Effective Team and Performance - Essay Example

EFFECTIVE TEAM AND PERFORMANCE Teamwork can have a dramatic effect on the performance of the organization either in a positive or negative manner. It is through an effective team that the organization can be able to achieve its objectives from a short or long-term basis. This has been evident among several organizations where it cannot be ignored that at least one organization appears to be more successful than the other is. This has been attributed to the fact that they have a variety of games they play through teamwork in order to enhance performance (McEwan, 2001, p. 28). It can be argued that such companies tend to limit their levels of success with reference to the strategies that have been set up. Limiting enables them to maintain focus on the set strategies where the management teams are able to understand the needs of their consumers. Such companies end up being viewed by others as exceptional with conventional management wisdom, which they use in teamwork in order to ensure performance. This makes them have something to tell those who stick to the same game though in certain cases, they may be regarded as exotic outliers. Small organizations tend to experience challenges more than the larger organizations as they have smaller scales of production, which make their costs to be high. Such high costs may force them to stick to the same strategy of teamwork, as they may not have the necessary capital and resources to change their strategies in order to enhance performance in order to handle the challenges that they may be experiencing (Brian and Craig, 1990, p. 51). The apple industry for instance is a large-scale enterprise, which has adopted a unique technology with which it has been able to integrate corporate dictatorship. In ensuring teamwork, it is vital for the administration and employees to always support a purpose that has a guiding principle where price and results are not related to the market campaigns or levels of production. This gives them a competitive advantage with which they focus on the value and services to their consumers. Through such strategies, they are able to understand their strengths by focusing on their target group that values what they do. A positive spirit of teamwork encourages innovation, which in most institutions is regarded as the fundamental truth to any changes that can be experienced by the organization. Innovativeness encourages uniqueness in the way issues are addressed and how other competitors to the organization are handled (Saxena, 2009, p. 55). Organizations should always figure out what they want and make sure that it is in line with the demands of their target market. The staff in an organization should be one driven by the spirit of innovativeness in form of ideas they come up with. They ought to focus on the existing opportunities and go ahead to invest their ideas in it. Teamwork can be enhanced if the organization discourages the formation of large groups that encourage conflict of interest in terms of reaching a decision on a critical issue. Training for the smaller teams is easier and there is faster acquisition of skills. Boosting revenues should serve as a onetime event since most of the organizations are in possession of the fixed assets. It is through the revenues that the skills obtained can ensure there is innovation for the organization hence makes it more competitive. With reference to companies and profit oriented businesses, revenue serves as a vital product for capital when the company is stuck and urgently capital. Such revenue serves as an immediate boost to the organization when they lack finances. With a specific interest on their revenue, there is need for ensuring perfection on the products that are taken to the markets, as this will help them to keep up with tight competition that is evident in the electronics market. They have to concentrate on a specific target market to discourage losses. Listening to clients can offer a basis on which to come up with unique products that meet the demands of the clients. Most of the companies hire consultants in order to help them solve most of their business problems and to win a place in the market. This calls for the need for companies to work with experienced and enthusiastic professionals who have a belief in teamwork and view success as the effort of ensuring that the goals and objectives of the company are client oriented. The greatest strength of consumers is their culture, which determines what they purchase, and therefore listening to them enables one to form a basis with which they can establish an appropriate product for their target group (Judge et al 2002, p. 767). This is evident in the apple industry that produces its goods with reference to its target group and this can be noted on the features on the product. This forms an embedded approach on the ideas they have of a product they wish to manufacture. Budgets have to be related to the deliverables and the performance targets of the company. Having obtained ideas from their clients, there is need for teamwork and collaboration where the focus of the group is result oriented without accepting credit. Ideas are shared openly and sharing of skills in the company has made most industries successful in the markets. The consultants, partners and the suppliers offer their ideas in order to reach a better idea on the products. They are therefore able to limit themselves within the requirements of their budget. Performance as a positive result of teamwork begins to be felt when organizations begin to stabilize their skills by strengthening on the core competency being experienced (Ogilvie, 2006, p. 33). This is done in most cases in preparation of the revolutionary changes that will be as a result of innovation. The traditional centered form of administration where decisions were made by leaders is slowly fading away and employees have over the years been regarded as fruitful source of advice. This would go ahead to expand on the partnerships especially with the research institutes. With research institutes, they are expected to up the strategies they use. The games they opt for are those that they can only manage to finish at the end of the race an indication that if another company has to adopt the same games then they have to work with each other and learn the skills. Innovation through the introduction of technology has become a vital measure, which no company can do without as it enhances more skills and creativity. The stakeholders have their own way of handling the competition without involving the companies in order for them to also benefit equally. Innovation opens up room for more investment as there is uniqueness in the goods produced. Evaluation of Performance Frequent evaluation of teamwork performance is a crucial factor that cannot be ignored by the organization as they are able to discover the challenges being experienced by the team and how they can be handled. The relationship that exists between the rates of economic growth, markets and the changes that are brought about by technology are some of the factors that foster teamwork. Every organization wants to be considered as being the best in terms of delivering its services. Through technology a company can evaluate its levels in terms of innovation and the skills that are acquired in order to bring about the expected change. The causal relationship between the three factors sometimes proves to be controversial given the fact that there is little independence in terms of performance as the success of one factor is determined by the other. The company has to clearly understand the concept of innovation and relate it to technology because it is through technology that they can be able to develop further on the skills they have hence initiate innovation in their company. The benefits from science especially in economical terms cannot be ignored either (Hofstede 2003, p. 11). One