How Successfully Manage Interpersonal Relationships - Case Study Example

BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS by BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS 1. Team competencies include concepts such as knowledge, skills and abilities of the team members. These characteristics or competencies are very vital since they have a direct impact on the team. Personality traits also have some contributions on team work. However, team competencies are more important since management can easily influence them (Margerison, 2001). For example, through training, rather than a personality trait which is presumed to be a more stable characteristic of an individual that cannot be easily influenced. Team competencies are often categorized into two; the interpersonal competency, which encompasses conflict resolution. Conflict resolution/ interpersonal competency can be defined as the ability to encourage desirable behaviours while discouraging undesirable team conflicts. Collaborative problem solving is the second competency which aids to identify situations that require participative group problem solving and utilize the proper degree and type of participation. In team works, the problem solving demand is placed on members than on the individual. In intellective decisions, teams usually work well than an individual. Other team competencies include; communication competency which is the ability to communicate openly and supportively and listen more actively, self-management competencies, and planning and task coordination competencies. Interpersonal competencies are congenial. Amicable interpersonal relations are present in more effective teams since they relive members of the group from dealing with difficult arguments and process problems. They lead to the antithesis of alienation, frustration, and withdrawal; as a result, willing and active productive participation of all team members is enhanced. ONeil & ONeil (2014) suggests that team effectiveness depends heavily on the ability of individual members to successfully manage interpersonal relationships. As such, interpersonal competence is significant because it ensures team members maintain good working relations, respond to others with respect, and entertain differing view points. Thus, there is a greater need for individual team members to be capable of interpersonal communication, collaborative problem solving, conflict management, and facilitation of team discussions. On the other hand, personality traits may be of significance since the individual identities of employees are challenged by new group memberships thus influencing their productivity. As a result, personality traits are important as they explain the behaviour of groups. The existing literature on the effects of individual personality characteristics on group effectiveness started with emphasis by organizations on psychopathology and the negative traits to avoid (Morgeson, Reider & Campion, 2005). Another impact that the personality trait presents in a team is that type A personality hinders problem solving ability in a group due to their behaviour pattern. Teams composed of members who are independent complete tasks faster than dependent members. Research has involved other definite characteristics such as dogmatism, need for strength and achievement. Teams with individuals who have high level of dogmatism lag behind in performance compared to teams which have members with low levels of dogmatism. On the other hand, persons with high level of actualization in the group are better candidates for jobs in a team environment than those with lower actualization strength. On the other hand, individuals with a high need for achievement are more efficient in groups. Thus the above illustrations show that personality traits may also be a viable factor in team work. Nevertheless, team competencies are more important in enhancing team work as compared to personality traits. 2. Emergent states explain about the cognitive, inspirational, and affective states of teams as opposed to the nature of their member interaction. Emergent states can be considered as both team inputs and proximal outcomes. For instance, teams with low cohesion may be less willing to manage existing conflict. This may in turn create additional conflict that lowers the cohesion level in the organization. This is vital because indices of emergent states are often intermingled with interactional process indices such as coordination, which normally leads to serious construct contamination. Emergent states do not represent team interaction or team actions that lead toward outcomes. In actual sense, they are usually products of team experiences including team processes and they become new inputs to the subsequent processes and outcomes. Therefore, emergent states are not processes in and of themselves since they do not explain the nature of member interaction. ONeil & ONeil (2014) makes a relationship by distinguishing processes from team psychological traits. Consequently, ONeil & ONeil (2014) have defined psychological traits in relation to team work. Psychological traits are predicted by inputs and processes. Therefore, there is need to consider variable emergent states than traits because of their mutable qualities. Trait is a relatively enduring characteristic that is permanent, while emergent states are variable; they are more fluid and are easily influenced by context. Other states like cohesion are malleable in newly formed teams but tend to remain fairly stable in those with a long history. Another form of emergent state that should be considered is the climate simply because it encourages sharing of information and helps mitigate negative effects of conflicts. The climate consists of norms and attitudes within the teams. It is normally associated with high levels of performance in a team. It encourages risk taking in addition to encouraging one to be comfortable with uncertainty. Emergent states characterized by some qualities serve as inputs and influence the execution of teamwork processes and tasks which are likely to alter subsequent emergent states as well as team work down the line. This pattern which is cyclical continues until the teams reach more distal team outcomes. Team work processes and task work often concur especially in dependent team contexts. In summary, the team work process describes interdependent team activities, which orchestrate task work in employee’s pursuit of goals. Team work processes are the vehicles that transform a team’s input into both proximal and longer term outcomes. 