Category: Teamwork

Introduction

Organizations should establish ways of ensuring that their employees perform their duties without conflicts. It is necessary to explain that employers form an important part of an organization because they combine and use other factors of production to ensure their companies achieve their objectives.

There is the need to promote unity and understanding among all stakeholders in a business to ensure it does not experience conflicts. This paper examines the importance of teamwork, cohesiveness and consensus decision in an organization.

Definitions

Teamwork is an initiative established by employers and employees to ensure people work together to achieve the objectives of their organizations (Henderson 13). This practice involves deliberate efforts by employees and employers to ensure they help each other in various processes of production.

Teamwork is important because it enables workers to save time; therefore, they will perform their duties and deliver their results before their deadlines expire (Salas, Tannenbaum, Cohen and Latham 33). In addition, it encourages sharing of information among workers and this enables them to acquire new skills of doing their work.

Moreover, it portrays a positive public image because it shows that a company is focused to achieve its objectives (Goldstein and Ford 41). Lastly, teamwork helps managers to maintain order in their organizations.

The operations of a company will run smoothly when there is teamwork among all stakeholders. Therefore, teamwork is an indispensable aspect of an organization that plans to attract investors, widen its market and motivate workers.

Teamwork and Cohesiveness

Cohesion is the ability of employees and employers to work together despite their differences. Most organizations employ workers from different backgrounds and this means that it is not easy to bond them (Henderson 65).

Therefore, organizations establish programs like retreats and training to promote interaction among their employees. Cohesiveness refers to the level of understanding and integration among workers from different backgrounds. This ensures employees use their skills and experiences to help others to improve their performance.

In addition, cohesion promotes unity and teamwork and ensures employees work towards achieving a common goal (Goldstein and Ford 86). There is the need for managers to ensure there is cohesion among employees to promote teamwork in their organizations.

Teamwork cannot exist if employees do not understand and appreciate the contributions and efforts of their colleagues (Salas, Tannenbaum, Cohen and Latham 65). Therefore, cohesion promotes understanding among workers and ensures everybody appreciates the presence and roles played by stakeholders in organizations.

Consensus Decision

A consensus decision is an agreement made by all parties involved in a project. This means that it is a resolution made and agreed upon by all stakeholders and it considers all the views and suggestions of everybody involved in a discussion (Henderson 71). Consensus refers to an agreement between two or more people regarding an activity.

For instance, workers may decide to help others, even if this is not stipulated by the policies of an organization. This resolution becomes a consensus decision if nobody has a different opinion regarding the agreement.

A decision becomes consensus when all stakeholders are notified and participate in making the agreement and nobody should have a different opinion (Goldstein and Ford 114).

Consensus decisions promote teamwork because they compel workers to follow their agreements and pledges. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that organizations consult all stakeholders before making decisions that affect them.

Conclusion

Teamwork is important in all organizations because it promotes efficiency, saves time and ensures workers help each other to perform their duties properly. In addition, it ensures the operations of organizations ran smoothly and reduces conflicts in a company.

There is the need for a company’s stakeholders to make consensus decisions to ensure the interests of all members are considered. Moreover, cohesion among members must exist to ensure they understand each other and appreciate their differences.

Works Cited

Goldstein, Irwin L. and Kevin Ford. Training in Organizations: Needs Assessment, Development and Evaluation. California: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Henderson, Darryl. Cohesion: The Human Element in Combat. New York: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012. Print.

Salas, Eduardo, Scott Tannenbaum, Deborah Cohen and Gary Latham. Developing and Enhancing Teamwork in Organizations: Evidence-Based Best Practices and Guidelines (J-B SIOP Professional Practice Series). New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2013. Print.

The essay looks into the facilitation as a function of management. The essay establishes the competencies of a good facilitator and the purpose of facilitation in management. It further discusses group work in detail by focusing on concepts of team buildings, the life cycles of teams, types of teams, advantages of team focus in an organization, how to build effective teams and finally offers tips on conflict management and resolution.

Facilitation and team work are important aspects of organizational functioning. Without proper facilitation and encouraging of team work, an organization is likely to lack synergy in its efforts to establish or achieve a competitive advantage.

Facilitation means a process by which a person helps others to complete their tasks and improve their interpersonal relationship by moving and working mutually together (Lane 1995, p. 32). Facilitation is important in any organization which wants to improve its productivity and interpersonal relationships both internally and with stakeholders from the external business environment.

A good facilitator is defined by personal attributes that inspire others to listen to him, follow him or accept his or her facilitation. Some of these personal attributes include “humility, generosity and patience, combined with understanding, acceptance and affirmation” (Borrini-Feyerabend, Pimbert & Taghi Farvar 2007, p. 194).

These are competencies or attributes that all managers need to learn and internalize. Professional attributes such as “flexibility, adaptive, proactive, responsive and resilient come in hand in order to make service delivery and relationship with other people respectful” (Borrini-Feyerabend, Pimbert & Taghi Farvar 2007, p. 200).

Team building is an essential tool for making a work force to be respectful competitive, cooperative toward each other as they engage in meeting organizational objectives (Luecke 2004, p.100). In order to realize team work, managers have to look at others positively and use only encouraging and affirming language.

Good managers who build great teams know how to inspire through positive words. Being positive and encouraging others to be positive towards each other nurtures leadership and helps teams whether every kind of challenge that would bring them down (Schraagen, Chipman & Shalin 2000, p. 273).

Teams give employees the freedom to grow and gain respect and dignity by managing themselves, making decisions about their work, and really making difference in the world around them (Nagelkerk, J 2005, p. 43). As a result, employees have a better work life, face less stress at work and make use of employees’ assistance programs.

Team building has profound benefits that accrue to an organization. When teams are working properly, Maher and Hall (1998, p. 78) notes that operation costs are lowered, few mistakes are made in operations, employee morale goes up while grievances reported dwindle, and as a result of the foregoing turnover as well as absenteeism are often very low. Organizational based teams help in making employees feel valued.

The teams’ environment is very dynamic and changes constantly reducing boredom levels in organizations. It is also a good avenue through which innovative and creative solutions to problems and conflicts can be discerned.

In order for teams to successfully progress in there spheres of expertise, it has to move through various phases (Maher & Hall 1998, p. 131). The first stage or phase in team formation is forming. Forming is where team members are initiated in a team (Maher 1998, 131). After the Forming phase of team development a Storming stage or phase follows.

In the storming phase of team development, members’ differences e.g. on how the team should run begin to surface. This phase if not well negotiated is likely to break the team (Maher & Hall 1998, p. 132). As the teams come up with agreed methods of operation, the team goes to Noming phase.

In the Noming phase, members are more concerned about the collective interests of the team than personal opinions or interests. Through Noming, the team is able to reach the final phase, which performing. It is only after the performance phase is reached that the team goals are met.

A team that has reached the performing phase often has all issues settled and thus can focus on supporting each other towards dealing with problems and challenges or fulfilling the purpose for which they were created (Maher & Hall 1998, p. 132).

Most organizations have different types of teams; these teams are classified by what they do in an organization. For example, there are Quality Circles, which are small groups of employees from the same work area who meet regularly or monthly to discuss and recommend solutions to workplace problems (Griffin & Moorhead 2009, p. 260).

We have Work teams, which are often permanent teams or units that engage in daily work in the organization. There are also problem solving teams that are temporary in nature and are often set up to deal with a specific problem in the workplace (Griffin & Moorhead 2009, p. 261).

Other types of teams are called management teams, which often consists of different managers and help in coordinating different tasks in the organization (Griffin& Moorhead 2009, p. 261). Management teams are relatively permanent because their work does not end with a particular project or resolution of a problem.

Team work is important for any given organization for its productivity and growth; its merits outweighs its demerits for instance people who have greater talents are tapped by an organization, and the teams management environment offers an opportunity for people to make better use of their talents (Baldwin & Migneault 1996, p. 15).

Individual working in a team contribute ideas, which are coalesced into one strong offering or one solution to a problem; a process that helps individuals learn problem solving skills, unlike working on the problem alone (Baldwin& Migneault 1996, p.16).

However, Its demerits is that team members may ignore their own work when paying attention to team activity, hence they may not have self discipline or required skills for teamwork (Baldwin& Migneault 1996, p. 15). Empowered employees may not know their limits. Teams are inefficient because they demand continuing attention from management authority to their development and operation (Baldwin& Migneault 1996, p. 16).

They don’t own a clear communication or decision making policy, and hence they are sometimes inclined towards group think (Baldwin& Migneault 1996, p. 16). Top management authorities do not wish to share their authority with others, moreover, they do not have unity of purpose and unwilling to cooperate in an elitist and academic environment (Baldwin& Migneault 1996, p. 18).

In order to build an effective team, clear expectations have to be considered for the optimum team performance. It is critical to outline clearly what the teams wants to achieve and why the expectations were created (Haskins, Mellor & Macrae 1987, p. 123). Context of the team has to be spelled out, this is essential because it will be possible to see the image of an organization’s goals and values.

Commitment is also critical; the members should be willing to devote to accomplishing the teams expected mission and come out with clear output. They should be prepared to accept the challenge that comes with this. Competent, innovative people who have the right skills, knowledge, and creative thinkers and the capability to address the issues of which was spelled out in the teams being set up is important.

Communication is important in a team realizing its goals; the company should give important business information to teams and in return, a feedback should be given back for analysis, they should understand the context of their existence (Vineyard& Lynch 1991, p. 148). The team should have control where boundaries are set and know their limitations.

Effective management of an organization is dependent on effective communication, conflict resolution, and the creation of an inclusive organizational culture to succeed (Butterfoss 2007, p. 143). Work related conflicts are caused by several factors; opposing conflicts when passing a point across communicate clearly and explain this reduces the concept of misunderstanding (Butterfoss 2007, p. 143).

