Role of Effective Communication in Leadership and Teams - Essay Example

Role of Effective Communication in Leadership and Teams Module and number Facilitator’s Role of Effective Communication in Leadership and Teams I. Abstract It is common knowledge that organization has to have effective leadership and functioning teams to be achieve optimum productivity. This paper will tackle the role of effective communication in leadership as well to achieve a functioning team. This paper will illustrates that leadership is an emotion laden process and this can only be completed through the rigor of effective communication. The team also needs to evolve to achieve optimum performance and it is only effective communication that could enable a team to move from one stage to another. II. Inroduction Effective communication is critical in a team and in a larger context, to the whole organization. Teams needs to evolve and develop to achieve its optimum productivity and this can only be facilitated by an effective communication beginning from personal level, to the team leader to the general leadership of an organization for it to achieve its objective and remain competitive in the market. This paper tackles how communication enable a team to evolve and the leader to complete the emotional laden process of leadership. III. Role of effective communication in leadership and teams. Importance of communication Effective communication is critical in any organization. Moreso in a business setting where there would be an economic consequence to a communication breakdown. Effective communication in business is necessary not only in relaying the objective of the organization but also for the team to be able to work together and achieve synergy that would optimize the output of each member by having team work. a. The Nature of Teams  Team is a very important component of a business organization because it enables it individual component to synergize to achieve optimum result and productivity. But its dynamics has to be understood to determine where effective communication plays a role to enhance the performance of a team. If there are two organisational theories which can best describe and explain team behaviours and organisational dynamics of a team, it would be the Tuckman’s Model and Belbin’s theory. Tuckman theory or stages of team was first published by Dr. Bruce Tuckman in 1965 which are the his Forming Storming Norming Performing model in 1965. Later Dr. Tuckman added the fifth stage which is the adjourning stage (Cassidy 2007). Belbin Theory also deals with a team. But unlike Tuckman which dealt primarily with the evolution or development of a team, Belbin was more concerned about the role or roles that an individual assume in a team. Dr. Meredith was able to construct her team roles model after years of study which he was divided into nine roles which are the plant, resource investigator, coordinator, shaper, monitor evaluator, teamworker, implementer and complete finisher. For a team to achieve success, it is imperative for a leader to identify the roles that each member assumes and develop the role which the team is lacking (Belbin). In both theories of team, communication is essential. In Tuckman’s theory, communication functions as the facilitator for the team to develop (from forming to adjourning) into maturity. Without an effective communication, the team is bogged down to one of its various stages that stunt its growth and efficacy. Communication is also critical for determining the various roles that team members assume (Aritzeta, 2007). When there is a communication breakdown, the leader cannot determine the roles of its team and cannot achieve balance with the roles that a team should perform that could ultimately lead to the failure of the team. b. Leadership and Influence in Groups and Team  One very important aspect of management is leadership. Leadership dictates the impetus or direction of a team. The growth and failure of any team is usually dependent on the quality of leadership as leadership is a determinant of a team’s efficacy. The importance of good leadership cannot be stressed enough with the number organizations and business entities that folded due to the failure of its leadership. Leadership coupled with the tools of management, intends to reach or achieve the vision of an organization with its available resource in information, technology, materials, organization and personnel. To make this resources work together to achieve the greater objective of a team and organization, an effective communication is necessary. In today’s very competitive business arena, leadership can spell the difference of an organization’s success or failure. Leadership is a critical element in ensuring the sustainability of an organization. Research in the field of leadership has never been saturated with theoretical and conceptual quests for leadership styles that work with any situation and followers’ condition. (Jamaludin, et al, 2011, pg. 73). But without effective communication, a leader is doomed to fail (Lok and Crawford, 2004). According to Lok and Crawford (2004), leadership contributes significantly to the success or failure of an organization. The psychological profile of leaders could be reflected in the performance of the organization (Adeyemi-Bello 2001). Consistent with this observation, Al-Mailam (2004) argued that high-quality leadership is regarded as vital in bringing success to any group activity. One of the more recent and prevalent discussion about leadership is the emotional aspect of it as “leadership has been described as an “emotion laden process” (George, 2000, p. 1046), with the skillful management of followers’ feelings representing a critical leadership function (Humphrey, 2002, 2008). This “emotion laden process” needs communication to connect to complete the process of bringing emotional synergy between the leader and the led (Humphrey, 2002). c. Effective Communication in Groups and Teams   To nurture communication, it is also advisable that this should be practiced rather than deliberate. Google provides an excellent example for this where openness in communication is practiced in all levels of the organization where a low level employee can even ask a direct question to a CEO during their Friday meetings (Google, 2012). They also practice transparency and this is symbolically communicated throughout the organization by having workspaces without walls. . Open and effective communication is encouraged throughout the organization because it promotes innovation and initiative among employees not to mention a feeling that the company is a fun place to work with. In addition to openness and transparency, effective communication can also be reinforced by practicing a democratic leadership which does not only foster cohesion, but also galvanizes teamwork. The practice of this democratic leadership it “functions as a means of engendering compliance with dominant goals and values and harnessing staff commitment, ideas, expertise and experience to realizing these (Woods, 2004). d. Problem Solving Communication  Sometimes, communication bogs down where miscommunications happen. It is a situation where the information that was intended to be communicated was not interpreted in the same way it was conveyed. This stresses the necessity of clarity in communication that would leave very little or almost no room for interpretation by the recipient of the information. Another communication problem that organizations are prone to is the expectation on the performances of the employees. The gap between expectation and understanding of performance can however be bridged through a feedback mechanism that can be integrated during performance appraisals where employees will be ask to provide their thoughts about their performance and level of satisfaction about the communication process. This serves two positive purpose of eliminating communication gap between actual performance and expected performance in addition to the employees feeling that would spawn attachment to the team that his or her opinion is valued. IV. Conclusion It cannot be stressed enough how important is in a business setting. Miscommunication has economic consequences that could lead to the organization missing its objectve. Thus effective communication must be stressed in all aspects of organization beginning with the individual though its various presentation, to the team leader to the management in general. Clear and effective communication must become the norm of an organisation if it is to succeed. References Adeyemi-Bello, T., 2001, Work Study. 50(4): 150-153 Al-Mailam, F.F. 2004. Transactional versus transformational style of leadership-employee perception of leadership efficacy in public and private hospital in Kuwait. Quality Management in Health Care. 13(4): 278-284. Aritzeta, Aitor; Swailes, Stephen; Senior, Barbara (2007). Belbins Team Role Model: Development, Validity and Applications for Team Building. Journal of Management Studies, 44(1):96-118. Belbin, Meredith (2012). Belbin Team Roles. http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=8 [accessed May 26, 2012] Cassidy, Kate (2007). Tuckman Revisited: Proposing a New Model of Group Development for Practitioners. Journal of Experiential Education, 29(3): 413-417. George, J. M. (2000). Emotions and leadership. The role of emotional intelligence. Human Relations, 53, 1027–1055. Google (2011). The Google culture. Online. Viewed June 10 2012 < http://www.google.com/about/corporate/company/culture.html>. Kilmann, Ralph H.; Saxton, Mary J.; Serpa, Roy, Issues in Understanding and Changing Culture. California Management Review, Winter86, Vol. 28 Issue 2, p87-94 Humphrey, R. H. (2002). The many faces of emotional leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 493–504. Lok, P. and Crawford, J. 2004. The effect of organizational culture and leadership style on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Journal of Management Development. 23(4): 321-338. Read More