How the Team Works - Essay Example

The increase of team-based structures in the management of organizational projects has increased with time. There are several types of teams that organizations used in order to improve the output of the projects. Some of these teams used as discussed in this paper include virtual teams and functional and self-managed teams.

To start with, a virtual team is composed of individuals that are based in different geographical locations. These individuals use technology to perform work duties and related activities. Jarvenpaa & Leidner (1999) states that organizations have preferred this kind of team apparently because of its cost-effectiveness in terms of reduced cost of technology, greater use of outsourced and temporary workers, shift towards globalization, and many others. 

Moreover, functional teams are composed of individuals from different departments but with the same task to perform. For example, an individual performing an accounting task in one department teams up with another individual performing an accounting task in another department. In a functional team, the team members try to specialize in their roles as they try to stick to their roles (Jurgen A. (2011).

Finally, self-managing teams are teams that are accountable for all the tasks they perform (Manz & Sims 1993). The team members share the workforce and the supportive tasks. It is a group that is composed of individuals with a common purpose and the tasks are defined by the members (Stewart & Manz 1995).

Team processes are those step-by-step actions that are taken or performed in order to produce a favorite outcome. These team processes sometimes have a positive influence or negative influence on the team's performance.  They include transition, action, and interpersonal processes (Garvin 2009). All these processes can have a positive influence on performance. For example, a transition process like creating an action plan can help in prior achievement and organizing for future wants.  Action process like assisting other team members performs their tasks can help promote positive cohesion and timely goal achievement. Also, interpersonal processes like conflict management can also help in developing some rules that can finally encourage cooperation. On the other hand, an interpersonal process like storming can have a negative influence on performance. The questioning of the team’s ability to perform a given task can lead to the discouragement of the team members hence not giving their best (Garvin 2009).

In conclusion, teams are important to an organization as they help in the achievement of certain tasks. When such teams are well coordinated with good processes, the organization may achieve its objectives through positive team performance.