Roused emotions sometimes bring discussion more neutral, impersonal level and explore the problem more calmly (Butterfoss 2007, p. 144). Team culture, having negative team culture can make negotiation extremely difficult; both discussions should be approached with a positive mind.

Conflict at work place can have adverse effects to the parties involved, teams and to the business as a whole, but these conflicts can be prevented early in advance before they occur (Guffey, Rogin & Rhodhes 2008, p. 69).

To effectively solve and get rid of this work related conflicts sound strategies have to be employed to create and environment which is free and comfortable for work (Bacal 1998, p. 10). Communication is critical towards avoiding conflicts. It is advised that in interpersonal interactions, individuals own their own feelings and messages thus taking responsibility for import of their words (Bacal 1998, p. 110).

Apart from speaking respectively through owning personal feelings and messages employs have to learn listening skills. Listening skills help employs listen and really understand whatsoever is said to them. It is not just about hearing what the other is saying but also helping the other towards making himself or herself understood (Guffey, Rogin & Rhodhes 2008, p. 79).

In employee related conflict management, use of behavioral consequences for uncooperative employees who are unwilling to change is inevitable (Falconer 2004, p. 54). Some employees feel afraid or despise change and it takes them ages to change anything because of their unwillingness. Managers have to be able to clearly communicate what consequences would accrue to employees who are unwilling to change their problematic behaviors (Bacal 1998, p. 12).

In conclusion, for effective team building and efficient management in organizations, managers have to realize the need of concrete facilitation skills. Facilitation skills are critical toward the creation of a nurturing environment for work.

References

Bacal, R 1998. Conflict Prevention in the Workplace Using Cooperative Communication, Bacal & Associates, New York

Baldwin, David, A & Migneault, RL 1996, Humanistic Management by Teamwork: An Organizational and Administrative Alternative for Academic Libraries, Libraries Unlimited, New Orleans.

Borrini-Feyerabend, G, Pimbert, M & Taghi Farvar, M 2007, Learning-By-Doing in Co- Management of Natural Resources throughout the World, Earthscan, New York

Butterfoss, Dunn, F 2007, Coalitions and Partnerships in Community Health, John Wiley and Sons: New York

Falconer, H 2004, IRS Managing Conflict in the Workplace, Butterworth-Heinemann, London

Griffin, Ricky, W, & Moorhead, G 2009. Managing People and Organizations Cengage Learning, New York

Guffey, Mary, E, Rogin, P & Rhodhes, K 2008, Business Communication: Process and Product, Cengage Learning, New York.

Haskins, G, Williams, R, Mellor, J, Macrae, N 1987. Intrapreneurship: Successful European Company Practices, Economist Publications Ltd, London.

Lane, Pamela, S 1995, Conflict Resolution for Kids: A Group Facilitator’s Guide, Taylor & Francis, New York

Luecke, Richard, 2004. Managers Toolkit: The 13 Skills Managers Need to Succeed Harvard Business Press, Harvard.

Maher, H and Hall, P 1998, The Manager’s Guide To Planning And Leading Change Projects, Cengage Learning EMEA, New York

Nagelkerk, J 2005. Study Guide for Huber: Leadership and Nursing Care Management, Saunders, California.

Schraagen, J, M, Chipman, S, F, & Shalin, V 2000, Cognitive Task Analysis, Routledge, New York

Vineyard, S & Lynch, R 1991, Secrets of Leadership Heritage Arts Economist Publications Ltd, London

Introduction

According to Kupperschmidt (2000, p. 65), generational differences at the workplace are as a result of differences in goals, expectations and work values. Zemke, Raines and Filipczak, (2000, p.5) define a generation as a group of individuals who share several things, including year of birth, age, location, and significant life events.

Cennamo and Gardner (2008, p.896) have provided examples of significant life events which include major political events or threats, socio-economic transitions, and emerging industry trends. There are four distinct generations, namely Baby boomers, Generation X, Y, and Z. However, in the UK, employees in most organisations belong to the Baby boomers generation, Generation X and Y.

Baby boomers are individuals born between 1945 and1960. These are the individuals who were born in post World War II era. Haynes (2011, p. 104) notes that Generation X consists of individuals born between 1961 and 1980, while Generation Y are the individuals who were born after 1980.

Individuals from both the Baby boomers generation and Generation X mainly occupy high and middle levels of management in organisations, respectively. These positions are based on the age and work experience of the employees from the above generations. On the other hand, Generation Y is made up of junior employees in many organisations.

According to Personnel Today (2005), most organisations in the UK mainly rely on project teams to oversee various projects and tasks in the organisation. Project teams are multigenerational in nature and as such, they bring together employees from different generations.

Generational Differences and Attitudes towards Teamwork in UK organisations

Teams are useful in tackling hard tasks at different organisations. Baby boomers have strong commitment towards work and are keen on meeting strict deadlines as outlined under different tasks. Therefore, Baby boomers working in multigenerational teams are strongly committed to completing the task at hand.

They tend to be highly inflexible towards altering deadlines. Additionally, Howe and Strauss (2000, p.40) indicate that Baby boomers view the workplace as fun and counterproductive towards the realisation of the team’s goals and objectives.

According to Hammill (2005), Baby boomers prefer working as a team. According to Lyons, (2004, p.13), Baby boomers prefer to work in teams because they are keen on learning new skills in order to enhance their positions in the team in particular and the organisation in general.

Furthermore, Murphy( 2010,p.10) states that Baby boomers exhibit a participatory leadership style and prefer increased consultation before reaching any team decisions. According to Twenge and Campbell (2008, p.866) , the baby boom in the UK started at least ten years after the baby boom in the United States. Therefore, in the UK, Baby Boomers occupy both the top and middle level management levels.

Lamm and Meeks (2007, p. 617) claim that Generation X employees place emphasis on work-life balance. Most employees from this generation, therefore, are able to balance between responsibilities both at the workplace and home. Individuals from this particular generation have poor people skills and also are considered cynical. Also, Generative X individuals are associated with authoritative decision making.

The above mode of decision making is characterised by decreased consultation between the team’s supervisor and members. In most UK organisations, Generation X employees occupy the middle level management. Therefore, Generation X employees are most likely to serve as team supervisors mainly based on experience in a particular field. However, due to the emerging trends in the industry, members from other generations may assume roles as team supervisors, including Generation Y employees.

Generation Y employees mainly serve as team members as they are junior employees in various organisations. Lamm and Meeks (2009, p.617) claim that Generational Y employees are more inclined towards achieving work-life balance. As such, they are more likely to engage in such activities such as pursuing further education.

This is aimed at enhancing their skills so that they can remain abreast with the emerging trends in the workplace. Similarly, Hill (2004, p. 34) claims that employees from this generation are characterised by increased use of technology which enhances their ability to multi-task.

Raines (2003) indicates that in a team setting, Generation Y employees are highly creative and thus are in a position to use existing knowledge to come up with solutions to various problems. Additionally, employees from this generation do not prefer to use formal communication channels while liaising with other team members on team matters.

Instead, such employees prefer modern communication tools including social networking sites. However, Haynes (2008, p.288) argue that Generation Y employees require high levels of commitment which is a useful tool for enhancing their long term commitment to an organisation.

In the UK alone, more than 230,000 graduates join the workforce every year. Over 80 percent of the above graduates belong to Generation Y. Therefore, as employees from the above generation increase, managers and team supervisors should ensure that the needs of such employees are adequately addressed.

Striking a middle ground in management of multigenerational teams

A useful tool for addressing intergenerational conflict is developing an inclusive organisational culture so that the input of all individuals is appreciated. Team supervisors should take into account varied needs of all team members. Additionally, Baby Boomers who command respect in their organisation are instrumental in instituting the above culture.

The management should put in place mechanisms of settling team conflicts. This includes voting for contentious issues. Voting should take place after all members have given their input as regards a particular issue. Finally, D’Amato and Herzfeldt (2008, p.934) note that the concept of a learning organisation is most appropriate where employees learn from each other, thereby promoting individual development.

Reference List

Cennamo, L. & Gardner, R. (2008) Generational differences in work values, outcomes and person-organisation values fit, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23 (8), pp. 891 – 906.

D’Amato, A. & Herzfeldt, R (2008) Learning orientation, organizational commitment and talent retention across generations: a study of European managers, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23 (8), pp. 929-953.

Hammill, G. (2005) Mixing and managing four generations of employees. Web. Available at: https://www.fdu.edu/newspubs/magazine/05ws/generations.htm .

Haynes, B. (2008) Impact of workplace connectivity on office productivity, Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 10(4), pp. 286-302.

Haynes, B. (2011) The impact of generational differences on the workplace, Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 13(2), pp. 98 -108.

Hill, K. (2004) Defy the decades with multigenerational teams, Nursing Management, 35 (1), pp. 32-35

Howe, N. & Strauss, W. (2000) Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation. New York: Vintage Books.

Kupperschmidt, B. (2000) Multigeneration employees: strategies for effective management, Health Care Manager, 19, (1), pp. 65-76.

Lamm, E & Meeks, M. (2009) Workplace fun: the moderating effects of generational differences, Employee Relations, 31(6), pp. 613 – 631.

Lyons, S, (2004) An exploration of generational values in life and at work. PhD dissertation. Carleton University.

Murphy, S. (2010) Leading a multi-generational workforce. Web. Web.

Personnel Today. (2005) UK less likely to develop non managers. Web. Web.

Raines, C. (2003) Connecting Generations. Boston: Netg.

Twenge, J. M. & Campbell, S. M. (2008) Generational differences in psychological traits and their impact on the workplace, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), pp. 862-877.

Zemke, R., Raines, C. & Filipczak, B (2000) Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers and Nexters in Your Workplace, 2nd ed. New York: Amacom.

The case of Bell ExpressVu and the two former employees shows the importance of an effective team building in developing a successful business organization. In team building, the participants learn the spirit of teamwork and collaboration to accomplish effectively a given task.

