Evaluation of Teamwork Effectiveness through Different Theories and Models - Essay Example

Reflection on Team Work Reflection on Team Work Team is the most significant aspect of any successful organization hence professionals and students are required to be well aware about different features of team work. This not only helps them in achieving academic tasks rather it also facilitates them in understanding the work place dynamics. This paper aims to present reflections on team work through different theories and models. The effectiveness of my group and team dynamics will also be discussed. Moreover, I will reflect on my personal contribution to the team effectiveness while making recommendations for future activities. Introduction Earlier this semester we prepared a report discussing management and leadership styles of different organizations. It was identified that companies such as Proctor and Gamble has acquired significant position in the market on the basis of their profound leadership whereas on the other hand Royal bank of Scotland has undergone serious challenges due to their poor management. The report further discussed management and leadership approaches considering four other organizations. Preparation and presentation of the report was solely based on team work and group effectiveness. Here, we not only learned different theories related to leadership and management rather we also comprehended unique human behaviors in work place setting. My group comprised of four individuals; Alex, Ashley, Helena and Stella. All the activities and different presentation tasks were divided among team members. The team effectiveness and successful presentation was largely dependent upon clear communication and understanding among individuals. Theories and Models In order to discuss theories and models about team work it is important to first understand the fundamental concept of teams. Every individual working in a team is actually interdependent with respect to different tasks. Team members have to share the responsibility of positive or negative outcomes (Halverson, 2008). Moreover, the entire team must show itself as an integral social entity. Members should be able to manage all their conflicts and issues across the boundaries of an organization or an educational institution. Groups and teams have the basic difference of connection, for instance, teams are more connected whereas group members usually have loose connections (Halverson, 2008). Humans have highly dynamic personalities. They tend to act differently in particular workplace situations. Researchers argue that work place human behavior is specifically determined by analyzing multiple factors. Although work motivation, attitudes and emotions are considered the primary focus of group behavior but factors such as violence, power, frustration or love might also impact the group effectiveness (Pinder, 2008). Apart from this, individual characteristics including personality, values, culture and intelligence affect the behavior of people working in teams (Daly, 2003). When it comes to team working then size of group, nature of the task and group status becomes highly significant. This actually helps in formulating group rules while also evaluating expertise and multiple skills of different individuals. Although large number of team members facilitate in generating more ideas but it is significantly difficult to motivate and lead a group of more than 10 people (Martin, 2004). Hence while making teams it is important to consider the group size so that everyone can participate in different activities. Moreover, if a team has to work over a longer period of time then it requires establishing stronger team membership among the members. Apart from this, if a team is made by the organization then it has predetermined reporting channels however, informal groups have to make their own communication networks through negotiation (Martin, 2004). On the other hand team dynamics relates to the idea of developing effective group behavior through different assessment tools and techniques of practical intervention. This actually helps in creating and maintaining high performance. Intervention techniques which help in creating dynamic teams include cultural understanding, team diversity, cohesion, problem solving, decision making, conflict management, power and influence, leadership etc. (Franz, 2012). Effectiveness of my group On the basis of above discussion about different theories of team work it can be said that my group performed effectively while achieving the group task. Since humans are largely motivated by their interests and unique personality traits therefore Alex and Helena were given the task of collecting and analyzing the definitions of leadership. Both of them have significant expertise in research while also having good understanding of the leadership approaches. On the other hand Ashley and Stella have profound critical thinking which proved beneficial in comparing different theories of leadership and management. Dividing group tasks on the basis of personality and individual interests helped us in reducing the impact of frustration, power and violence. Furthermore, individuals knew their respective cultural background therefore they easily conducted research work. Our group comprised of only four members thus the work was conveniently distributed. Primarily it was an academic task therefore rules and regulations were established by the university management. Other than this our personal and work related conflicts were managed on individual basis. Communication was fundamentally done through