Factors of Building a Team - Essay Example

There are different factors that are considered when building a team especially in the organization. According to Robbins (1993), activities that areconsidered in team building include goal setting, development of interpersonal relationships among members, role analysis to clarify each member’s role and responsibilities and team processes. Essentially, team building attempts to utilise high interaction among members to increase openness and trust. As such, this paper seeks to discuss the factors that can be taken into consideration when selecting a six member team for a high-stakes, high-pressure project at West Coast Transit Company. From the West Coast Transit team member profiles, the following members have been selected to be part of the A team that will undertake the above mentioned project: Natalie, Elizabeth, Katelyn, Bob, Susan and William. In brief, these six members have good qualities that can positively yield in great team performance. Essentially, collaboration and coordination are basic tenets of teamwork in an organization (Schultz, 2007). In brief, Natalie is positive and has great communication skills; Elizabeth enjoys the collaborative aspect of the job and has a positive attitude; Katelyn’s mindset suits teamwork; Bob’s attitude is positive and he is a team player; Susan’s attitude is positive and she is an excellent team player and William is also positive and believes that he is a team player. When combined, the qualities of the selected six members are likely to contribute towards the formation of a strong and formidable team that can collaboratively work together to produce positive results for the organization. The other people have not been selected to become part of the A team as a result of their negative attitude. For instance, Ian is arrogant and he does not want to back down from his ideas. Doug is a bit of a temper and he is easily frustrated and is viewed as abrasive by his workmates. On the other hand, Michael is overconfident and at time battles with depression though he collaborates with others when the need arises. It can be observed that the qualities of the members left out of the A team are not consistent with the spirit and letter of teamwork. The attitudes of these members can impact negatively on the overall performance of the team since they can lead to conflicts. As indicated above, the A team is formed for a specific purpose. Given the diverse factors that may influence the behavior of your team members, the job characteristic model and goal setting will be implemented. The job characteristic model identifies five job characteristics and their relationship to personal and work outcomes (Robbins, 1993). These include the following: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy to carryout work and make decisions and feedback where individuals obtain direct feedback about their performance. This strategy is very effective as a result of the fact that it is designed to fulfill the needs and interests of the team as well as the individual team members. The other strategy that can be implemented to motivate the team members is related to goal setting. If the members are given the autonomy to set goals, they put more effort to ensure that these goals are achieved. However, there are certain motivational strategies that could be ineffective for this team. It can be noted from the onset that this team is goal oriented and the team members may not be easily motivated by extrinsic factors like high pay among other needs. The team members are specifically concerned about making great achievements that can positively contribute to their recognition within and outside the organization. Therefore, fulfilling their needs through offering monetary incentives cannot be the best alternative to implement in as far as motivation of the members of the A team is concerned. The main challenges of conflicts that can be anticipated in this type of team are related to the aspect of reaching consensus in the decision making process. It seems that this team will be comprised of members with multiple skills and different ideas in various areas. Given such a scenario, it is likely to be difficult for the team members to easily reach consensus or agreement about the decisions that can be implemented. The members can differ in their opinions but the only thing required would be consensus. Such conflict needs to be solved in order to ensure smooth operations of the team. The best alternative strategy that can be implemented in order to solve this particular type of conflict is collaboration. Through collaboration, all the ideas of the different parties are taken into consideration and their benefits are analysed. The members of the team should also be consulted about their views towards the ideas suggested by the other team members and these should be discussed and debated freely in order to come up with the best alternative. This strategy helps to create mutual understanding among the team members and they can reach a mutual agreement about the decisions that can be implemented in the organization. When solving a conflict involving decisions in the organization, the best approach is to diagnose it as a team and come up with the best alternative from the other options available. The vision for success of this team is to give the members the autonomy to contribute towards the decision making process in different tasks they will undertake. The specific leadership strategy that can be applied is democratic participatory. This leadership style is flexible and its interactiveness helps the leader to work closely with other team members (Jackson and Schuler, 2010). This strategy is likely to determine the ultimate success of the team as a result of the fact that all team members are treated as valuable assets to the organization. The team members are also involved in the decision making process and this helps to create a sense of belonging to the organization as well as ownership of the ideas utilized in the operations of the team. The main advantage of involving the members of the team in the decision making process is that they will never disown their decisions in their operations. They will put optimum effort in their performance in order to ensure that the desired goals and objectives are achieved. References Jackson, S.E. & Schuler, R.S. (2010). Managing human resources: A partnership perspective. Boston: South Western College Publishing. Robbins, S.P. (1993). Organizational behaviour: Concepts, controversies and applications. NY: Prentice Hall. Schultz, J. (2007). Organizational Behaviour. CT:JUTA. Read More