To establish an effective team, an organization should maintain a clear communication among team members regularly regarding their tasks in a team-building event. In Bell ExpressVu case, the two women Fran Boutilier and Alison Green, were uninformed of the details of the retreat and even showed up in business attire. Members of a team must possess a shared purpose with specific goals to achieve in a team-building event.

The retreat organized by Bell ExpressVu was meant to make the team members interdependent and thus create an effective team. However, in team building, members have to agree on how to work together. A common agreement to collaborate in solving problems and share information helps them to work effectively together as a team.

The two women executives were not involved in team decision-making and this led to the differences with the other male members. Team building aims at promoting teamwork, promotes the performance of the team, and thus must involve all employees and other stakeholders.

The team members should be committed to the team building activities to ensure the team’s success. However, “…the female executives were apparently not committed to the team-building activities as Green refused to ‘pair off with a man to practice kicks, punches, and chokeholds” (Heathfield, 2000).

The management of the executive retreat in the Bell ExpressVu case failed to achieve the expected results because of the poor management decisions. Firstly, the management failed to define limits to employee empowerment activities and this led to the improper treatment of the female executives including ‘sexist, vulgar language and being frozen out of drinking sessions with the “boys’ club’.

The management also failed to provide directions regarding the theme of the retreat. The theme of the event was uninspiring particularly to the female participants. The managers failed to provide information to the two female employees and as a result were not well prepared for the team-building event.

The female executives were unaware of what was expected of them in the retreat and that explains why they wore office attire. It is the responsibility of the organization to provide information regarding its organizational practices to new employees. The blocked communication led to misinformation that particularly contributed to the failure of the team building in Bell ExpressVu case.

To organize an effective team-building event, the theme of the event should be exciting and inspiring to the employees. Such a theme helps to motivate and communicate effectively with the participants of team building (Diamond, 2007, p. 159).

In addition, clear communication through memos or posters of the team-building event details stimulates interest leading to full participation of members and enhances adequate preparation for the event. Planning for a team-building event should involve a team so the activities in the event are representative of the team members.

In Bell ExpressVu case, the event activities represented a ‘macho corporate culture’ and this made the female executives feel excluded. The team-building events can also be incorporated into the company practices to promote the spirit of teamwork and common purpose. However, the events should representative of cultural, gender and religious differences in order to generate interest and collaboration by team members.

Reference List

Diamond, L. (2007). Teambuilding That Gets Results: Essential Plans and Activities for Creating Effective Teams. Naperville: Sourcebooks Inc.

Heathfield, S. (2000). Twelve Tips for Team Building: How to Build Successful Work Teams. Web.

Increased global competition, changing work realities, mergers and acquisitions and decline in middle management besides benefits of teams in leveraging organizational strengths and offsetting new challenges has resulted to the rise in prominence of teams in organizations (Gordon, 2002).

However, while use of teams is ever becoming more common, the success of teams in any organization is not guaranteed. Recent literature on the effectiveness of teams has resulted to myriad of strategies that firms may adopt in ensuring that teams are successful (Mealia et al, 2005).

While some of the strategies have proven to be effective in enhancing the success of teams, others have been wrought with challenges that have rendered teams less effective.

One current strategy that is effective in corporate team building is deciding on the type of team design to adopt in an organization. The choice of team designs range from self-directed teams, problem-solving teams, cross-functional teams and virtual teams (Bass, 2007).

Use of different team designs is influenced by literature on behavioral science, which suggests that successful team building is dependent on various desirable characteristics which can be built in the work environment (Mealia et al, 2005).

The mix of factors depends on the type of team, organizations characteristics, nature of power relations, number of team members, and the type of organization among other factors. The type of design that firms adopt impact on the effectiveness of the teams and thus team building must take into consideration these factors.

Problem-solving teams are important in solving various problems that organizations face. Problem solving teams often consist of a few individuals who are crucial in decision making in various spheres of the organization.

The effectiveness of problem-solving teams stems from the opportunity for sharing ideas, and offering suggestions thus resulting to better output of solutions. Problem-solving teams may use such strategies as quality circles.

Self-management team strategy on the other hand is a team building strategy that involves teams that perform related and interdependent tasks. Self-management teams often take the responsibilities that were being handled by supervisors.

The advantage of self-management team building strategy includes reduced middle level management and supervisors and consequently enhancing savings by the organization. The disadvantage attributed to this team strategy includes lack of involvement of some of the team members in work-related processes and decisions (Bass, 2007).

The evident failures of self-managed teams have contributed to growth of fully self-managed teams. These teams plan for work, assign roles to each member, select members and besides evaluating how each person in the team performs (Bass, 2007).

This model has been mores successful in improving productivity and quality in manufacturing companies.

Despite the success of self-managed teams, various studies have indicated that self-managed teams are not effective during downsizing and may also not be effective in certain cultures that have strong respect for hierarchical authority and high tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty as evidenced in the failure of self-managed teams in Mexico (Bass 2007).

Another team building strategy is use of cross-functional design in team building. Cross-functional teams aim at enhancing the firm’s ability to meet clients changing needs by ensuring that all clients’ issues are handled within one team instead of being handled by different departments.

Such teams may be composed of persons within the same work positions but from diverse work areas (Bass 2007).

The advantage of such teams is evident speed in actualization of projects. Major challenges include building trust amongst the team members especially early in the formation of the team and difficulties in working in diverse and complex settings from their normal areas of specialization (Bass 2007).

Virtual teams is also another strategy in team building, which uses virtual world of technology to bring together dispersed members in order to achieve various goals (Gordon, 2002).

Virtual teams are marked by limited social contact, absence of verbal and non-verbal cues, and constraints of space and time. This results to less interaction, less social rapport, and are marked by decreased group satisfaction compared to face-to-face teams (Bass 2007).

However, it has the advantage of allowing people who may not have ordinarily worked together to come together and work together.

References

Bass, J. (2007). Team Building: Strategies for improving team performance. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons.

Gordon, J. (2002). Team building. Journal of American Academy of Business, 2(1), 185-189.

Mealiea, L., Laird, N., Baltazar, R., & Ramon, L. (2005). A strategic guide for building effective teams. Public Personnel Management, 34 (2), 215-224.

Introduction

There are several factors that influence effectiveness in a group. The concept of organization structure has changed over time. Teamwork has been embraced in almost all organizations. Teams are advantageous since they enable flexibility efficiency and knowledge sharing (Lizzio & Wilson 2006). Teams usually have high intensity and enthusiasm when carrying out their tasks.

The cross functional sourcing and interaction relays support and commitment within the team hence it creates an effective and efficient group (Cohen & Bailey, 1997). Teams’ effectiveness and efficiency are essential in the well being of societal functions. Efficiency in the group is a salient factor in a group’s performance (Hare & ONeill, 2000).

One of the factors that influence team effectiveness is team leadership. Effective leadership influences excellent team performance. Leadership enhances team effort and cooperation (Bass et al. 2003). Team leaders who use leadership theories are significant in the success of their groups. They commit a significant amount of time to the group. This positively affects the group since group members look upon the leader as their mentor.

Effective leadership contributes to high achievement in the group’s performance (Lizzio & Wilson 2006). The team leader should be able to make the team responsible and committed to teaming effort. The leader should be Supportive and promote professionalism within the group. The group leaders should have designated profiles since it increases the group’s effectiveness (Bass et al. 2003).

Leaders should not condone inadequate performance in their groups. In order to maintain an effective team, the leaders should do away with members who dilute the teams’ ability to perform (Cohen & Bailey, 1997). Most significant input factor on team effectiveness is the learning process and the dynamic environment (Kozlowski, & Ilgen 2006).

These factors play a pivotal role in team performance. Having such factors in place it leads to a favorable outcome for the group. The groups’ outcome efficiency can be gauged by the tasks it accomplishes and the optimal team performances.

Positive relationship among team members is a healthy sign for efficiency in the group (Greenberg & Robert 2000). Personal chemistry among members should be considered when selecting and issuing roles in the group. The social characteristics differ from individual to individual.

Persons with similar social traits such as personality attributes should be considered when pairing or grouping individuals together (Greenberg & Robert 2000). Members who correlate well should be put together hence they can be able to handle the task effectively with much ease (Lizzio & Wilson 2006). More over the group should be subdivided into smaller group for the efficient functioning.

It is difficult to manage a large team. There will be poor coordination and role confusion (Brodbeck 1996). Additionally members are able to develop proper communication and interaction. This promotes member effort and teams ability in achieving its goals.

Having a shared belief in the team process enhances the team spirit in efficient performance (Cohen & Bailey, 1997). It also increases the chances of the team meeting its obligation and executing its strategies.

Using the self monitoring theory, an individual will assess him or her self by matching the traits with other members in the group (Brodbeck 1996). Much of this assessment is driven by the expectation in the social situation in the group.

A group leader who is aggressive in effective task management will be emulated by the group members hence the group becomes efficient and effective automatically. The leader should enhance this by initiating self monitoring program in the group (Bass et al. 2003).

Performance evaluation and rewards play a crucial role in team effectiveness (Hare & ONeill, 2000). Majority of team members receives an evaluation for their contribution in the team. Evaluation and reward system motivate the team members to be effective and efficient (Hare & ONeill, 2000).

The amount of time and effort a member invests in group assignments will reciprocate to the performance of the task being handled (Kozlowski & Ilgen 2006). Team members who commit their time for team participation will eventually enable the group to work in an efficient manner. Reward systems enable the team members to be motivated hence they handle their tasks to satisfaction (Brodbeck 1996).

Performance appraisal also plays a part to ensure that all team members’ performance is appreciated (Brodbeck et al. 2007). The amount of time team members commits to team assignment relates to team efforts and success of the team. Performance quality, speed and member satisfaction are also considered as models of team effectiveness (Lizzio & Wilson 2006).

