Team Leadership & Self Managed Teams - Term Paper Example

?Team Leadership & Self Managed Teams INTRODUCTION Team leadership is fundamentally regarded as the aspect of managing people and groups who are brought together to work effectively for the purpose of attaining a common objective or a goal. It is the sole responsibly of a leader to assemble everyone and work as a functioning team and for this purpose, the leader requires motivating the other team members in a continuous manner. The aspect of team leadership generally involves assigning the team members with certain tasks and at the same time supporting them towards the attainment of organizational targets. A self-managed team on the other hand is duly considered to be a small sized group whose members are responsible for determining plans along with managing duties and day-to-day activities. These groups are also responsible for performing other supportive roles that include performance appraisal, quality assurance and production scheduling among others (Cork 1-100). THESIS STATEMENT The paper intends to discuss about the aspects of team leadership and self-managed teams along with highlighting the background of the key issues surrounding these aspects. Moreover, the procedure of handling these aspects by certain specific companies would also be discussed in the paper. HISTORY/BACKGROUND The history of team leadership dates back to the period of 1980s when certain skills representing leadership aspects came into public display and have been addressed for the first time. In relation to the aspects associated with the notion of team leadership, it can be apparently observed that this particular idea demonstrated the influence made by individual hereditary facets on leadership. It is worth mentioning that the changing business environment has eventually raised the significance of performing effective teal leadership qualities along with skills and building self-managed teams. All these significant aspects ultimately highlight the importance of the aforesaid aspects by a certain degree (McCarthy, “Global Leadership: An Analysis of three Leadership Competency Models in Multinational Corporations”). In order to highlight the history or the background of the key issues surrounding the above discussed aspects, it can be affirmed that the word ‘team’ can be well related with the Anglo-Saxon word i.e. ‘family’, which is basically referred to as harnessed animals that are responsible for pulling a load towards the accomplishment of certain common objectives. With the passage of time, the notion of teamwork has been able to gain all round importance within organizations to a very large extent. This notion primarily considers specific measures that are needed to be adopted along with executed effectively, so that a team is fully empowered and equipped enough to perform various significant functions (Cork 1-100; McCarthy, “Global Leadership: An Analysis of three Leadership Competency Models in Multinational Corporations”). EXAMPLES OF SPECIFIC COMPANIES Development of both of these aspects i.e. self-managed teams along with team leadership can be duly considered as an issue, which is on the rise. This factor can be provided with the maximum amount of weightage owing to the fact that development of such team and skills are highly demanded in the present day context. This issue can be well addressed in the future by way of analyzing and highlighting its importance in the overall management context. It is quite evident that both of these aspects i.e. self-managed teams along with team leadership is of primary importance in the modern day management context, as these represents high end sense of performing various job responsibilities. In relation to this context, issues pertaining to both of these management aspects are needed to be delivered high amount of weightage owing to the fact that it will help organizations to build greater leadership skills that are required for the purpose of creating organizational efficiency. Moreover, team leadership can help individuals to be highly competent in meeting the organizational goals, which can be considered as one of the decisive aspects in organizational context. On the other hand, it can also lead towards greater enhancement of the team performance and fulfillment of the individual along with group goals. All of these issues should not be overlooked by organizations while formulating effective organizational plans and procedures. Moreover, effective training is needed to be provided so that various aspects associated with team building are developed. In relation to this aspect, there are numerous companies that can be apparently observed to utilize the aspects associated with team leadership. In this similar concern, companies like Champion International Corporation can be noticed to utilize the concept of team leadership in order to support its operational activities. In a broader context, the company has also been identified to utilize a distinct system namely team based “people system”, which seems to correspond with the concept of team development at large. The company performed team leadership skills and developed self-managed teams in order to run its paper mills in a successful manner (Katzenbach 1-100). It is worth mentioning that the aspect of team leadership is followed in relation to the process associated with advertisement and promotion of a product. For example, a marketing manager named John Herschell, who was in charge of a detergent company can be viewed towards efficiently utilizing the aspects of team leadership and self-managed teams. In this particular company, the main stress had been laid to the aspect of team leadership while promoting its products for the consumers. Thus, it can be affirmed that different companies consider the aspect of team leadership to be an imperative aspect supporting them towards the fulfillment of their respective organizational goals (Margerison 1-150). On the other hand, the aspect of self-managed teams seems to play a crucial role for several companies. In relation to this aspect, it can be apparently observed that KARLEE Inc. highly considered the aspects associated with building self-managed teams. The company’s main priority is to develop high amount of expertise among the employees. For this purpose, the company highly prioritizes to form self-managed teams in order to develop its employees’ performance by a considerable extent. Besides, the company is also known for signifying the importance of a self- managed team in the form of generating a quality working environment. Thus, all these aspects made the company to remain in the position of following the principles of a self-managed team. Moreover, the company has also been viewed to follow the aspect of team development as well apart from the notion of self-managed teams (Evans 1-120). In this similar context, there are certain other companies that can be viewed to adopt and follow the aspects associated with the formation along with the development of self-managed teams. These companies highly value in forming effective self-managed teams for the purpose of attaining high growth rate and also for sustaining in this competitive landscape. Companies even feel that the induction of self-managed teams can lead towards building of independent workforce who can very well perform their assigned roles along with responsibilities in a diversified manner. In this respect, companies like Federal Express among others have been observed to value the aspect of self-managed teams to a very large extent (Roussel 1-115). By taking into concern the above analysis, it can be affirmed that several companies seem to handle the aspects of team leadership along with self-managed teams in a well-diversified manner. Moreover, it has been viewed that these companies have been able to realize the importance of both of the broad aspects i.e. team leadership and self-managed teams. RECOMMENDATIONS As per the above discussion, it can be affirmed that the issues relating to the aspects of team leadership and self-managed teams can be well addressed in future. This fact can be provided with maximum amount of weightage owing to the reason that companies have developed a positive perception towards these aspects. Moreover, it has also been learned that these aspects are widely practiced in most of the companies belonging to this modern day context. In relation to this aspect, certain examples of such companies applying the concerned practices have been provided in the above section. However, it has been realized that the issues can be re-addressed in near future by way of highlighting the importance of these practices in a diversified manner. It is quite obvious that proper training is needed to be provided to the employees belonging to any organization, so that they are able to learn about the importance of the concerned practices i.e. team leadership and self-managed teams. This way, it will lead towards the betterment of organizations and most importantly, it will enable organizations to grow and flourish in future. CONCLUSION From the above analysis, it has been learned that the notion of team leadership is regarded as an important practice, which ensures working for the reason of attaining a common purpose or a goal. In this similar context, the analysis also provided a great deal of aid in realizing the importance of self-managed teams members who are responsible for determining various plans along with managing various duties in a well-diversified manner. The paper provided a great deal of help in realizing the process through which various companies such as KARLEE, Federal Express and Champion International Corporation among others have utilized both these practices by a considerable extent. Works Cited Cork, Brad. Self-Managed Teams. Australia: Bookpal, 2007. Print. Evans, James R. Quality and Performance Excellence. United States: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Katzenbach, Jon R. Teams at the Top: Unleashing the Potential of Both Teams and Individual Leaders. United States: Harvard Business Press, 1998. Print. McCarthy, Christine. “Global Leadership: An Analysis of three Leadership Competency Models in Multinational Corporation.” 2010. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. Margerison, Charles J. Team Leadership. United States: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2002. Print. Roussel, Linda. Management and Leadership for Nurse Administrators. United States: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2011. Print. Read More