Leading Team Development and Change - Essay Example

LEADING TEAM DEVELOPMENT & CHANGE Student’s name Code & Course Professor’s Name University City Date Contents 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Team Vision 3 3.0 Team Contracting 5 4.0 Intervention Design 6 5.0 Diagnosis 7 6.0 Intervention Implementation 8 7.0 Intervention Evaluation 9 8.0 Change Leadership 10 Reference List 11 1.0 Introduction Leadership change is an imperative aspect in any organizations. While it presents various challenges, conforming to key attributes is instrumental in effecting the change process. Incorporating effective strategies are significant in various aspects given the need to present a smooth change process. Evidently, organizational change is an ongoing process, where successful change is realized through three divergent levels namely individual, group and organization. Each level plays an imperative role given that it is a leader’s virtual duty to manage change. The successful change process in any organizational is realized only through active participation. This paper has employed divergent strategies from team vision, team contracting and intervention design to present an effective change process. As such, the aim of this paper is twofold: to offer an in-depth analysis of the change process through various stages. 2.0 Team Vision Leading team change initiative must start with a vision. It is the visions that motivated the team members into action to achieve new directional change environmentally. Various visions are evidneced which includes, self reflections, learning from each other, realizing individual potential, understanding personal situations. The identified visions relate to team effectiveness models of Hack Man model and GRPI model. Both model advocates for compelling goals, stressing on goal clarity and after progress if the goals are achieved (Rainy M, 2012). The models further point out the processes of suitable norms to their work and the systems of communication, decision-making, and meetings. Roles are identified in both models with the focus on who is part of the team and the individual roles at their potentiality. In addition, the model tends to discover the interactions of how team members should work together and maintain a healthy relationship with individuals. The basic element to become a higher performance in the team is goal setting. When goals are set, the team can achieve the estimated outcomes. Goals are set for the entire group with everyone with accountability to the group findings. It therefore maxims the output of the individuals in-group, increase in the cooperation between groups members and commitment of individuals. This is done to steep the performance of the group. The development of diagnostics instruments depends on the visions pointed out and the interests to the findings. Picking of diagnostics instruments shows the better understanding of the team and why. The team models mentioned above, the Hack Man model, the GRPI models, assists in coming up with diagnostics instruments. To facilitate diagnostics, the tools use different methods like giving out questionnaires, conducting out interviews, and using observations. Focus on respect on diversity boost the performance of the team. Diversity enhances the performance of new techniques in services (Senichev, 2011). Practitioners and researchers group diversity into organization dimensional, outer dimensions, inner dimensions and personal dimension (Senichev, 2011). The higher the demographic of individual’s diversity, the more the diversity of the group team (Gröschke, 2011). It, therefore, designs a team with experience members who are equipped with skills and abilities. 3.0 Team Contracting The team contract focused on individual’s punctuality in attending to all tutorials and meetings, equal workload within team members, replying to emails and reviews within stated duration at most 4 days. The team diagnostics survey is an instrument for assessing the properties of organization work teams in terms of strength and weaknesses. With its core center based on conceptual model, the system shows much strength for team effectiveness as designed by the proponent known as Hackman. The instrument is short enough to be completed by group members fluent in English in less than 30 minutes. The instrument uses quantitative indicators to determine the effectiveness of a team in two-dimensional conceptions in terms of social participation the team uses when attending to their duties and the capability of working together interdependently in the future assignments. The other criteria that the instruments attribute to is that the measure should show group are experiencing new techniques within individuals through learning and equipping them with new skills. The Team diagnostic instrument has the enabling condition to favor the team. The system advocates for a Real Team, which put boundaries on non-team members. The team is enabled to work interdependently since individuals have collective responsibilities for outcome results and contributes to member’s stability to gain skills on how to work together. In addition, the composition of the group should entail on diversity, which attributes to individuals who are not well much related or so much different related for duplicating information or difficulties in communication, coordination respectively. The contract focused on the Members behavior. The members are expected