the company’s performance and its efficacy in collecting feedback from its customers. By definition, variation will allow for an assessment of the differences in the data retrieved from the customers; to be more exact, the correlation between the negative and the positive reviews, as well as the extent, to which these reviews differ from each other in terms of their appreciation of the firm’s services, can be identified. Based on the specified date, the company managers will be capable of locating the key problems in communicating with specific customer sand, therefore, meet the needs of a rather diverse group of people. Hence, the larger the population standard deviation is the more information can be retrieved from the information sampled from the existing set of data.
Therefore, keeping an eye on the changes in the population standard deviation rates is essential for the company’s performance and further relations with customers. Moreover, carrying out regular researches involving surveys and interviews conducted among the company’s customers is essential for identifying dents in corporate ethics and the approach towards customer relationships.
Despite the fact that the problem exists currently in one region, it is possible that it may spread to other regions as well. Since the issue is most likely to be related to the flaws in the design of the strategy for customer relationships in the organization, the issue may emerge in other regions, including the ones, in which the company has been doing outstandingly well, within a comparatively short amount of time. Because of the availability of modern information technologies, dissatisfied customers in the Southwest regions may affect the choices of buyers in other areas of the US. Therefore, a rearrangement of corporate values and ethics is essential for the firm at present. As soon as the principles for customer relationships are established and the staff realizes the necessity to keep clients satisfied, the company is likely to improve its score in the Southwest.
References
Barner, C. (2012). Social media and communication. Journal of Communications, 45(8), 99-110.
Bryman, A. & Bell, E. (2015). Business research methods. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Cummings, J. N., Butler, B., & Kraut, R. (2014). The quality of online social relationships. Communications of the ACM, 45(7), 103-108.
Cultural differences and values responsible for some of the virtual team problems
It is prudent to mention that there were already well established historical and cultural norms in place before the inception of new virtual teams. In any case, a customer team that used to operate under the Celestial Voila umbrella existed before the new changes were implemented. Most of the members who worked with the initial team were drawn from France. One of the main roles played by differences in culture was the lack of proper coordination among various customer teams. The dominant French language could not permit other dialects to penetrate easily. The French language was used to conduct several businesses. Consequently, a feeling of isolation was gradually created among employees who could not communicate in French.
The terms and conditions that governed the formation of the new global and virtual teams were negotiated beyond the required limit to protect the cultural interests of certain groups. It is not merely the global strategies that were executed. It is also understood that certain cultures (such as Parisians) received more favors than others. Cultural imperialism was largely blamed on America because it appeared to force its cultural ideals even on non-Americans. The American Celestial people were the pinnacle of macro-level tension that existed between the US and France.
Typical problems of virtual teams
The laissez-faire style of leadership was a typical problem in some teams. It proved to be quite cumbersome to manage virtual teams that required close supervision in the course of operations. Some teams were affected by a lack of adequate work. Therefore, certain individuals were expected to depart the team at some point. However, it became difficult to determine who would leave any given team owing to minimal work. The latter state of affairs made several team members uncomfortable with their various places of work. Some of them even described the situation as horrible and unfortunate.
It is also apparent that lack of collaboration was a major problem as envisioned in this case study. It is only the virtual teams that worked under the ICT department that enjoyed some level of collaboration owing to advances in technology. Nonetheless, coordination was quite poor among the rest of the teams.
Virtual teams in this case study also faced the challenge of anxiety in the course of delivering their duties. For example, several contentious managerial issues demanded open forums for solutions to be found. Nonetheless, most issues were solved in board rooms away from the virtual teams. Needless to say, these teams also required forums where they could air their concerns regularly. However, this was never the case.
Morris’ leadership style in Celestial’s global customer team
James Morris had already carried out several international assignments on the leadership of virtual teams. He also recorded impressive success as a team leader in the Celestial customer group. The latter was witnessed during his tenure at American. It is interesting to learn that Morris steered his dedicated team to reverse the hard financial times at Americart when the company was experiencing bankruptcy. His transformational style of leadership was witnessed when he introduced the Product Family Management (PFM) methodology to address the miserable financial situation at Americart. The new merchandising method was eventually successful.
