Understanding and Managing People - Coursework Example

Understanding and Managing People Contents Sr. # Topic Pg Summary 2 2. Introduction 2 3. Contemporary Developments in Team Based Working: Findings 4 3.1. Self Managed Work Teams 3.2. Virtual Teams 3.3. Matrix Teams 4. Conclusion 5. Recommendation References 1. Summary “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” ~H.E. Luccock The corporate global world has increasingly adopted this notion in the manner in which it functions today. The innumerable benefits of team work has brought about a series of positive changes within organizations, who are now using a varied mix of teams as a part of its initiative to achieve its organizational goals and objectives, in a faster and effective manner. There is a lot more to the notion of ‘teams’ than what can be loosely interpreted as a collection of talented individuals pursuing their own individual goals. The meaning of teams in the corporate world, extends beyond this simple definition, to include individuals working collectively in close co-ordination with their fellow team members, towards the achievement of a common goal – that of overall organizational development. This paper seeks to address the concept of teams and team work and discuss the relevance and significance of teams as well as explore the various types of teams which exist in organizations, and assess their effectiveness. 2. Introduction According to Salas et al (2008) team work is: “The dynamic, simultaneous and recursive enactment of process mechanisms which inhibit or contribute to team performance and performance outcomes" (Pp. 41) Team based work culture has been on the rise since decades and has now become an integral part of all organizations, which use a variety of teams to respond to the competitive challenges. According to statistics, a whopping 82% of organizations having over hundred employees have admitted to the use of teams as an integral part of their work environment (Gordon, 1992) and 68% of companies featured in the fortune 1000 list reported the use of self managed work teams (Lawler, Mohrman, Ledford, 1995). Various researchers have focused on the impact and effectiveness of teams on organizational performance, with varied outcomes. According to Levine & Tyson (1990) self directed work teams are known to encourage substantive worker participation and hence increase and improve their performance. The self directed work teams enjoy autonomy in decision making which in turn is positively associated with satisfaction and again, higher performance and increased productivity (Cordery et al, 1991; Pearson, 1992; Seers et al, 1995). Autonomy is also positively associated with increased organizational commitment (Cordery et al, 1991; Cohen et al, 1996) and trust in the management by the employees (Cohen et al., 1996). According to Löffler & Vintar (2004) team work enhances worker performance, promotes improvement in learning and leads to overall job satisfaction. Furthermore it is also known to increase productivity, responsiveness to customers and bring about innovation (Pp. 72). According to Enos (2007) team work if done honestly, leads to improved confidence in team actions, better interaction of the team members, and increased accuracy in decision making, motivation and higher productivity. Nature of Teamwork: Teams in organizations are formed of members who work towards a common goal and are motivated to work in close cooperation with their fellow team-mates in order to successfully and effectively accomplish the assigned tasks. Thus the very foundation of the concept of teamwork is based on the fact that team members collectively work together by actively utilizing their individual skills for accomplishment of a common purpose. For any organization to succeed and garner maximum possible benefits from such teams, it is essential to establish a highly effective team. The key characteristics of such high performance team include - clearly defined objectives and goals; a tendency to encourage open dialogues and discussions; presence of high level of trust and support among the team members; regular and intermittent reviews of their performance; effective leadership as well as sound inter group relationships. Such high performance teams have various advantages in terms of overall organizational performance and increased profitability, among others such as individual development, highly motivated employees, increased level of trust among employees and management and the will to contribute to organizational success. It also leads to a significant reduction in absenteeism, better and improved conflict resolution and clear focus on resolving problems and other important issues faced by the management (Hunt, 2004). Examples of Successful Team Based Environments: Various companies across industries such as Federal Express, Coca Cola, Nynex Corporation, Boeing etc have successfully developed team based environments which have contributed, significantly to their respective successes in terms of overall organizational performance. Companies such as Federal Express and IDS (Investor Diversified Services) successfully increased their productivity by almost 40% by adopting self managed work teams (Cleland, 1996). Similarly Boeing successfully used team work as a tool to reduce the