3. Teams are the best way to organize work in an organization as explained below . Gummer (1996) believes that self managing teams are groups of interdependent individuals that can self-regulate their behaviour on relatively whole tasks. They boil down the key characteristics of self managing teams to one employee direction in regard to decisions such as methods for carrying out work, task assignments and scheduling of activities. Empirical studies show that teams are more effective in an organization work setting. Self-directed teams are good as they help boost competition. They are highly productive, and happy committed members create a more flexible workforce. Teams are good as they bring in more resources; more diverse resources to work on a certain task than any one performer can. Further, the teams offer flexibility in the use of available resources. They have the ability to redeploy talents of members and their energy so as to keep the work in progress even when some the members or employees are not available. Teams made up of individuals from diverse units can transcend the traditional, functional and organization barriers and get the members work together or pool together towards collective or one goal. Another important way teams contribute to work is that that teamwork enhances the synergic potential. This is whereby a group clicks and the group members achieve something together that none of them could possibly achieve if he or she did it as an individual. These are the major benefits of a team. On the other hand, research proves that team performance does less than expected, as at times teams may not offer the best way to organize work. Teams that disagree often affect the organization negatively since in most instances, the clients will dissatisfied with the team’s work due to low or poor productivity, members become irritated and disillusioned, and the members become feeble or weak in performing tasks. Another reason why teams may fail to perform is because some tasks assigned to teams could be better performed by an individual. There are some tasks that a team cannot perform as a whole. For instance, creative writing. Not many novels or epic poems have been written by a team. Since such tasks involve bringing to the surface, organizing, expressing thoughts and ideas that are particularly formed in one’s mind. The same applies to leadership. Successful organizations are mostly led by a single, talented, courageous person. Among the many executive functions that are better accomplished by an exceptional individual than by interacting them as a team is an articulation of an inspiring and a challenging collective inspiration. Beyond creative writing and executive leadership, there are other kinds of tasks that are better done by an individual. Another reason why teams may not be the best way to organize work is the fact that challenging team objectives may be specified, but there is low and inadequate organizational support. That is, even though a team may have clear directions, the group may perform below the potential. There are clear set objectives but inadequate resources to accomplish work. Such teams become less motivated as they continue seeking organizational support so they can accomplish their work. Moreover, there may be an assumption that team members have all the necessary skills necessary to perform a task. This has an impact on production since members may not be skilled or experienced in any way, thus the team may fail to work. Nonetheless, teams are the best way to organize work. 4. The importance of the model of team work cannot be undermined. In the model of teamwork, the reasons why teams are used are indicated (Spencer & Spencer, 2008). This model helps measure the effectiveness of a team by looking at various aspects such as performance, attitude and behaviour. Performance measures include the quantity and quality of output. Member attitudes include commitment and satisfaction. Finally the behavioural outcome can also be measured using the model by outcomes such as turnover or absenteeism. Thus, the teamwork model is vital since it directly affects the following concepts; Team performance Performance effectiveness is probably the first measure of a team’s success that we think of. We want to know how well the team did its job. And for this, measures of performance can be developed to reflect the specific team task. For instance, knowing the output level of a specific team, the number of new product line ideas or customer service call centres. In a meta-analysis, it was found that teams demonstrating better processes scored higher on performance measures such as supervisor rating, quantity, quality of output, innovation and the team members own rating of their teams performance. The benefits that teamwork brings can be seen when we consider top management teams and improvement in the organizational financial outcomes. Others studies found a positive impact of teamwork on performance ratings by external customers or clients (Converse, 1993). In healthcare, effective teams show improvements in patient care and reduction in medical errors. Another aspect that is rarely captured is the performance behaviours. Performance behaviours are outcomes that are related to better work but are not themselves the actual task of the groups. For instance, good teams can engage in learning behaviours, improve their own process or decision making and their productivity. While not directly capturing the measures of a team’s current performance, the outcomes are particularly important when we consider