Morris was an innovative leader by all standards. From the PFM approach, his confidence and knowledge were evident. He adopted the best strategic business plan. Since the success of PFM demanded effective cooperation and coordination among different virtual teams, Morris must have employed superb organizational skills to manage diverse teams. Therefore, he was also a democratic and astute leader who understood the needs of workers.
The role of power and influence in furthering or hindering the acceptance of PFM
Substantial improvement in the relationship between Americart and Celestial was witnessed after the introduction of PFM. One of the success factors for this methodology was the ability of team leaders to re-organize and fully convince the customer teams. This implied that no other team leader could have succeeded in meeting the objectives of PFM. The type of power required to implement this methodology could only be derived from an influential leader with some transformational style of leadership.
On the other hand, weak leadership in place would have hindered both the acceptance of PFM and the change of strategic marketing plan. From this case study, Morris is powerful because he managed to lead a large team of researchers in implementing the new approach. Drummond also excelled at Voila after being assigned a duty by Morris. Gerald was a highly skilled individual recruited by Morris. Besides, the global team meetings were skillfully facilitated by Hanover. All these positions were critical in the eventual success of the PFM approach. The individuals were also considered to be powerful because they steered the growth and profitability of Celestial Corporation at a time when the organization had little hope to recuperate.
Factors that contributed to the initial lack of collaboration on the team
Lack of collaboration was mainly caused by the absence of active participation of members during the decision making processes. As already hinted out, most meetings were carried out in closed doors without involving the rest of the team members. This led to serious demoralization. As a consequence, some team members became reluctant to offer their services.
Individuals from different locations were sent in form of subgroups to conduct meetings with customers. The rationale behind such meetings was to address both the long-term and emerging challenges affecting production and marketing activities. Hence, collaboration was enhanced through face-to-face forums with customers.
Measures to avoid the PFM-Nourriture Excellence conflict that developed on the global customer team and between Celestial and Voila
Morris, Drummond, Couture, and Hanover should have adopted a new merchandising methodology through Product Family Management (PFM). The latter could have created a strategic business plan along with specific categories of food products. They could have also created a cordial an r working relationship with customers. The leaders should have adequately and thoroughly studied the preferences, practices, and the overall shopping experience of buyers in the market. The teams were expected to create a close working relationship or collaboration between retailers and producers. Various functions in the concerned companies were also supposed to work cooperatively. When there is a lack of collaboration and coordination, Product Family Management is bound to fail. For instance, employees from different departments such as production, finance, information technology, logistics, and marketing were supposed to cooperate at all times to minimize any chances of a conflict.
The re-organization of customer relationships may have reduced the conflict level in the PFM plan. Also, the customer teams that belonged to the internal operations of the organization required a decent customer relationship. In other words, their internal relationships with customer teams were supposed to be thoroughly checked. Although the above-mentioned roles were of great importance to all the participating teams, they were cumbersome to implement. Adequate or effective coordination of roles and departments would have eliminated the challenges associated with the concept of Product Food Management
Identify each of the four stages of team development and explain how the director described each of the staff
Dr. Shaheen identified four stages of team development when she was appointed as the head of admissions. She realized that she needed a team that could work as a unit in order to meet the expectations of the stakeholders in this university. The first stage involved determining the current capacity and weaknesses of the group. When she was appointed as the director of this department, Dr. Shaheen took the time to understand the working relationship in this department.
She was able to determine the capacity of the employees in this department, and the weaknesses that lowered their productivity. This was the first step towards addressing the issues faced by the firm. The second step involved understanding the team members’ individual needs. Dr. Shaheen organised a face-to face meeting with each of the team members in this department of admission. Through this, she was able to get their concerns about various issues in their workplace. Such private interactive forums with individual employees enabled her understand why employees embraced a given behavioural pattern while at work.
It was possible to determine the individual concerns that affected the normal activities at this unit. The third step was to develop a solution based on the local problems. After understanding the issues affecting the team members, Dr. Shaheen developed a solution based on the discussion she had with the individual members of the admissions unit. Finally, the last stage was to involve all parties in the implementation process. After developing a local solution, Dr. Shaheen engaged her team in a discussion and explained to them how each one of them would be involved in achieving the objectives of the team.
This case has stressed both team spirit and teamwork. What is the difference?