to coordinate and communication since the outcome goal will be everyone responsibility though individual jobs do not require the efforts of teamwork. Few changes are in the group hence the stability of the team members. Very limited chances of individuals leaving the group and new members joining the group are encountered. The group goals are well designed hence the individuals are working harder to accomplish the goal. To achieve a goal for diagnosis, the team building strategies are directed towards a goal setting with interpersonal relation, the role and process analysis (Kayser, 2012). The diagnosis of the team is to keep measuring the exciting climate characteristics of the team in terms of goal setting. Through collecting of information using paper and pencil questionnaire, observing team characteristics and interviewing create a team climate diagnosis. 4.0 Intervention Design For an effective intervention, it is expected to be as brief as possible for its efficiency (Waddell, et al., 2011: 154-187). Various steps are involved to improve the goal setting. The first step is to develop problem and program theories. The intervention design is focused enhancing goal setting in creating an improved performance. Below is a process that can be followed in enhancing goal setting. Step 1: Creating short term goals Identifying the short term goals are instrumental since they offer a focus bin training in each session. Such goals are realizable, and the team can be able to differentiate each step of achieving the goals. Step2: Breaking down Impossible tasks Breaking down impossible tasks assists in identifying specific attributes that offer significant challenges to the team in multifaceted aspects. The outcome goals offer motivation that focuses entirely on the results that may lead to anxiety. Step 3: Creating Flexible goals Enhancing the goals to be moiré flexible can improve the approach by which team members address various functions. Arguably flexibly enhances individual flexibility where individuals can respond to different environments. The last stage is the disseminating the goals setting and presentation to the positioned faculty. In addition, the practitioners can have the view of the approach presented by the team. 5.0 Diagnosis According to the team rating diagnosis results, the strengths of the team lie in the ability for active listening and learning from each other. Members of the team respect the personal, cultural and linguistic diversity of the team and tend to understand the personal situations of every member. The integrity and capacity for two-way listening are also high in the team. However, the team lags behind, relatively, in issues of goal setting, agility, teamwork and establishing constant communication. The team understanding of what it takes to be a high performing team, the scope of the various tasks, the realization of the full potential of every member and self-reflection is alarmingly lacking. The nature of the rating system contributed positively to the outcome of this phase. Every result was an average of each team member’s understanding and proficiency. This factor helped members of the team understand their need for improvement especially in the areas such as teamwork and realizing the potential of every team member. The diagnostic instruments were helpful in determining the needs of the team, at least on paper. However, it is important that the team members understand the theory behind the parameters tested in the diagnostic instrument. 6.0 Intervention Implementation The intervention design was a mixture of off the shelf procedures that borrowed from existing change leadership and intervention design theory. The intervention involved the development of theories relating to the program and problem. The team then specifies the program structures and processes. The next step involves refining the parameters through an efficacy test, and development of rules that guide the adoption of the system. The team then tests the system in a practice setting, and the report is then presented to the positioned faculty. The brevity of the plan made it effective and easy to understand[Wad11]. The transformational leadership direction taken in the intervention increased the chances of impact among the team by empowering them psychologically[Zhu12]. Research suggests that transformational leadership contributes to the change in attitudes and performance on the job[Wan11] A particularly effective method used in the implementation of the intervention was the use of opinion leaders, the influential practitioners in the team[van11]. They help in shaping the influential variables of change among their peers in any intervention program, therefore improving the chances of success[Flo11]. They influence attitudes, decisions, judgment and consequently the acceptance of the intervention plan[Far14]. Change should involve more than just the team leader and their leadership skills and techniques. In order to design an effective implementation plan, there has to be a focus on the psychological motivation of everyone in the group. 