Group cohesiveness attitude exchange and socio-metric structure determine the limit of member efforts in attaining efficiency. Group members are supposed to perform their tasks without any emotions and counteraction (Cohen & Bailey, 1997).

Another influencing factor is motivation and incentive. Groups are known to perform better when their effort is driven by a motivating factor. Group members will put forth extra effort as a result of an offered incentive (Kinicki & Kreitner 2006). The reward or motivating factor has a high degree of expectation hence the group members will perfect their performance in order to attain the incentive.

Having an outstanding team climate will eventually lead to individual satisfaction. Team effectiveness is also influenced by critical and independent thinking among the group members (Kozlowski & Ilgen 2006).

Task selection is another element that affects team’s efficiency (Brodbeck 1996). Sourcing team assignment should satisfy the team members. In order to create performance benefits, the group should prioritize group tasks (Cohen & Bailey, 1997).

In addition to task selection, team formation and role specified by the team leaders influence team’s efficiency. The members chosen to join the group must have the right skill, and knowledge to handle team assignment (Greenberg & Robert 2000).

Shift rotation within team members will give each member a chance to develop an interest in a different field. It also opens up to enhance flexibility of the group members (Kozlowski & Ilgen 2006). Using the skill approach the group can map its way to achieve effective, efficient operation. Handling easy tasks hinders better performance since it build up routine that fail when environment changes.

Furthermore having established performance goals will enable the team to have a clear focus (Kozlowski & Ilgen 2006). This makes team members to together with common goals to achieve. Team members normally develop aggressive performance towards established objectives (Greenberg & Robert 2000). This in turn makes the team members be effective in task completion.

The team members become more committed and extend their effort in ensuring a proactive achievement in the group. For better goal attainment migrate upwards the team goals. This will reflect a continuous performance improvement (Lizzio & Wilson 2006).

Constructive decision making in the group will see to it that every group member plays a part in the management of the group (Brodbeck et al. 2007). Every member should have enough information in the decision making process. The leader should assist members in the group move higher the developmental stages (Bass et al. 2003). This will be assist leaders to train their members in taking up leadership roles.

The approach conceptualizes a straight forward nature in handling different applications and tasks (Brodbeck et al. 2007). Additionally quality – leader member exchanges provide reliable valid measure of efficiency of the group.

This approach measures respect trust and obligation attributed by the group members (Kinicki & Kreitner 2006). The team leadership theories come in handy during decision making process. More over the team leader has to take action in order to improve the team’s functioning.

Conclusion

The clear measure for effectiveness in a group depends largely in a team effort. It also depends on task structure and training given to the team members (Brodbeck 1996). Team members’ cooperation and unity will enhance much of the performance efficiency.

The discussed factors should be put in place for the success of the group. The factors outlay the relationship between incentives in the workplace and the effort put forth by group members (Kinicki & Kreitner 2006). Resolving task demands can be achieved by a well defined theoretical and empirical foundation in the group.

Team leaders ought to align team processes by providing tools that improve team effectiveness and efficiency. In addition self rated group effectiveness and group emotions should be well monitored (Lizzio & Wilson 2006).

References

Bass, B M, Bruce J, Avolio, D I, Jung, & Yair, B, 2003, ‘Predicting Unit Performance by Assessing Transformational and Transactional Leadership’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 88, pp. 20718.

Brodbeck, F C 1996, ‘Work group performance and effectiveness: Conceptual and measurement issues’, In M. A. West (Ed.), Handbook of work group psychology, pp. 285–315, Chichester: Wiley.

Brodbeck, F C, Kerschreiter, R, Mojzisch, A & Schulz-Hardt, S 2007, ‘Group decision making under conditions of distributed knowledge: The information asymmetries model’, Academy of Management Review, vol. 32 no. 2, pp. 459-479.

Cohen, S G & Bailey, D E 1997, ‘What makes teams work: Group effectiveness research from the shop floor to the executive suite’, Journal of Management, vol. 23 no.3, pp. 239-290.

Greenberg, J & Robert, A B 2000, Behavior in Organizations: Understanding and Managing the Human Side of Work, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Hare, L R & ONeill, K 2000, ‘Effectiveness and Efficiency in Small Academic Peer Groups: A Case Study’, Small Group Research, vol. 31 No.1, pp. 24-53.

Kinicki, A & Kreitner, R 2006, Organizational Behavior, Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Kozlowski, S W J & Ilgen D R 2006, ‘Enhancing the Effectiveness of Work Groups and Team’, Psychological Science in the Public Interest vol. 7 no. 3, pp. 77-124.

Lizzio, A & Wilson, K 2006, ‘Enhancing the effectiveness of self-managed learning groups: Understanding students choices and concerns’, Studies in Higher Education, vol. 31 no. 6, pp. 689-703.

Introduction

In the modern world, organizations are increasingly becoming active and uneven (Barthe 2010, p. 94). Instabilities force organizations to form groups and teams that are expected to work together in order to achieve organizational goals and objectives. An organization relies on teams and groups in delivering services to clients.

There is increased complexity regarding the composition of teams, skill requirement, and risk management. In high reliability organizations such as the telecommunication company, teamwork plays a critical role in enhancing service delivery. A small mistake would result in serious losses, as well as complaints from customers.

Working in a team enabled me to learn various coping skills (Horlick-Jones 1995, p. 310). I realized that teamwork is a tool that can be utilized to achieve high results. In the Nigerian network industry, competition is stiff implying that organizations must develop some strategies in order to outsmart their competitors. MRN employs teamwork in order to conquer its rivals.

Working with other experts in the organization assisted me in understanding that teamwork entails three strategies. One of the strategies employed in enhancing teamwork is grouping individuals according to capabilities. This is upon realization that people differ in terms of talent. For instance, I was placed under the supervision of a network professional, with adequate skills on matters related to networking.

This was to ensure that I learn the basics of networking in detail. In the team, there were individuals with task-oriented skills while others were team-oriented. It was the role of the manager to balance the two groups (Geschwind 2001, p. 69).

In the team, the management ensured that organizational goals are achieved by modifying the tasks of individuals and the organization structure. This was to ensure workflow in the organization. Team competency was guaranteed in the organization through continuous training. The management at MRN capitalized on team training in enhancing team performance.

Scholars define team training as the application of set of instructions that depend on well-tested apparatus. This apparatus includes simulator, lectures, and videos. In the organization, the management ensured that employees are provided with relevant training lessons each week. The main aim of management was to ensure that team training replicates the general values of learning theory.

In this regard, training was meant to present information regarding basic group behaviors. Training provided team members with a chance to practice the skills they learned on a weekly basis. Working under the supervision of an expert was vital to my career because I could get feedback as regards to my performance (Dressel 2001, p. 39).

Drawing on relevant theory and concepts, would this be described as a group or a team?

Usually, there is a difference between a group and a team. However, many people fail to note the difference. A team is internally structured while the group is externally structured. A team has objectives, with tasks for each team member. On the other hand, a group is a collection of individuals who share the same objective. It may include people with similar interests.

In the organization, all employees belong to a group because their major interest is to earn a salary. A number of scholars have designed theories to explain the behavior of individuals in a team. However, Tuckman’s theory is the only outstanding theory that explains the activities of individuals in a team precisely (Drake, Wong & Salter 2007, p. 1975). The theory suggests that a team develops through various stages.

When an individual joins an organization, he or she becomes an automatic group member. The employee might be an underperformer but would still be a group member. Through clear stages, such an employee would develop to become a team player. From a group, a cohesive and a task-focused team would be formed.

In a small group of employees, a certain structure characterizes the group. Within the group, there is a clear task for each member. Groups evolve into teams in stages. Tuckman identified four stages as illustrated in the following graph. Forming is the first stage (Chandra 2009, p. 76).

Source: Tuckman

Identify and critically reflect on the relationship between the objectives of the project/ significant operational task and your individual role and objectives

The main objective of the project was to devise, develop, and authenticate the idea of applying opportunistic networks and relevant cognitive management structures for efficient use in future internet. The project aimed at tackling a number of problems, which were correlated to the project. The objectives of the project compared closely with my personal objectives (Biswas 2011, p. 101).

In my group, I requested the management to assign to me roles that were consistent with my skills. In the global market, networking is one of the new investments that have attracted the attention of many businesspersons. Networking system provides a new way of communicating. For instance, through networking, it is possible to transfer important information, including quality images.

My major objective was to study the major challenges facing the internet industry since it is very important as far as e-commerce is concerned. By working in the organization, I would evaluate the effects of networking on small businesses across the country. Therefore, my broad objective was similar to the main objective of the organization, which was to develop the most effective networking system.

The new system would benefit from the new technological innovations, such as the invention of Smartphone. The new networking system would help in improving the performance of various sectors, such as education, tourism, and e-commerce (Barry 2005, p. 17).

Apart from the general objective, the organization had four minor objectives, which were also related to mine. The organization aimed at utilizing the new software, such as digital library, to reach out to customers. Through the new software, the company would distribute networking techniques to willing customers. Since projects must aim at benefiting the society, the organization aspired to design a culturally accepted project.

Therefore, the organization had to study the cultural aspects of various communities (Carlin 2009, p. 77). Projects are sometimes resisted because they do not comply with the norms and values of the locals. Similarly, I always believe that any project must comply with cultural issues such as religion, norms, and principles of the locals. In Nigeria, cultural values influence the performance of the company in many ways.

People would be reluctant to consume products and services produced by a culturally controversial company. The company had objective of incorporating the project to the educational system. This would help many scholars in their various fields.

Though I had my own objectives, I always ensured that the objectives of the organization are given priority. My interaction with other members of the organization was very strong and productive. Since I am a natural leader, I was always confident that everything would work out for me. Therefore, I had to control my feelings and actions in order to create a healthy work milieu.