The case has emphasized the relevance of team spirit and teamwork in an effort to achieve success in this department. It is important to understand the difference between team spirit and teamwork as presented in the study. Based on the observation of Dr. Shaheen, team spirit refers to an individual’s desire to work as a unit in addressing common problems within an organization. She observed that most of the employees in this department were thinking in terms of ‘me’ and ‘mine’ while at work.
This demonstrated a lack of team spirit. She noted that the employees required a change of perception from ‘me’ to ‘we’, and from ‘mine’ to ‘ours’. It involved developing the desire to work as a unit in every activity within an organization. Team spirit can be said to exist when employees start feeling that they are components of a larger system that cannot run when one component is malfunctioning. For this reason, they will make an effort to support one another in order to make the components in the entire system effective. On the other hand, teamwork is the outcome of team spirit, as shown in this case study.
It involves the actual activities done by the team members as a unit to address common tasks or problems within the unit. As Dr. Shaheen observed, members of the admission department needed to work as a unit. In teamwork, although each member will have a specific assignment to address, their main focus will be to find a way of achieving overall success within the department. This means that the individual employees will be willing to offer help to other members of the department if that is what it takes to achieve success.
Describe the MBWA concept and what this tells you about the director’s personality
Dr. Shaheen introduced the MBWA concept into this organization. Management by walking around is a concept where the manager empowers the employees in their respective areas of assignments to make informed decisions based on the overall objective of the organization. As the name suggests, the manager only needs to walk around and offer guidance to the employees in areas where they feel they have a problem.
When using this concept, the manager empowers the employees to consult the team members when handling various tasks other than constantly seeking the directive of the manager. The manager only comes in when the task requires approval by a higher authority or when the outcome seems to be unclear. This concept makes the employees very responsible. It also makes them motivated because they develop a feeling that the management trusts them and gives them a rare opportunity to make critical decisions at work. The fact that Dr. Shaheen used this concept reveals that she is a transformational leader.
She believed in decentralizing power as a way of enhancing efficiency and reducing the need for constant supervision. She believed that by handing over the responsibility of supervision to the employees themselves, they will be more responsible in all their tasks. This concept helps shed light on the director’s personality. It demonstrates that Dr. Shaheen trusted her junior colleagues and believed that they have the capacity to achieve the best results when given an opportunity. I strongly believe that the results were positive. This is so because the leader managed to change the perception of the employees positively. They believed in teamwork and self-management, key components that enhance the employee’s productivity.
How did Dr. Shaheen motivate the employees?
Dr. Shaheen realized that the employees working in the department she was appointed to head needed some motivation. She had to find appropriate strategies for motivating them. The first approach she used to motivate the employees was to listen to them. She engaged every employee in a one-on-one discussion to determine some of the challenges they faced at work. The ability to listen to the problems of the employees is a sign that she cared for them and wanted them to work in an environment that is favorable. This was one of the first steps she made to ensure that her employees are motivated.
The second step was to involve them in making and implementing local solutions to local problems that employees faced in this department. This made the employees feel valued. Given that they were part of the solutions, they were encouraged to implement these policies. Finally, the strategy of devolving power was also highly motivating. The decision to empower the employees in their respective areas of work made them feel responsible and trusted. They no longer had to follow rigid rules and regulations when addressing various tasks. The strategies used by Dr. Shaheen to motivate her employees were very effective.
However, I would recommend an introduction of benefits to groups with exceptional performance. In this strategy, the manager will need to identify various teams within the department. Each team will have specific duties whose results are evaluated regularly. By the end of every year, the group with the best performance should be rewarded. This strategy will help inculcate team spirit among the employees within the admission unit headed by Dr. Shaheen.
Remote work has become widely prevalent with the emergence of a global pandemic, forcing the various corporation to quickly adapt to the new realities. Supporting teams in a different location may posses certain challenges for inexperienced companies, whereas others take full advantage of the opportunity to develop software to support global talent. Virtual teams provide a global overview of the market, allowing the business to grow without attaching to one site. It is critical to assess all benefits and challenges of operating a virtual team to aid the enterprises in taking advantage of cultural expansion.