the reality of teams engaging in cycles of work where they can learn from previous experience. Affective reactions This is another benefit to teamwork, and that is the impact on individual team members. Good teamwork is associated with members’ increased satisfaction with and commitment to the team and the organization particularly when the team is highly participative or self directed. Working in teams has a positive effect on team members’ job motivation. In fact, some organizations have introduced team working with the explicit aim of improving employee motivation and attitudes, rather than solely for performance benefits, recognizing that social interactions is an important part of work for many people. Behavioural outcomes Given the positive impact of teamwork on employee attitude such as satisfaction and commitment it should come as no surprise that teams with better teamwork processes have lower absenteeism levels and lower turnover. Overall the organization and individual benefit of well managed effective teams are manifold and make it obvious why teams are a superior way of organizing work today. In brief, team work models cannot be ignored since they help measure out these factors. 5. Diversity is an asset and a productive resource for a team, if it is well managed. Team diversity represents the average level or capability of a team. Additionally, team diversity represents the variance or differences in ability, experience, personality or any other factor on the team. A diverse team is more effective than a homogeneous team. This is because diverse teams produce more innovative ideas and solutions to problems. Diversity in terms of functional areas such as skills, thinking styles, and personal characteristics forms the basis of creativity. In addition, diversity contributes to a proficient point of disagreement that leads to excellent decision making. Further, research studies have confirmed that both functional and gender diversity can have a constructive effect on team performance (Rowe, 2003). Diversity of teams is a vital factor for teams must complete a wide range of different tasks or particularly complex tasks. A diverse team is established by bringing together the expertise of members from different functions in the organization, and this helps in promoting the organizations performance. Also, diversity contributes to better equalization of power; teams generally perform better and produce more if members from different fields and areas participate as one. Cultural dominance is therefore counterproductive because it encourages dominant team member contribution while discouraging contribution from other team members. Thus, for effective production, the team members should manage the diverse teams and distribute power equally according to the member’s ability to contribute to the task and not according to preconceived gradient of relative cultural superiority. Diverse teams also enhance mutual respect; this is because diversity creates a better opportunity for interethnic contacts leading to less prejudices and more frequent development of cross cultural acceptance and friendship (Mannix & Neale, 2005). Hence, for the teams to work effectively, members must respect each other, thus team leaders enhance this by selecting members of equal ability, making prior accomplishments and task related skills known to all team members. This minimizes premature judgments based on ethical stereotypes. However, teams made up of racially, and culturally diverse members tend to have more difficulty learning to work well together. But these problems tend to fade away with effective leadership. On the other hand, if cultural diversity is ignored, it tends to have a negative impact on productivity. This is because culturally diverse teams often perform below expectations when they are not properly managed. The diversity in teams also poses some barriers such as collaboration. This is through impeding effective communication. Effective collaboration among diverse individuals-integration of differences towards shared goals is important for both learning and team performance in complex and ascertained contexts. Superficial or ingenious conversations may be appropriate in the short run, but is likely to block progress in the long run. This is particularly true for teams that are engaged in innovation and involved in other work activities that call for behavioural and organization change. Another problem with diverse teams is that giving of feedback sometimes becomes hard due to presence of different perspectives that exists in culturally diverse teams as it is hard to determine what actually constitutes bad or a good idea or decision. Whereas heterogeneous teams rapidly develop judgment criteria based on members similar values. Culturally diverse teams experience difficulty and delay before coming to an agreement. Nevertheless, a diverse team is more effective than a homogeneous team. References Converse, S. (1993). Shared mental models in expert team decision making. Individual and group decision making: Current issues, 221. Gummer, B. (1996). Go team go! The growing importance of teamwork in organizational life. Administration in social work, 19(4), 85-100. Mannix, E., & Neale, M. A. (2005). What differences make a difference? The promise and reality of diverse teams in organizations. Psychological science in the public interest, 6(2), 31-55. Margerison, C. (2001). Team competencies. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 7(7/8), 117-122. Morgeson, F. P., Reider, M. H., & Campion, M. A. (2005). Selecting individuals in team settings: The importance of social skills, personality characteristics, and teamwork knowledge. Personnel psychology, 58(3), 583-611. ONeil, J. H. F., & ONeil, H. F. (Eds.). (2014). Workforce readiness: Competencies and assessment. Psychology Press. Rowe, A. (2003). Diverse teams at work: Capitalizing on the power of diversity. Society for Human Resource. Spencer, L. M., & Spencer, P. S. M. (2008). Competence at Work models for superior performance. John Wiley & Sons. Read More