I always ensured that I communicate with relevant sections in time. Moreover, communication between employees and the managers was encouraged in the organization. I used the policy to form strong ties with the management and other members of the organization. Whenever I face any difficulty, I could reach out to the management to explain myself. I used my strong interpersonal skills to ask questions to experts.

Since I understand that experience cannot be obtained by simply sitting in the office and following orders, I ensured that I visit the experts in other sections of the organization to learn more regarding the performance of the organization. Leaders in the organization were very helpful because they always ensured that employees are comfortable. They always updated employees on what was happening in the organization.

Through this interactive relationship, leaders could easily identify and solve problems in time. In fact, the rapport between workers and the management was very strong. Moreover, employees respected each other and always embraced the spirit of teamwork. This was helpful to my development since I learned that communication plays an important role in achieving individual and organizational goals.

In the networking organization, leaders were frequently asking questions to employees. It was very important because it gave employees a chance to express themselves. In fact, leaders were full of self-confidence and self-esteem. The type of interaction supported in the organization made each employee comfortable. It even encouraged employees to communicate among themselves.

Whenever an issue emerged, employees were open to face the leader without the fear of victimization. Whenever the management was approached with a question, answers would be provided instantly. Leaders were so receptive because they never dismissed any one for asking an irrelevant question.

In other words, leaders had enough time to listen to the problems of employees. In some organizations, leaders are always against the idea of asking questions. They would only prefer that people should follow company rules strictly.

Drawing on relevant theory and concepts, and with reference to 1b, evaluate how interacting with your colleagues is helpful

Interaction between the management and employees was always encouraged because it helped in generating efficiency. Workers were encouraged to post their suggestions to the management without necessarily following the bureaucratic procedures. An effective communication channel helped the organization in solving serious problems. The leaders could ask employees to explain their problems even before employees could complain.

In this regard, employees thought that the leaders of the organization were caring and were concerned about the plight of employees. Unlike in many organizations, leaders at the telecommunication company asked questions personally. In other places, leaders utilize the services of the internet, such as the email, to communicate with their juniors.

In this forms of communication, employees are reluctant to express facts in their messages. They would tend to respond in a way suggesting that they loyal to their bosses. However, verbal communication is very important because it allows the leader to study the attitude of an employee. In other words, the employee has an opportunity of assessing the tone and nonverbal cues of the communication.

This allows the communicators in the organization to understand the communication situation. Through face-to-face communication, leaders would be able to explain their intentions more clearly. Additionally, the leader would receive a comprehensive answer and would seek clarification.

In the organization, face-to-face communication was adopted because not all employees are good writers. Some are employees are good communicators only if given a chance to express themselves verbally.

Looking back on the project/ significant operational task, what would be done differently and why?

Regarding the project, many things would be done differently if given an opportunity to head the project. However, the management implemented it the way it was because of lack of time and resources. Given an opportunity to implement the project, I will follow the ten basic principles of project management. In the first place, I would concentrate on interfacing.

This would entail exploring all available options before choosing the implementation technique. Secondly, I would organize the project team and ensure that resources are availed in time. In the organization, resources were not availed in time, which hindered the implementation process. For funds to be released, the project committee had to wait for some time. Such delays are usually harmful to the implementation process.

In the organization, those charged with the designing and implementation of the project never planned technically and strategically. This aspect of project management would produce high results. Moreover, I would have incorporated Murphy’s Law in implementing the project. Even though the organization followed the law, a few aspects were left out. For instance, not all stakeholders were identified.

The management was not ready to handle conflicts. Conflicts are very dangerous to the survival of projects. However, the telecommunication company was not prepared to resolve any serious conflict. This is because measures were not yet in place to counter any conflict (Carter 2000, p. 330).

The original skills audit, and PDP. This should be included within the appendices and summarized within the main body to the report

In the telecommunications company in Nigeria, I acquired various skills that are vital to my career. I must admit that acquisition of these skills called for hard work and perseverance. I must also admit that the group members were supportive. This helped me in acquiring managerial skills easily. The first skill pertains to time and organization. Time is one of the skills that people find it difficult to adapt.

In the organization, time is an essential resource, which is carefully measured in terms of hours, minutes, and seconds. Lateness is not tolerated at all, and all those found reporting at work late are punished severely. The organization can cancel the day’s wages if an individual fails to give a valid reason for lateness. To some extent, I was an organized person since I scored three out of the possible maximum of five.

However, I was a poor timekeeper since I always reported to work late. Moreover, I never handed in assignments in time. The management praised me for being an organized person because I was always neat and clean. In matters related to time and organization, the major indicators were timely completion of paperwork, prioritizing company tasks, the ability to handle interruptions and management of the timetable. In terms of handling pressure, I was rated the best, but I could not manage my timetable well.

This is because of family commitments. However, I can improve my skills when given sufficient time and support. I believe that I will score a high grade when given another chance to work in the company (Andrzej & Buchaman 2007, p. 26).

Decision-making and problem solving skills were also considered to be of value in the company. Therefore, the company kept a record of each person as regards to conflict resolution mechanisms. In this field, I scored the highest mark because I had four out of the possible five marks. My decision-making skills were strong because I generated solutions to various problems whenever called upon to do so.

For instance, I was depended upon in making decisions related to customer complain. I could offer the best solutions that would be incorporated by the section manager. In any organization, evaluation of available options is critical to making strong decisions.

In the organization, I never had problems choosing the best decisions. I would simply analyze an event and choose which style, method, or model to apply. Even though I was rated the highest in terms of decision-making and conflict resolution, I still believe that more needs to be done. I wish to work hard in order to perform extremely well in this field.

Another skill acquired while in the organization is planning. Planning entails putting everything in order. The role I was assigned to needed a lot of planning. The management observed that I was a good planner and decided to give me a score of four out five (Panagariya 2008, p. 32). It was suggested that I have strong planning skills.

Planning entails leading the teams, consulting team members, allocating tasks and setting objectives. Regarding task allocation, the management commented on my skills since I collaborated well with other members of my team to come up with a strong suggestion.

This was achieved through consulting team members, offering strong leadership skills, and setting objectives that are similar to those of the organization. Planning is critical to the success of any project. Through proper planning, an individual would save time, resources, and energy. Other skills included delegation, motivation, coaching, target setting, interpersonal skills, written skills, and oratory skills.

In written and oratory skills, I scored three out of five. In oratory skills, it was claimed that I was weak in presenting ideas, using the telephone, and attending meetings. However, I understood the structure and the format of speaking. Regarding written communication, I did not score more because I was unable to check company blogs frequently. However, I followed the company proceedings through memos and reports.

I scored a high mark in interpersonal skills meaning that I could easily form relationships with other members of the team. For instance, I was sensitive to the needs of other team players meaning that I responded positively to the views of others. Moreover, I scored high because I am a good listener (Wellington 2001, p. 79).

Through listening, I was able to understand the problems of others in the organization. In many organizations, the greatest challenge for employees is to relate with their seniors. This was never a problem to me. Though I was rated high in terms of setting targets, I was a bit weak in offering coaching services to other staff members.

A review of resources and activities used to develop those skills. You should comment on how useful these resources and activities were in developing the identified skills. If additional resources and activities were identified, post the submission of the original PDP you should also comment on these

A review of resources suggests that the organization provided its employees with adequate materials that helped them cope with the organization challenges. For each skill, the organization had resources. Regarding time management and teamwork, the organization provided materials that helped in reviewing the activities of the previous week. Such materials would always be circulated on Friday.

For instance, the organization provided sites with critical information regarding time management. The management made it mandatory for all employees to attend time management course before joining the organization. The course was meant to give new individuals adequate time management skills.

Apart from issuing critical information on time management, each employee was supposed to discuss with his line supervisor matters related to lateness (Weiss 2011, p. 23).

The management provided enough information on areas perceived to be with weaknesses. For my case, coaching was another skill that I had to improve. Just like in time management, the management provided me with several websites containing critical information on coaching skills. I had to visit the sites at least one per every two weeks.

However, this was not considered an effective tool to sharpen the skills of a trainee (Tanke 2000, p. 65). Each trainee with coaching weakness was required to work with his or her supervisor for a period not exceeding one month. During this period, the trainee would learn coaching skills from the supervisor and try as much as possible to apply the same skills before embarking on normal work.

No trainee would be allowed to move on without mastering coaching skills. The requirements were helpful to some of us who had coaching weaknesses. Delegation was considered a complex skill and therefore, each trainee was to work hard to achieve this skill. I was instructed to delegate a role to one of my colleagues at least once per week. I was also supposed to issue clear instructions, using understandable language.

Since it is one of the challenging skills to acquire, trainees were required to dig deeper into their pockets to fund delegation-training program. However, online training institutions conduct the program.

Therefore, each trainee facing problems in the field was to subscribe to an online training program that would last for one month. To ensure that the trainee understands something, the line supervisor instructed colleagues to forward their feedback for analysis (Suzuki Dastur, Moffatt & Yabuki 2009, p. 12).

A review of the skills developed

Review of the skills reveals that the organization is committed to improving the leadership styles of trainees. The skills I acquired from the institution are incomparable to any other sets of skills. The management was always friendly and willing to listen to the problems facing trainees. Scholars of communication argue that public speaking is the most difficult thing in the world.

In fact, they argue that an individual would prefer death to speaking in public. In the organization, I gained skills regarding oral communication (Stewart 1990, p. 19). I believe that I can use the skills to conquer the world. Coaching skills are also important to the life of any individual wishing to take up managerial roles in future. I was referred to various websites that would be of great importance to my life in the future.

I learned that writing and oral skills are go hand in hand. It is impossible to separate one from the other. My training with the telecommunication company was not in vain. This is because I learned a lot. However, I noted that the company suffered from delays due to inefficient system of communication.

Even though the management was competent, the planning skill was still missing. It would take various days for a simple decision to be made (Steffen 2010, p. 17). It is suggested that the organization rethinks about changing its policy as regards to planning.