Issues IT department faces when it comes to supporting virtual teams
Supporting virtual teams, especially in the beginning stages, may enable several challenges for the IT department. Structuring the work processes in the virtual mode may become a significant difficulty in terms of tracking the tasks. Providing with correct, up-to-date tools is another responsibility of an IT department. Updating the software of each worker may become an issue due to their inability to correctly operate the computers.
Management of such operations may become an issue in virtual team support. IT departments must establish a feasible system for online meetings and continually manage it to ensure the correct department work. The hardware and software actuality is another issue for IT departments, getting in the way of the remote process. Lastly, ensuring the online-security is a critical issue, the lack of which may jeopardize the company’s reputation.
Advantages and disadvantages of using virtual teams for the organizations
Working with virtual teams allows for global reach, having various benefits to such conduct; however it possesses challenges across multiple dimensions. Among the advantages of working with remote employees are cost-reducing on office maintenance and services, more access to international marketing without adapting to time zones, which leads to higher productivity and company expansion (Bakken, 2018). Moreover, virtual teams allow for leveraging global talent beyond their country of origin, create new opportunities for less advantaged societies.
The disadvantages of such a work model include technology cost for developing and providing employees with hardware and software, as well as higher management of cybersecurity. Communication establishment and lack of trust may become significant issues among remote workforce organizations (Bakken, 2018). Social isolation and no face-to-face interaction may negatively influence the productivity of many employees, reflecting on business’ development.
Challenges imposed by IT/IS national standards
National IT standards are set to ensure the adherence of priorities to the US social and political values. Among the most prevalent challenges in meeting the policy requirements, which include efficient time management for mobile and wireless computing, usability, and quality. To overcome the issues, IT/IS national standards must be carefully reviewed, consequently enabling organizational changes to correspond to the policies.
Procedures on virtual teams and propose how they could be handled or resolved
Procedural challenges are also highly important to resolve in virtual team management as they can initiate significant communicational and structural issues. Among the highest-priority issues is a selection of an effective leadership style and the establishment of operational communication. To prevent such problems, leaders must foster a culture of communication during the onboarding period (Bakken, 2018). Leading by example and giving explicit tasks will eliminate procedural matters.
Compare and contrast of virtual and traditional teams
Traditional and virtual teams have significant differences across all operational segments. Virtual teams’ communication requires more effort to manage, as it is conducted online, compared to daily face-to-face interaction of conventional units. Virtual teams entirely rely on technology in their work process, which includes bugs and glitches that interfere with daily tasks. Traditional businesses mostly rely on physical communication in their job function. Having a remote team allows for broader diversity and extensive cultural experience, while old-fashioned conduct depends on one-on-one location, which deprives of the possibility to globally develop.
Referring to the experience described in the previous reflection in participation of planning a large event, there was a situation which strongly emphasized the importance of teamwork. Most of the volunteer workers were put into teams overseen by a supervisor that were responsible for a specific aspect of the event planning. Upon formation my team was tense, and we were struggling in many elements of work including communication, creative and practical collaboration, and organizational capacities. However, our supervisor was very experienced in the industry, having worked with multiple teams over the years. He quickly recognized the situation which was inhibiting our work. The team was gathered, and he facilitated a discussion to determine our comfortable areas, strengths, and skills, with each individual being given assignments that they worked best in. Performance and teamwork quickly improved and we were able to successfully execute our given part.
In the context of this situation, once again it became clear that theoretical applications of team management and collaboration are critical. The approaches that were implemented by my supervisor had their basis in management theory as well as his experienced of understanding the psychology of teams in complex work environments. One of the most foundational theories of teamwork is Bruce Tuckman’s Model of Team Stages. It suggests that teams develop over time, undergoing particular stages (not linear), each serving a purpose in the team’s growth and development as it eventually reaches peak performance and effectiveness (Black et al., 2019). In their research Bell et al. (2018) describe the importance of team composition, as the configuration team attributes ultimately influences the so-called ABCs of teamwork which are affective states, behavioral processes, and cognitive states. There is also the Belbin’s Theory of Team Roles which has seen success in modern management as well, attributing a well-functioning and optimized teamwork due to individuals being given the role where they best excel out of the seven possible which are: idea creator, information gatherer, decision-maker, implementer, influencer, energizer, and relationship manager (Ruch et al., 2016).