7.0 Intervention Evaluation The general substance of the feedback received was that the team members understood the need for the intervention plans and were committed to changing their approach in order to improve performance and work output. However, there was not enough time to truly evaluate the efficacy of the intervention procedures. The fact that the whole team was involved in the process from start to finish, especially leading from the team ratings and the need to change made the intervention easy to implement. However, the intervention did not cover all four important parameters of an effective intervention program[Wad11]. The four categories of intervention are interpersonal interventions, which deal with interpersonal relationships, strategic interventions, techno-structural interventions and strategic interventions. The focus on goal setting and reaching the full potential of the team meant the interventions covered only human resource, techno-structural interventions and strategic interventions. One of the risks in the intervention design segment was the different decision-making models that were influenced by cultural formations. The team has members of the different race and gender, who have different cultural and business values. The resulting differences in point of view can easily lead to conflict, which should be managed by the inclusion of interpersonal interventions. Interpersonal interventions help in the management of both task and personal conflicts. The technique of using opinion leaders to shape and motivate the adoption of the intervention plan worked well. There were, however, issues with the process of identifying the effective opinion leaders in the group. This was due to limited time for observation, and opinion leader status sometimes can be temporary or change from one person to the next over time or from project to project[Dou11]. 8.0 Change Leadership Change leadership in an organization rarely often results only from the efforts of the team leader. Much of the change happens in teams, especially those with individuals with a high level of leadership[Edm12]. However, the leader still has a high level of impact in the change procedure. The personality of the manager is important in either helping subordinates work out their roles effectively. The personality of the manager can sometimes also get in the way of the subordinates and the execution of their tasks[Alk11]. In an organizational setting, the whole company must have the capacity to handle the change. The top leadership of the whole organization must be receptive and facilitative of the change. Perception and attitude play huge roles in the effectiveness of change leadership. The nature of the leader and the perception of their team of their leadership skills and competencies are important in the effectiveness of leadership. Since change leadership happens in teams with a high degree of leadership in them, the role of the leader should be to create a team or organization that provides the favorable environment for the fostering of leadership attributes in the team members. According to the team involved, in this case, their feedback about the attributes of their leader presented him as a polite individual who always showed up for meetings and understood the wishes of their team members. This is important for the development of trust with the team. The team describes their leader as always participating in workshops. The team leader’s suggestion of ideas and lack of concern for the outcomes is however alarming. The toleration of ambiguity can foster complacency or disagreement. Effective leaders must focus their teams’ attention on a clear and well-articulated goal. With the objectives clear, the team can focus on the same language and values required for success[Sol14]. Reference List . Alkahtani, A. H., Abu-Jarad, I., Sulaiman, M., & Nikbin, D. (2011) The impact of personality and leadership styles on the leading change capability of Malaysian managers. Australian Journal of Business and Management Research, 70- 99. Doumit, G., Wright, F., Graham, I., Smith, A., & Grimshaw, J. (2011) Opinion leaders and changes over time: a survey. Implement Science. Edmondson, A. C. (2012) Teaming: how organizations learn, innovate, and compete in the Knowledge Economy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Farley, K., Hanbury, A., & Thompson, C. (2014) Gathering opinion leader data for a tailored implementation intervention in secondary healthcare: a randomized trial. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 38. Flodgren, G., Parmelli, E., Doumit, G., O’Brien, M. A., Grimshaw , J., & Eccles , M. (2011) Local opinion leaders: effects on professional practice and health care outcomes. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 8. Groschke, D. (2011) How diverse is diversity measurement really. Some thoughts on diversity measurement, in Rašticová, M., et al.2011. Diversity is reality. Effective leadership of diverse teams in a global environment. Brno: CERM, 36–46. ISBN 978­80­7204­775­8 Kayser, T. A. (2012) Building Team Power (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Rainey, M. A. (2013) Understanding group dynamics and its role in the organization. Retrieved from Civil Service College. Senichev, V. (2011) Human Resource Diversity, and Performance within the Frame of Organizations, Teams, and Individuals. Brno University of Technology. Czech Republic. Solomon , M. (2014). 4 Keys To A Corporate Culture That Drives Customer And Organizational Success. 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(2012) Relationships between Transformational and Active Transactional Leadership and Followers’ Organizational Identification: The Role of Psychological Empowerment. Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. Read More