whatsapp whereas we also had several meetings in the university library. Throughout the course of work different techniques of team dynamics were used. For instance, we chose diverse team members so that each individual can perform independently without the interference of other members who might have expertise in the same research area. Work related problems were solved through mutual understanding without giving way to power and influence. Different personalities, team work and tools of team dynamics helped us in successful preparation and presentation of the leadership and management report. My Role and Contribution I performed my role and contributed to the report preparation as per the duties assigned to me. My primary function was to collect information about the leadership and management practices of the Disability Trust. The representatives of Disability Trust warmly welcomed my request and provided information about their management functions. Here, it was important for me to collect and compile all the relevant data in a comprehensive manner so that it could be added to the report. Hence prior to transforming it as per our requirements I did significant online research and critical analysis. The complied documents were then proof read and added to the final draft. Moreover, I helped my group members in preparing the power point presentation while also carrying out various discussions in library. Since I have flexible personality therefore it was significantly easier for me to adjust with other team members. Moreover, I tried finishing my tasks before deadline in order to avoid stress and frustration caused by work overload. Benefits and Challenges Team work generates numerous benefits for the institution and students both. For instance, it increases the collaboration among team members which subsequently motivates them to perform well and support one another. On the other hand it also strengthens the communication channels due to which information flows freely from top to bottom and in lateral direction (Swanson, 2007). In addition to this, our group performance helped us in gaining following benefits (Gupta, 2007): Enhanced success opportunities Greater innovation and creativity Networking Higher standards of working Increased risk capacity Continuous opportunities of learning However, despite of all these benefits we also faced certain challenges such as individual passivity and negativity due to which people become more cynical as they are in other circumstances. When people began to negatively criticize then the actual point of criticism gets lost which causes further problems. But it is also observed that criticism increases the potential of teams. This happens when individuals keep their criticism direct and try to focus on solving the issues rather than pointing out personal characteristics of other members. However, when enough conflicting ideas are not generated then the challenge of group think develops (Demkin, 2008). This actually plays a major role in limiting the creativity and risk capacity of people. Group think is one of the team work challenges which we faced during the completion of report. This issue was resolved by constructively criticizing the work of others so that team members have enough space to think independently about different aspects of the report. Conclusion Team work is one of the essential lessons which professionals and students require extensively in order to excel in the current business environment. There are different aspects associated with team performance such as size, nature of the task and group status. Teams which can perform actively while acquiring higher working standards are able to gain better outcomes. Team effectiveness can be measured by the quality of data collection and analysis. It can also be assisted through the understanding of group members and how well each individual performed his/her tasks. In our case, we tried to assign group tasks depending upon individual expertise and interests. This actually helped us in generating high quality work while also reducing conflicts and issues which occurred during the course of research, data compilation and presentation. Recommendations Based on my experience I will recommend that team members should be six to ten because greater number of individuals subsequently increases group creativity and innovation. It also helps in doing more work in less time. Moreover, academic institutions should arrange training sessions prior to authorizing teams which will accelerate the process of group formation. In case of previously formed groups trainings will help in developing coherency and strength. References Daly, J, Speedy, S & Jackson, D 2003, Nursing leadership, Elsevier Australia, Marrickville, N.S.W. Demkin, JA 2008, The architects handbook of professional practice, Wiley, Hoboken. Franz, TM 2012, Group dynamics and team interventions: understanding and improving team performance, Blackwell Pub, Malden, MA. Gupta, BL 2007, Governance and management of technical institutions, Concept Pub. Co., New Delhi. Halverson, CB & Tirmizi, SA. 2008, Effective multicultural teams: theory and practice, Springer, USA. Martin, V & Rogers, AM 2004, Leading Interprofessional Teams in Health and Social Care, Psychology Press, New York, NY. Pinder, CC 2008, Work motivation in organizational behavior, Psychology Press, New York, NY. Swanson, RA 2007, Analysis for improving performance: tools for diagnosing organizations and documenting workplace expertise, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco. 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