These theories all took place in the situation. Our team underwent a developmental trajectory where we worked together, figured out differences, and eventually adapted to ensure that our performance was at the highest level. The importance of team composition was critical as well in the ABCs, as it affected our emotional state, behavior, and cognitive perspectives. Initially, it was challenging and debilitating because the team composition was made of relatively inexperienced workers that were strongly disorganized. However, once our supervisor applied the theory of team roles to an extent, assigning roles and appropriate tasks for that role in the team to individuals which were more comfortable, the team composition improved as well. Going forward, the theories enrich my understanding of team management and teamwork in the context of my future professional practice in event management. Teams in the industry are expected to work on complex and multilateral projects, therefore management of these teams should focus on identifying individual strengths of members and bringing them together competently and comprehensively to promote the best teamwork practices.
Reference List
Bell, S.T., Brown, S.G.., Colahen, A. & Outland, N. (2018). Team composition and the ABCs of teamwork. American Psychologist, [online] 73(4), pp.349–362. Web.
Ruch, W., Gander, F., Platt, T. and Hofmann, J. (2016). Team roles: Their relationships to character strengths and job satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology, [online] 13(2), pp.190–199. Web.
The Dennigee’s Store’s purpose is to expand and achieve its vision. Expansion might assist Dennigee’s Store in meeting consumer demand, expanding its market share, and leveraging its burgeoning brand. Well-crafted objectives help an organization stay motivated, have a natural direction, and establish specific objectives (Kabeyi, 2019). While most individuals know how important it is to set goals, accomplishing them can be challenging. Therefore, beyond a business concept, setting goals is crucial to the success of Dennigee’s Store.
Objectives
The team should prioritize three goals: bringing in more clients, boosting earnings, and boosting sales at Dennigee’s Store. Increasing turnover and productivity and planning for change and expansion can all be aided by increasing profitability. Acquiring customers is essential for starting a business and establishing a presence in the market, whether it is to raise sales (Fraccastoro et al., 2021). Productivity growth promotes competition growth. Hence, the company can pay less if it can make its goods for less money than its rival.
Plan
Objectives
This Month
This Quarter
This Season (Year)
Objective 1: Faster customer growth than the rivals
Opening new possibilities
Attracting more clients
Increasing profits
Objective 2: Increasing the company’s revenues
Acquiring more customers
Acquiring more market
Retaining the existing customers
Objective 3: Ensuring the excellent customer experience
Promoting customer loyalty
Retaining clients
Encouraging brand advocacy
Objective 4: Leading in profit generation
Reducing costs
Increasing turnover
Increasing productivity
Objective 5: Using the company’s strength to compete
Lowering prices
Improving the quality of products
Attracting more clients
Alignment with the Company Strategy
The aim of Dennigee involves being a customer-driven supplier of premium plants and lawn and garden goods. These targets and goals are in line with Dennigee’s emphasis on the “Big Five,” which include outpacing the competition in terms of customer growth, outpacing it in terms of revenue growth, guaranteeing an excellent customer experience every time, outpacing it in terms of profitability expansion, and employing the competitive advantage of our society. Because the goals and objectives take the firm’s overall plan and split it down into digestible chunks, the goals above and targets align with the company’s plans since they offer milestones along the route to accomplish the strategic mark.
Every group must undergo a development process. The development process consists of various stages that lead to the maturity stage. Using a team formed in various organizations such as the management team as our group, this document will analyze the development stages experienced by the group.
Stages of Group Development
Forming
The foremost phase of group development is “forming.” It entails the coming together of individuals having a common purpose. Therefore, in relation to the management team, this is whereby managers come together and form a group with the common purpose of governing the organization.
Storming
After the forming process, the subsequent phase is “storming.” In this stage, there are excessive conflicts about their purposes or goals, since team members attempt to understand each other. I a management team, the managers often disagree on some of their objectives and strategies, due to their diverse thoughts.
Norming
The third stage is “norming” whereby team member develops a healthy working relationship. At this stage, they seem to understand each other very well. Therefore, in a management team, managers seem to have an excellent relationship and work together with the common goal of reaching their various objectives. They often seem to understand each other very well.
Performing
The fourth phase is “performing.” At this stage, every member of the group performs their role with the sole aim of reaching their target. Linking this with a management group, managers often work with the sole aim of meeting organizational goals.