As shown in the flow chart below, the process of personal development entails three things. Individual and professional skills, qualities, and knowledge are developed through practice.

The most important of the three is planning. It entails prioritizing some aspects. For my case, the trainee provided an opportunity to gauge my skills.

Visiting the company as a trainee was the first step towards building confidence in my profession. I was able to put theories, models, and skills into effective practice. The organization gave me an opportunity to review he skills I have learned in class for several years (Minja 2009, p. 14).

Skills are acquired through learning. In fact, scholars observe that it might take several years to acquire basic managerial skills such as coaching, delegating, and writing. As things stand currently, there is a cordial relationship between the implementing partners and cooperation among them can be categorized as fair.

However, this might change due to the time span the project is expected to take and the changing political and economical atmosphere in the world. An incident of lack of cooperation among the implementing partners can deal a fatal blow to the successful implementation of the project. This is one temptation that has previously destroyed very ambitious projects, as Kothari (2004, p. 23) states.

The project faces the potential risk of introduction of new systems into the project. The purpose of this report was to help identify skills that an individual stands to benefit from working as a trainee.

The responsibility of ensuring that a trainee acquires adequate knowledge and skills is the responsibility of all the concerned members of the organization. From my experience, it is clearly demonstrated that every member of the project has a role to play in the identification of skills that the trainee needs (Safizadeh, Field & Ritzman 2003, p. 560).

It can be concluded that skills are hard to fetch but are easy to maintain. Members of the organization were supportive in ensuring that employees acquire adequate skills and knowledge.

However, this task should not be left to one department. It is important that the management develop some measures to counter challenges that impede skill development (Shachaf 2008, p. 132). The management has an extra responsibility of ensuring that employees acquire knowledge in the organization.

List of References

Andrzej, A & Buchaman, A 2007, Organizational Behavior, Prentice Hall, London.

Barry, M 2005, Crises in the Contemporary Persian Gulf, Routledge, New York.

Barthe, G 2010, Verification, Model Checking, and Abstract Interpretation, Springer, New York.

Biswas, S 2011, “Commitment, involvement, and satisfaction as predictors of employee performance,” South Asian Journal of Management, Vol. 18, no. 2, pp 92-107.

Carlin, M 2009, Cross-cultural e-commerce design guidelines for American and Chinese College student populations: Results from an empirical comparative study, Maryland, University of Maryland.

Carter, S 2000, “Improving the numbers and performance of women-owned businesses: Some implications for training and advisory services”, Education& Training, Vol. 42, no. 1, pp 326-333.

Chandra, P 2009, Projects Planning, Analysis, Selection, Financing, Implementation, and Review, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi.

Drake, AR, Wong, J & Salter, SB 2007, “Empowerment, motivation, and performance: examining the impact of feedback and incentives on non management employees”, Behavioral Research in Accounting, Vol. 3, no. 7, pp 1971-1989.

Dressel, K 2001, Systemic Risk: A New Challenge for Risk Management, OCED, London.

Geschwind, CH 2001, California Earthquakes, Science, Risk and the Politics of Hazard Mitigation. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore

Horlick-Jones, T 1995, ‘Modern Disasters as Outrage and Betrayal’, International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, vol. 13 no. 3, pp. 305-315.

Minja, D 2009, “Ethical leadership practices”, KCA Journal of Business Management, Vol. 2, no. 1, pp 1-14.

Panagariya, A 2008, India: The Emerging Giant, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Safizadeh, M, Field, J & Ritzman, L 2003, “An Empirical Analysis of Financial Services Processes with a Front Office or Back-Office Orientation”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 21, no. 5, pp 557-576.

Shachaf, P 2008, “Cultural Diversity, Information, and Communication Technology Impacts on Global Virtual Teams: An Exploratory Study”, Information Technology Journal, Vol. 45, no. 2, pp 131-142.

Steffen, L 2010,The Principles of Green Urbanism. Transforming the City for Sustainability, Earthscan Publisher, London.

Stewart, D 1990, Focus group: theory and practice. Sage, Newbury Park.

Suzuki, H, Dastur, A, Moffatt, S & Yabuki, N 2009, Ecological cities as economic cities, Eco2 Cities, conference edition, Hong Kong.

Tanke, M 2000, Human Resources Management for the Hospitality Industry, Cengage Learning, Albany.

Weiss, WH 2011, “Building morale, motivating, and empowering employees,” Supervision, Vol. 72, no. 9, pp 23.

Wellington, A 2001, “Health Insurance Coverage and Entrepreneurship,” Journal of Contemporary Economic Policy, Vol. 19, no. 4, pp 27-89.

Executive Summary

This report entails an analysis of the role of teamwork in ensuring that individuals are effective and efficient in attaining their goals. The report is composed of a number of sections. In the first section, a background study which illustrates the increased incorporation of teamwork in ensuring that individuals attain their goals is illustrated. The second section entails a literature review on teamwork.

In the review, the report gives a definition of the concept of teamwork. It also considers a number of elements associated with teamwork. One of these issues relates to the factors that make teamwork to be successful. The various factors evaluated include clarity of goals, competence amongst team members, creation of a collaborative climate, incorporation of a result driven structure and ensuring unified commitment.

Other factors include ensuring external support and recognition, standards of excellence and principled leadership. The paper also presents a number of arguments for and against teamwork. In the third section a practical application of the concept of teamwork is illustrated. Finally, a conclusion and number of recommendations with regard to teamwork are outlined.

Introduction

Background to the study

The success of organizations in different economic sectors is dependent on the effectiveness with which its workforce is managed. According to Price (2007, p.85), the 21^st century is characterized by an increment in the number of challenges that organizations are facing. Some of these challenges arise from the high rate of globalization. Globalization presents a challenge to management teams.

This arises from the fact that it stimulates competition. In order to be successful in attaining their goals, individuals and organizations are considering developing their competitive advantage through incorporation of optimal management strategies. One of the aspects that are gaining prominence relates to human resource management.

Human resource management plays a significant role towards the employees attaining their goals. Human resource management entails bringing individuals within an organization together in order to meet the goals each individuals.

Price (2007, p.86) further asserts that human resource management enables employees to enhance their potential. Human resource management is aimed at ensuring that the employees are efficient and effective in executing their duties so as to improve organizational performance.

There are different human resource management strategies that can be incorporated in order to ensure that the employees are effective and efficient in attaining their goals. One of these strategies relate to teamwork. According Rupar and Rupar (2006, p.239), the concept of teamwork is increasingly gaining prominence in the operation of organizations.

Aim

In order to understand why this is so, the author of this report conducted an analysis on the concept that people working in teams always achieve their goals more efficiently and effectively than people working alone.

Scope

This report concentrates on the role of teamwork in ensuring that individuals attain their goals more effectively and efficiently.

Literature review

Teamwork

According to Cohen and Bailey (2001, p.241), a team refers to a group of people who are mutually dependent on each other in executing their tasks. They also share responsibilities. Alternatively, teamwork can be defined to include the cooperative and coordinated efforts through which a group of individuals operate in an environment of trust and responsibility with the objective of attaining a common objective.

Over the few past decades, the concept of teamwork has been a core component of man’s effort to survive and attain personal development. According to Rupar and Rupar (2006, p. 239), the concept of teamwork is becoming prominent with regard to development of individuals.

Individuals have realized that it is difficult to survive by operating on their own. Individuals working together as a team are more effective and efficient in attaining their goals. This arises from the fact that the team members are required to surrender a certain degree of their self-interest and personal ego in order attain a common goal. The success of a team is regarded to be a collective success.

Factors that promote teamwork

Clarity of goals

According to Isaksen and Tidd (2006, p.186), the success of teamwork is dependent on a number of factors. Firstly, there must be a clear understanding of the common goals in addition to sharing a common vision amongst the group members.

By having a clear understanding of the goals, each member is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that it the goal is attained. This arises from the fact that the benefits of the teamwork would only be achieved if the results are achieved. Having a clear understanding of the goal ensures that each member undertakes his or her task with a high level of clarity.

Competent team members and a collaborative climate

Porter-O’Grady and Malloch (2007, p.286) assert that the success of a team is dependent on the degree of competence and cooperation amongst the team members.

This opinion is also held by Isaksen and Tidd (2006, p.187) who assert that team members must have sufficient skills and a strong drive to collaborate with each other. Despite the existence of diversity amongst the members, teams should utilise the different talents and strengths positively. For this to be achieved, development of a climate of mutual trust is paramount.

Result-driven structure

According to Eugene (2008, p.38), teams within organisations incorporate a result-driven structure in an effort to achieve their goals. Isaksen and Tidd (2006, p.186) further assert that member of a high performing team are more productive.

This arises from the fact that there is a well implemented structure which defines various aspects that the team members have to adhere to. Some of the structures relate to implementing open communication structure so as to ensure that there is an effective and efficient provision of feedback, clarity of tasks and accountabilities. Additionally, the organisation has to ensure that performance is well monitored (Isaksen & Tidd, 2006, p. 186).

Unified commitment

According to Reeves, Lewin, Espin and Zwarenstein (2010, p.51), every individual member of a particular group must have a certain degree of commitment so as to develop unity within the team. Team members should develop mutual support towards other members in order to achieve the desired goal. This results into a high level of motivation amongst the individuals.

In addition to the above factors, there are other factors that promote teamwork. These include; external support and recognition, standards of excellence and principled leadership.

Arguments for working in teams

There are a number of benefits associated with teamwork that contribute towards individuals attaining their goals more efficiently and effectively compared to people working alone. Some of these reasons are discussed below.

By working in teams, individuals’ level of creativity is enhanced. This arises from the fact that teams are composed of individuals who posses diverse knowledge and skills which are shared amongst the members.

