Module 6; Team Leader - Essay Example

Team Leader Team Leader Due to increasing competition in the modern world, most organizations have begun acknowledging the importance of the human resources in facilitating continuous improvement in either product or service quality to help in securing increased customer satisfaction. Particularly, the importance of teamwork has been acknowledged (Parumasur & Govender, 2013). However, the performance and effectiveness of teamwork is highly associated with continued management support through training on the most effective ways that teams should use in coordinating their activities with respect to the organization’s objectives.

In the absence of wise and effective leadership, teams could exhibit rudderless behavior due to lack of purpose and direction. Nevertheless, there are specific styles and characteristics of leadership that favor the optimal functionality of teams (Sohmen, 2013). Similarly, teamwork cannot exist in the absence of reliable and favorable leadership. For optimal organizational performance, teamwork and leadership must be coordinated and balanced. If I were in charge at my own organization, I would watch out for both negative and positive behaviors where I would work on eliminating the negatives and further strengthening the positive behaviors.

The positive behaviors include belief where the employees believe that they have the capacity to meet the predetermined goals, focus in that the employees have understood the direction and that they show unified focus when working, and motivation where the employees are showing the need to succeed (Sohmen, 2013). The potential negative behaviors would include competing factions among the team where members of a certain group are extremely passionate concerning their selected viewpoints as well as other behaviors that include lack of direction, belief and motivation.

Identifying such behaviors would ensure that the leader has a picture of what is going on in the organization, which would help them in determining the next course of action. Measuring team behavior is a challenging issue and requires appropriate skills to accomplish. To measure team behavior in my organization, I would first assess their contribution to the organization’s goals. If the team has been fulfilling its tasks as required and within the provided period, then the behavior of the team is good.

However, if the opposite is true, then the team requires additional input. I would also assess their communication while they are working on a project. If the team is constantly arguing and conflicting over the proposed ideas, then its behavior is wanting (Sohmen, 2013). However, if the team takes the time to assess all proposed points and then settles agreeably on one idea, then the group’s behavior should be maintained. Communication of the group is one of the best indicators of whether the teams require attention or maintenance.

Participation of all members of the group indicates that the level of teamwork within the subject team is optimal. If an organization gets good returns due to exhibition of certain behaviors, then it should recognize such behaviors through rewarding. Rewarding the employees helps in further motivating them. For me, I would enact reward systems that assess the performance of individuals and groups and allow the specific group to suggest the reward they would like. Although monetary rewards are the most common, I would give the employees an opportunity to suggest the rewards they would like to receive.

This is because preferences are different and I would not like to assume that all employees would prefer money. While some would prefer money, others might ask for prolonged vacations. Therefore, assumptions in this case would be erroneous because preferences are different. Rewarding through recognition would also be present in my organization as a way of rewarding the best performing employees. ReferencesParumasur, S. B. & Govender, P. (2013). The Importance of Teamwork, Continuous Top Management Support and Training in Bringing About TQM.

Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 5(9), 639-651.Sohmen, V. S. (2013). Leadership and Teamwork: Two Sides of the Same Coin. Journal of IT and Economic Development, 4(2), 1-18.