Termination
The final phase is “termination.” At this phase, group members have met their goal thus do not have any reason for exist. Therefore, in a management team, members of the management team often have completed their mission of governing their organization. Since they do not have a reason for existence, they terminate the group’s existence.
Conclusion
Every group has various development stages. Every formed group must undergo these stages before meeting their goals. This also includes any management group of a firm. These stages are divided into five stages, the last one being termination, which occurs after the accomplishment of the desired goals.
The fundamentals of managing organization and people
While discussing the role of a working team in management activity, I would like to start from the fundamentals of management and organizational behavior. First of all, it is necessary to point out that management includes a set of activities, which are related to decision-making processes. To achieve certain aims the organization should use its resources. The basic resources the organization possesses are divided into human, financial, physical and information.
These resources increase the organization’s chances to succeed. Moreover, they help to achieve a purpose in an efficient way. Efficiency and effectiveness are the basic criteria management of the organization is to be based on. Efficiency means the organization is to work in such a way its resources couldn’t be wasted; while effectiveness means performing the right things in a proper way at a proper time.
Of course, the person who carries out the management process is also an important element of the organizational structure. Thus, a person, who makes right decisions, organizes and controls numerous aspects of the organization’s activity, is a manager. I would like to point out that a manager distributes the organization’s resources.
The basic areas management includes are marketing, finance, operations, human resources, administrations, etc. The levels the management includes are first-line managers, middle managers, and top managers.
First-line managers are responsible for operating employees. Middle management implements the instructions of the representatives of the highest level. Top managers develop numerous management strategies, and set the most important purposes. The managers are also divided according to the area they work in. Marketing managers work with the customers and clients.
The services and products the organization can offer are the primary points the managers are interested in. Financial resources are investigated by financial managers. Operations managers observe and control the ways the services and products are created. Human resource managers are mostly engaged in the employees’ training and development. Administrative managers work in functional areas.
Management process includes organizing (the primary questions are the ways the organization’s resources can be used); leading (the most important points are related to motivation strategies to influence the employees’ desire to do their best); controlling (the central issues are based on the process of controlling the organization’s activities, etc. in order to facilitate or improve the purpose attainment); and planning and decision-making (the primary point is the best way the aim can be achieved).
Planning includes the analysis of the environment, the perspectives’ investigation, developing long-term goals, and setting competitive strategies. Organizing involves identification of tasks, clarifying the responsibilities, scarce resources search, and work with skilled personnel.
The fundamental management skills are to be based on the abilities to understand the specific type of the task, to communicate with different persons, to think in the abstract or to think differently, to use analytical abilities, to resolve conflicts, to think strategically. A skilled manager should take the most appropriate decisions various situations require. To be a good manager means to see various opportunities and to determine the problems correctly.
The key managerial roles include the role of the leader, the role of the spokesperson, and the role of an innovator.
Motivation and personality are considered to be the key personal factors the managerial success depends on. On the other hand, the relations with subordinates belong to situational factor, which is also of primary importance. Appropriate actions and luck are other constituent parts of the managerial success.
Generally, management is the science, which investigates rational and logical ways to solve a problem or some contradictions. On the other hand, management is recognized to be an art, which is based on time-management skills and various organizational strategies.
There are numerous management theories, which describe the ways to run the organization. Descriptive management theories are considered to be the most appropriate and widespread. Management theories help to point out the most important aspects of the organization’s activity, and to understand what things or aspects are to be neglected. In most cases, the theories are derived from personal experience, interviews, or laboratory experimentations.
According to the department of Finance and Management Science of Washington State University (2012, p. 1): Management science represents a quantitative approach to solving problems in business. Management science practitioners apply a rich toolbox of mathematical and computer techniques to help make a wide variety of decisions such as the proper mix of products to produce, the number of tellers to employ at a bank, or the shortest travel route for a delivery truck to take.
The thesis statement
Management is a science, which represents a set of activities to achieve certain organization’s goals. The success of management strategies depends upon numerous aspects, including the responsibilities of top managers, the distribution of the organization’s resources, etc. Team work is also one of the key points effective management is based on.