benefit would be that of a trained manpower that is able to assemble the various skills they have in order to come up with a new product. This is attributed to the fact that employees have different skills and manpower and it is through the combination of such skills that they can manufacture a quality product. The cultural benefits of the product to the consumers have to be considered. This limits itself to the tastes and preferences of the consumers as there are products which are likely to stay longer in the markets because they do not meet the demands of the consumer. Cultural Interests and Performance Some consumers are dictated by the cultural interests of the society when it comes to purchasing of products and this limits the markets to which the product could be sold. It therefore has to consider the market interests and the consumers surrounding the market. The product should have a direct benefit to the target market and not just producing because they have the materials and manpower. The ideas that are created through science create curiosity for the company to come up with a new product and become more effective when they benefit in a quantitative manner. The process is never a smooth one as the company should expect several technical problems (Fieser and Pojma, 2009, p. 41). It should equip its employees with skills with which they can be able to handle such challenges. The innovation brought about by the skills should be one that tallies the interests of the markets and the consumers. These are just among the several factors that have to be considered before coming up with a team to work with. Frequent assessment of teamwork has to be undertaken by the organization so as to uncover the common team working problems that are being experienced and how they can be solved. Once the assessment has been done, there has to be team work tools that will be established in order to enable them improve and develop the relevant skills that are required. Every team ought to be knowledgeable about the tools that have been established and how they will be implemented. The team members when working should provide feedback to the authorities regarding how they have performed after being offered the team tools. This encourages working for the common good of all in the organization. When working, more complaints are expected an indication that the organization will continue formulating more tools to work with. They have to be committed to the team vision and the leaders are expected to help them understand how the tools work through offering a bigger picture of the different situations they find themselves in. this helps to reduce conflict and hostility between members. As a result, the team understands how it needs to accomplish its responsibilities using the available resources. In the end teamwork enables them to balance between their individual needs and autonomy for the mutual benefit of interdependence. They should create a sense of urgency where everyone in the team is made to believe that the organization has an urgent and worthwhile purpose with which it has created the team (Benjamin 2004, p. 21). The greater the urgency to work the higher the expected performance team will emerge. With the urgency in mind, they have to select members of the team with reference to their skills and not by their personalities. This creates conducive working environment and as an effective team, they end up with complementary skills and it is easier to work. The three major skills that constitute a team are technical, inter personal and problem solving skills and a team should have all the three in order for it to be effective in delivering high performance. The basic importance of a team is to achieve the goal for which the team is established through the appropriate balance of skills. They may not have all the relevant skills but for a start up, the members should have the ability to acquire the additional relevant skills with time. Organizational Leadership Through the theory of top management teams (TMT) of process control, leaders affect the general organizational performance and this can either be in a positive or negative manner (Edmondson 2012, 26). This is attributed to the fact that they are the ones whom in most cases set up the general guidelines that determine the conduct of their subjects. It is through these guidelines that they are able to effect change in their organizations. The process of decision making adopted by the leaders is therefore a vital determinant to how far the progress of a given organization will take place. The antidote to organizational problems is how to replace a leader when he leaves as the one opted for may not have the qualification desired and leadership values expected of that position. This is because when a new leader is appointed into position it is hoped that he will be able to reverse the situation that was there initially (Barwise and Meehan 2010, p. 81). This belief in the idea that it is leaders who influence the performance of a given organization has led to less research being undertaken on opinions that individuals have about the issue. Changes that occur in different organizations are both technological, changing worker attitudes and the government regulations that come with it. These changes also call for a change in the style of leadership and failure to do so is likely to result to a conflict of interests among the leaders. Therefore, with reference to the organizational structure of the organization, it is the responsibility of the leaders to ensure that they come up with the appropriate strategies in handling these issues. The leaders have to create a rapport between them and the workers in order to effectively handle the issues at hand. Every organization expects the best when it comes to the delivery of services in order to keep up with the high competition in the markets. This becomes a success when each worker is allocated responsibilities that match their skills, as they are able to exercise what they are aware of. As for those in the management positions, they are expected to undertake the responsibility of planning and controlling all the events that will take place in the organization. Most of the management often disagrees on the process of determining promotions with reference to the seniority process. It is considered vital in the management of resources as it helps to establish policies that govern organizations. They are able to negotiate collective agreements with other labor unions with which they can determine pay for their organizations (Achouri, 2010, p. 56). This becomes a critical issue in cases where payment of workers is undertaken on the basis of seniority. This becomes a negative decision in cases where those who are not senior may be underpaid yet they do most of the work. Conclusion They paid focus on achievement of goals and this brought with it conflict of interest as leaders would want to carry on the process according to their own understanding. Issues of productivity, markets and the quality of their products were not focused on. As a result, there was much concentration on the idea of power and authority and they sought to understand how leaders practiced it and made it legitimate. It has been argued that for leadership to be charismatic individuals have to learn to broaden their interests in order to succeed and this can only be possible when they create awareness and seek acceptance from their subjects. References Achouri, C 2010, Modern Systemic Leadership: A Holistic Approach for Managers, Coaches, and HR Professionals. New York: John Wiley and Sons. 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New Jersey: Research & Education Association. Saxena, P.K 2009, Principles of Management: A Modern Approach. New Delhi: Global India Publications. EDMONDSON, A. (2012). A Dynamic Model of Top Management Team Effectiveness: Managing Unstructured Task Streams. Viewed 9 May. 2012. . Read More