Gupta (2007, p.212) asserts that working as a team contributes towards individual attaining continuous improvement. This arises from the fact that members gain knowledge from mistakes and experiences. As a result, a continuous learning environment is created.

For the teams to be successful in attaining their goals, the members are required to share information. West (p.11) asserts that teamwork contributes towards cross-fertilization of ideas. Working as a team also gives individuals access to diverse scientific tools and techniques which contribute towards attainment of efficiency.

Gupta (2007, p.212) asserts that the scientific tools and techniques incorporated in a team enhance resource utilisation. This arises from the fact that wastage of finances, time and materials in executing the tasks is eliminated.

Turner (2001, p.333) asserts that the resultant effect is that the individual team members’ knowledge is enhanced due to the high level of exposure to diverse view points. According to Gupta (2007, p.203), individuals working as a team are more creative and innovative compared to those who have adopted an individualistic approach in executing their duties.

Working as a team also develops individuals’ attitude towards risk. Gupta (2007, p.203) is of the opinion that working as a team motivates individuals to be more risk taking in order to attain their goals. Gupta (2007, p.208) further asserts that working as a team enables individuals to evaluate their strength in dealing with uncertainty, taking calculated risks and taking advantage of the opportunities.

In the event that the degree of risk is high, team members pool their efforts and resources in order to deal with the situation. By working in uncertain situations, individuals become more confident in taking risks.

Working as a team motivates individuals to be continuously innovative in performing their tasks. This enhances the effectiveness with which they attain their goals. Odgers (2005, p.311) asserts that working as a team motivates individuals to accomplish their duties effectively and efficiently. This arises from the fact that team members appreciate their colleagues’ contribution, knowledge and competence.

This creates an environment conducive for working. However, Odgers (2005, p.311) asserts that it is necessary to create a calculated conflict within a team in order to foster creativity amongst team members. Odgers (2005, p.311) asserts that conflict within a group can contribute towards the growth and development of the team members.

Working as a team contributes towards individuals accomplishing all the tasks requirements in addition to their human needs due to the high level of motivation. The resultant effect is that these individuals become more effective and efficient in executing their duties hence attaining their goals.

Working in teams also enables team members to be more committed in designing and implementing various operational strategies. For examples, some of the strategies which the team members incorporate are creative and flexible. Gupta (2007, p.210) assert that working in a team enables team members to be effective in eliminating possible hurdles that may limit attainment of the goals.

Teamwork enables individuals to be positive in countering challenges and taking advantage of the different opportunities presented. Additionally, teamwork leads to creation both formal and informal networks which enhances the effectiveness and efficiency with which individuals achieve their goals.

For a team to operate smoothly, Gupta (2007, p.208) asserts that integration of work standards is paramount. The standards create pressure to individuals to adhere to the standards. This has the effect of enhancing their operational efficiency and effectiveness.

In order to achieve ones goals, it is paramount for one to change. However, Gupta is of the opinion that it is difficult to change working as an individual. This limits the effectiveness and efficiency of attaining one’s goals. On the other hand, working as a team enables individuals to change by effectively identifying the need to change, designing and implementing the desired change (Kandula, 2006, p.118).

Arguments against teamwork

According to Isaksen and Tidd (2006, p.184), teamwork limits individual contribution. This arises from the fact that a group may be characterised by a number of dominant individuals who have a high influence on the decision making. The resultant effect is that the outcome of the team is affected. Additionally, working as a team may result to individuals being forced to conform to certain thoughts.

This means that teamwork enhances group think. However, the quality of decisions made by a particular team may be low thus limiting the effectiveness and efficiency of attaining their goals. Isaksen and Tidd (2006, p.184) further assert that working as a team may lead to conflicting individual biases. The resultant effect is that an unproductive level of competition may be created which may be emergence of ‘winners and ‘losers’.

Practical application of the concept of teamwork

Considering the efficiency and effectiveness associated with teamwork, there are a different ways through which the concept of teamwork can be applied in organisations. According to Mylonas, Harvey and Hodges (2007, p.22), organisational performance is determined by the degree of effectiveness and efficiency in executing different tasks.

In an effort to develop competitive advantage, organisations are increasingly incorporating project management. In order for project management to be effectively integrated in organisations, it has become necessary for firm’s to integrate project teams. The project teams are developed in accordance with the different projects.

Iceland and Ireland (2006, p.489), assert that firms in different economic sectors are facing challenges which require them to be more effective and efficient in executing their duties. One of the ways through which organisations can achieve this is by integrating teamwork in their projects.

Through teamwork, it would be effective and efficient for projects to achieve their goals. This arises from the fact that a high degree of creativity, collaboration, innovation and trust are developed in executing the various tasks.

Conclusion and recommendations

Despite the limitations of working as a team, the analysis has illustrated that teamwork contributes towards individuals being effective and efficient in achieving their goals. Teamwork enables individuals to become more creative in executing their duties. This arises from the fact that teams are formed of different individuals who possess different skills, information and knowledge.

For example, through collaboration which is a core component of teamwork, individuals’ knowledge and skills are improved. The resultant effect is that their level of competence in executing their duties improved. Additionally, teamwork enhances innovation and continuous improvement amongst individuals. This culminates into a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness of attaining the stipulated goals.

One of the factors that enhance this is the risk taking characteristic of teams. Teamwork also enhances a high level of commitment in attaining the stipulated goals. This is achieved through incorporation of a result-driven structure and standards which individuals are required to adhere to.

In order for individuals to be effective and efficient in attaining their goals, it is paramount for them to incorporate the concept of teamwork. However, the teams should be effectively managed to ensure that they do not deviate from the intended objective.

Reference List

Cohen, S. & Bailey, D., 2001. What makes teams work; group effectiveness

research from the shop floor to the executive suite. Journal of Management. Vol. 23, issue 3, pp. 239-290. California: University of Southern California.

Eugene, R., 2008. Relationship between teach job satisfaction and teaming structure at the middle school level. New York: ProQuest.

Gupta, B., 2007. Governance and management of technical institutions. New Delhi: Concept Pub. Co.

Iceland, D. & Ireland, L., 2006. Project management; strategic design and implementation. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Isaksen, S. & Tidd, J., 2006. Meeting the innovation challenge; leadership for transformation and growth. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.

Kandula, I., 2006. Performance management. New York: PHI Learning Pvt Ltd. Mylonas, A., Harvey, J. & Hodges, J., 2007. Business organisations and management for Queensland. South Yarra, Vic: Macmillan Education Australia.

Odgers, P., 2005. Administrative office management; complete course. Mason: Thomson.

Porter-O’Grady, T. & Malloch, K., 2007. Quantum leadership; a resource for health care innovation. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Price, A., 2007. Human resource management in a business context. London: Thomson.

Reeves, S., Lewin, S., Espin, S. & Zwarenstein, M., 2010. Interprofessional teamwork for health and social care. Chichester: Wiley Publishers.

Rupar, B. & Rupar, M., 2006. Importance of teamwork for non profit organisations. Slovenija: University of Maribor.

Turner, M., 2001. Groups at work; theory and research. New York: Routledge.

West, M., 2004. Effective; practical lessons from organisational research. Malden, Mass: Blackwell.

Virtual teams refers to teamwork efforts that are facilitated through information technology medium where individuals get to work together without having to meet physically (Maznevski, 2006). Basically the term virtual team refers to a group of persons that primarily interact through internet connectivity or other electronic media and occasionally get to meet physically in order to achieve certain work objectives.

There are three characteristics that defines a virtual team; members must be separated by geographical features, they must be linked together virtually through a form of an electronic media and they must be engaged in achieving a common objective that is mostly work related (Maznevski, 2006). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the elements of virtual teams as well as evaluation tool of measuring its efficiency for human resource personnel in an organization.

Generally virtual teams can be categorized into four groups; tasks groups, command groups, interest groups and friendship groups (Kruse, 2003). In an organization setting there are several reasons that necessitate the use and set up of virtual teams. In this case the main reasons include low cost of business operations, convenience, outsourcing of scarce human resource and the need to gain a competitive edge (Duarte, 2005).

Regardless of the type of virtual group, a virtual team requires six elements that must be enhanced in order for it to be effective, they include effective communication skills, conflicts management, leadership skills, building of ideal relationship, team empowerment and rhythm building (Gould, 2006). These are the essential elements of a highly efficient virtual team.

One of the articles in the field of virtual team that attempts to comprehensively assess the efficiency of virtual teams in an organizational setting is written by Tricia Steege, the CEO of transformation strategies. In this article the maturity and efficiency of virtual team is measured by a Virtual Team Operation Survey tool that assesses the indicators of virtual team performance (Steege, 2003).

The survey tool developed for assessing the effectiveness of virtual teams in organization focuses on a total of five indicators that include; trust, leadership, communication, technology and learning that are rated based on four criteria’s (Steege, 2003).

The possible cumulative scores when using this survey tool is 100 points that are disaggregated by 20 marks in each category. Based on the points obtained during the evaluation of the team efficiency, a human resource specialist can identify areas of weaknesses and strengths of the virtual team under evaluation.

The interpretation of the survey tool scorecard is pretty straight forward since the indicators that have the lowest points are the weakest links that are used to identify areas of weaknesses while areas that score highly indicate areas of strengths. The specific interpretation and analysis of the Virtual Team Operation Survey tool score is indicated in the following table.

Table 1: Virtual Team Operation Survey Tool Analysis

References

Duarte, K. (2005). How to tell Virtual Team Effectiveness. Web.

Gould, David. (2006). Fifth Generation Work-Virtual Organization. Web.

Kruse, Kevin. (2003). Creating Conditions for Virtual Team Effectiveness. Web.

Maznevski, Martha. (2006). Creating Effective Virtual Teams. Web.

Steege, Tricia. (2003). How Mature are your Virtual Team Work Processes. Web.