Power & conflict, leadership & teamwork
According to Susan G. Cohen and Diane E. Bailey (1997, p. 242), ‘Work Teams are the type of team most people think about when discussing teams. Work teams are continuing work units responsible for producing goods or providing services’. There are supervisors who direct such teams.
Thus, they decide what is produced, and in what way it is produced. There are also the so-called self-managing work teams. Telecommunication team is one of the examples. Quality and productivity improvement, and the costs reducing are the primary aims of self-managing work teams creating.
The effectiveness of the work team depends upon the relations between the members of the team as well as effective strategies, the manager or the supervisor is to provide the employees with. The basic points the effectiveness relies on are the workers’ attitudes, and behavioral outcomes.
‘Environmental factors, task design, group composition, organizational context, internal and external processes, and group psychological traits are the parts, which impact on the effectiveness of work teams’ (Cohen & Bailey, 1997, p. 244).
To create a strong work team, the manager should keep in mind numerous points. For instance, the manager must define the roles of the members the work team consists of. Thus, every member should perform his or her own task. For this reason, the manager is to choose skilled people, in order they could cope with various tasks. It is also rather important to know more about every member of the work team.
The manager is to be interested not only in the skills the employee possesses; there is a need to become familiar with the employee’s personality, his or special needs or expectations. Lynne Gaines and Adelaide Wilson (2004-2005, p. 1) say that the manager should ‘agree on a mission for his or her group. Getting broad participation in goal setting can help employees understand how their work contributes to the organization’s success’.
One of the most important basic strategies, the manager is to follow is to reward the team. Team relationships are extremely important. The members of the team can get together in a casual atmosphere and talk about mutual interests. Ground rules establishment is one of the key points the effectiveness of management strategies is based on.
One more important issue, all work teams are familiar with is a conflict. The obstacle is to be carefully considered, as it causes decreased productivity. According to the website Morgancc.edu (2007, p. 1), ‘Conflict arises from differences. When individuals come together in work teams their differences in terms of power, values and attitudes, and social factors all contribute to the creation of conflict’.
Generally, there are different approaches to the conflict. Thus, direct approach means a conflict is to be discussed objectively. Bargaining is a technique which main aim is to find a compromise. Enforcement of team rules is also one of the effective ways to resolve a conflict; however, it is better not to use the technique, as interpersonal relations can be spoiled.
If one of the members of the work team doesn’t want to cooperate with the rest, the enforcement can take place. It is usually applied to an individual. Retreat is another effective method, which main purpose is to avoid a conflict if the problem is not real, and one of the members should cool off. De-emphasis is another common technique, which is used to resolve some contradictions. In other words, it reminds of bargaining, but there are more ways to find a compromise.
The basic steps of team resolution process are collaboration, mediation, and team counseling. There are also the Five-P’s of Conflict Management, namely perceptions, problems, processes, processes, principles, and practices. The first category is based on persons’ negative perceptions, which cause the desire to resolve a conflict.
The problems define the complexity of the conflict. Processes are also based on resolving disputes. Principles define the priorities persons are to rely on when a conflict appears. Practices determine the most widespread ways to seek for an answer.
Another important point I want to highlight is the notion of Leadership and Team. Mitch McCrimmon (2008, p. 1) states:
Employees with leadership potential see team effectiveness as a leadership opportunity. They realize that they will achieve more by working through and with others, that they will get more done with the active support of colleagues. The organization’s future leaders take proactive steps to improve the effectiveness of their teams.
The importance of interpersonal relations
The leaders stimulate other employees to think differently. In most cases, the interpersonal relations depend upon the strategies the leaders develop. The key points of team building are interdependence, goal specification, cohesiveness, roles and norm and communication. Peter Scholters (1988, p. 1) is of the opinion that ‘People should feel a sense of worth and involvement, where their ideas are heard and their contribution is recognized’.
The team’s objectives must correspond to the abilities of the employees. Mutual respect and support are the issues the team’s operability depends on. Scholtes (1988, p. 1) affirms that ‘It is critical to realize that getting promoted at higher levels is a lot like getting elected and not many people will give their support to backstabbers or selfish colleagues’.
Reference List
Cohen, S., & Bailey, D., 1997. What Makes Teams Work: Group Effectiveness Research from the Shop Floor to the Executive Suite. Web.