Introduction

Leadership is a critical aspect in the development of an organization’s long-term success. One of the core goals of leadership is to promote a strong relationship with internal organizational stakeholders. Dubrin (2013) affirms that nurturing a strong relationship amongst internal organizational stakeholders is paramount in the success of a leader. Dubrin (2013) further emphasizes that leaders have a duty to influence organizational performance.

A study conducted by the Centre on Leadership and Ethics [Duke University] on 205 executive leaders of well-established public and private companies shows that leadership can foster strong organizational performance (Dubrin, 2013). However, this goal is only realizable if the leaders are inspirational and responsible. Thus, organizational leaders should adopt the best leadership practices in their pursuit of long-term survival (Dubrin, 2013). One of the leadership practices that leaders should entrench in their organizational culture entails teamwork, which is considered as the “heart of great achievements” (Maxwell, 2003, p. 6).

In an effort to improve organizational performance at my workplace, the organization highlighted the importance of integrating teamwork into the firm. One of the strategies that the manager intends to apply in achieving this goal is training employees on the significance of teamwork. As a leadership teamwork consultant, I was appointed to lead a team of nine members in proposing a new teamwork-training theme for the organization to adopt in its teamwork project. Through a brainstorming session, the team proposed collaboration in teamwork as the training theme. This paper illustrates the issues that will be considered in implementing the training project.

Team roles

In order to succeed in implementing the project, I will ensure that a transformational leadership style is adopted in directing the team’s activities. One of the aspects that I will consider entails ensuring that the team members are empowered adequately. Therefore, as the team leader, I will ensure that all the team members’ opinions are heard.

This aspect will aid in entrenching a culture of team ownership amongst the team members. Additionally, the team members will be assigned different roles, depending on their capabilities. The team roles that will be considered include coordinator, plant, shaper, implementer, specialist, finisher, team worker, monitor evaluator, and the resource investigator (Dubrin, 2013). As the team leader, I will take up the role of a specialist in order to offer the team expert knowledge on various aspects that might be encountered.

Impact of teamwork project on organizational performance

The concept of teamwork is not new within the business environment. The impetus towards teamwork has originated from the need to attain synergy in organizational performance (Stagich, 2001). However, the successful implementation of teamwork has remained a challenge in many organizations. Teamwork collaboration is one of the critical aspects that organizational leaders should focus on in entrenching a culture of teamwork. Dubrin (2013) defines collaboration as the process of interaction amongst employees by building trust and valuing the accomplishment of a predetermined goal. Therefore, investing in the teamwork-training project will influence organizational performance in a number of ways, as illustrated herein.

The development of a shared goal

Effective teams are usually comprised of members from different backgrounds, such as expertise, interests, and opinions. However, teams are formed with the objective of attaining a specific goal. Thus, training employees on the importance of teamwork collaboration will play a fundamental role in enhancing the development of shared goals amongst team members. Stagich (2001) accentuates that an organization’s success in developing synergy depends on the uncompromised commitment amongst the team members towards the set goals and mission. Thus, developing a collaborative team is imperative in establishing shared goals.

One of the ways through which an organization can develop a shared goal is by ensuring that the team members understand how they will benefit from the organization. The training project will play a fundamental role in eliminating personal interests that might affect a team’s performance adversely, hence the organization’s long-term performance. Moreover, the project will influence the team members’ opinions positively regarding their personal and organizational success. For example, team members will appreciate the view that their success is anchored on their organization’s success. Therefore, the chances of achieving an organization’s vision will be improved considerably due to the internal commitment to organizational projects and work goals.

Strong employee relationship

The team project will also improve employee relationships amongst the organizations’ employees. One of the core motives for the manager to incorporate teamwork is to ensure effective working with the team. However, this goal can only be achieved if a strong relationship is established amongst employees. By investing in the teamwork-training project, the organization will gain remarkably from the strong employee relationship that will be developed. The team members will appreciate the importance of diversity within the team.

For example, training on collaboration will eliminate bias and negative energy. Therefore, the likelihood of conflicts amongst team members will reduce significantly. Moreover, the team members will gain insight on diversity as a source of knowledge and information that can improve the attainment of a shared goal if exploited optimally. Consequently, the organization will be in a position to leverage individual strengths. Dubrin (2013) asserts that heterogeneity in the “workforce may offer the company a creativity advantage as well as improve its problem-solving and decision making capability” (p. 443).

Limits on socially responsible projects

Attaining long-term sustainability is one of the fundamental goals of most organizations. Organizations can adopt different strategic management practices in achieving this goal. One of these practices entails corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is comprised of two main dimensions, viz. the internal and external dimensions (May, Cheney & Roper, 2007). Establishing an environment conducive for working is one of the dimensions of internal CSR. Therefore, nurturing a strong collaboration amongst the internal stakeholders should be a prime concern for organizations.

Training employees on collaboration ensures that they adhere to ethical codes, hence eliminating unethical behaviors. Additionally, training employees on collaboration improves an organization’s operational efficiency, hence ensuring that customers are served optimally (Dubrin, 2013). However, it is imperative for organization leaders to ensure that their investment in CSR is beneficial to the organization’s long-term success. Some of the issues that the company should consider in developing CSR policies are illustrated below.

Costs and benefits of CSR

It is imperative for organizations to ensure that investing in socially responsible activities does not affect the attainment of the organization’s long-term goals due to the high costs involved in the process. In order to achieve this goal, it is imperative for an organization to conduct a cost analysis. For example, the analysis should focus on assessing the costs of investing in external and internal CSR activities. The organization should avoid investing in CSR activities that are characterized by negative financial ramifications. Incurring high financial costs in CSR may pressurize the organization to increase the cost of its products and services. Subsequently, the organization might experience a reduction in the customer base, and hence its financial stability.

Long-term sustainability

The organization should consider investing in CSR activities that will contribute to the improvement in the organization’s long-term sustainability. Subsequently, the organization should avoid short-term oriented CSR activities. May et al. (2007) are of the opinion that some “corporate citizenship initiatives are simply efforts to downplay some of the realities of today’s corporate practices and short-termism through image manipulation” (p. 78). Thus, the organization should ensure that the projects being adopted contribute to the organization’s sustainability. Some of the CSR activities undertaken might not have immediate results (Dubrin, 2013).

Effects on CSR on the company bottom-line

Investing in CSR activities will enhance the organization’s corporate image. For example, investing in the employee training program will lead to the establishment of a strong relationship between employees and the organization. The strong link is spurred by the view that employees appreciate the organization’s effort in improving their talent, and hence their chance of progressing through their desired career path. Therefore, the development of such a relationship will influence positively the level of productivity amongst employees, hence organizational operational efficiency.

The development of positive corporate reputation improves the competitiveness of an organization in the labor market (West, 2012). Thus, the firm will be in a position to develop a talented workforce. Moreover, the organization will be in a position to increase the rate of employee retention, hence increasing the likelihood of improving its long-term performance.

Approaches of integrating ethical behavior in the teamwork training project

Entrenching strong ethical behavior is one of the aspects that will be considered during the teamwork-training project. In order to achieve this goal, a number of approaches will be adopted as illustrated below.

Diversity training program

An extensive diversity-training project will be developed in order to ensure that the team members develop a better understanding on diversity at the workplace. The diversity-training program will ensure that no team member is discriminated due to his or her cultural or demographic background such as race, age, gender, sexual orientation, level of education, nationality, and religion amongst other factors. This move will aid in the development of a friendly working environment.

Ethics and CSR training program

Dubrin (2013) asserts that training on ethics and CSR increases the employees’ level of awareness. Thus, the training project will focus on ensuring that all the team members understand the stipulated organizational code of ethics. Some of the issues that the teamwork-training project will focus on entail the anti-discrimination laws. The ethics-training project will reinforce the significance of developing socially responsible and ethical behaviors.

Teamwork training and transformational leadership

Investing in teamwork training will establish a strong foundation for the development of transformational leaders due to a number of issues as explained herein.

Cooperation

The teamwork-training project will focus on the importance of cooperation amongst team members. The team members will be trained on the importance of cooperating in order to achieve a shared goal. Additionally, the team members will appreciate the importance of cooperation in making innovative decisions that enable an organization to deal with future challenges.

Open communication

The teamwork-training project will also focus on establishing an open communication channel amongst team members. The objective of open communication will be to provide the team members with an opportunity to share relevant information and knowledge. Through such sharing, the team members will appreciate the importance of gathering information from subordinates, which is a fundamental element in transformational leadership.

Team member’s reaction

One of the members had proposed that the team should adopt an independent approach in executing the team projects. In his proposition, the team member was of the opinion that the team would avoid conflicts if the project was subdivided and each of the team members assigned his or her role. His proposition was based on the need to avoid conflict amongst the team members by working independently.

However, in my opinion, the approach suggested by the team member would affect the team’s performance adversely. First, the team’s capacity to contribute positively to the organization’s positive performance would have been affected negatively due to the lack of knowledge and information sharing. Furthermore, adopting an independent approach would have affected the organization’s capacity to position itself as a learning organization through collaboration amongst employees.

Conclusion

Focusing on the theme of collaboration during the company’s teamwork training program will play a fundamental role in establishing a strong organizational culture. For example, the organization will be in a position to work as a system, hence improving its long-term performance. Furthermore, the incorporation of the above elements will allow team members to develop a positive attitude towards the organization, hence increasing their commitment.

References

Dubrin, J. (2013). Leadership: research findings, practice, and skills. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Maxwell, J. (2003). The 17 indisputable laws of teamwork workbook: embrace them and empower your team. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

May, S., Cheney, G., & Roper, J. (2007). The debate over corporate social responsibility. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Stagich, T. (2001). Collaborative leadership and global transformation: developing collaborative leaders and high synergy organizations. Miami, FL: Global Leadership Resources.

West, M. (2012). Effective teamwork; practical lessons from organizational research. Chichester, UK: Blackwell Publishers.