number of technical setbacks it faced on its new 777 passenger jet, by more than half (Smith, Whitehall, 1997). Team based initiative at Coca Cola The Coca Cola Company is a world leader in beverage industry in all aspects including manufacturing, sales, profitability as well as innovation, and one of the major causes behind its overwhelming success is the effort put in by its employees and the entire team. The decentralized work environment has afforded greater convenience to its teams in terms of decision making and hence contributed to the increased productivity and employee performance. It successfully uses autonomous work groups alternatively known as self managed / directed work teams - a system which was originally developed in Europe, and which stresses on the social (human) and technical (technological) aspects of work. The management provides adequate authority to such teams to execute their tasks with an intention of benefiting from the co-ordination of social and technical systems (Landy, Conte, 2006). 3. Contemporary Developments in Team Based Working: Findings There are various types of teams developed and configured by organizations worldwide, which are categorized on the basis of a conceptual continuum, for enhancing their overall performance. Some of such teams are discussed below: Self Managed Work Teams: A Self directed / managed team is a form of autonomous teams whereby the teams are entrusted with adequate responsibility, authority and power to execute their day-to-day activities independently, without having to seek management approval. The self managed teams can be defined as: “…small groups of people empowered to manage themselves and the work they do on a day-to-day basis, performing 85 to 90 percent of their daily work without outside resources.” (Rose, Buckley, 1999; Pp. 29) Such teams differ in comparison to other types of teams in terms of the availability of resources, broader range of cross functional skills, greater decision making powers, and greater access to information (Hartman, 2002). Owing to such benefits the self managed / directed teams are known to offer multiple advantages to the organizations. According to studies self-managed teams have a direct impact on quality, and researchers have observed that organizations using self managed teams have claimed significant quality improvements in their products, along with increased productivity (Haim, 2002). Virtual Teams: Organizations today are facing tremendous changes in its internal as well as external environment on account of the development of new technologies. Increased globalization has called for an urgent need for incorporating novel ideas of work environment and the manner in which organizations operate. Virtual teams are an outcome of such pressing industry needs. According to Gassman & Von Zedtwitz (2003) virtual team is defined as: "A group of people and sub-teams who interact through independent tasks guided by common purpose and work across links strengthened by information, communication, and transport technologies” Various leading multinational companies have adopted such teams as a part of their organizational work culture. Coca Cola introduced this concept in the year 2005 as a part of its strategic initiative to respond to the rapidly changing external environment and to sustain its competitive positioning in the industry. The advantages of virtual teams can be experienced on a personal as well as organizational level. At the personal level the employees working in such teams may experience higher job satisfaction and greater flexibility which ultimately leads to higher employee morale and higher productivity; while at the organizational level, the benefits are in the form of expanded customer base, larger scope, reduced costs of production, availability of cheap labour, and increased access to international markets (Bühlmann, 2006). Matrix Teams According to Golembiewski (2000, Pp. 592) matrix teams are: ‘teams where the individuals come together to function on a single project.” An organization undertakes various projects at a time and it is almost impossible for the leaders to assign employees with similar skills or talents in one single group. Thus teams are not designed on the basis of similar skills but on the basis of diverse skills as required by the projects’ on hand. An organization requires various types of teams to function effectively and smoothly, while retaining their competitive standing in the industry. References Bühlmann, B., (2006). Need to Manage a virtual Team? Theory and Practice in a Nutshell, Cuvillier Verlag Publication, Pp. 18 - 20 Cleland, D. I., (1996). Strategic Management of Teams, Wiley IEEE Publication, Pp. 274 Cordery, J. L., Mueller, W. S., Smith, L. M., (1991). Attitudinal and Behaviourial Effects of Autonomous Group Working: A Longitudinal Field Setting, Academy of Management Journal, 34(2), Pp. 464 - 476 Enos, D. D., (2007). Performance Improvement: Making it Happen, CRC Press, Pp. 157 - 165 Gassmann, O., and Von Zedtwitz, M., (2003). Trends and determinants of managing virtual R&D teams. RandD Management, 33: Pp. 243-262 Golembiewski, Golembiewski, R. T., (2000). Handbook of Organizational Consultation, CRC Press, Pp. 592 - 593 Gordon, J., (1992). Work Teams: How far have they come? Training (10), Pp. 59 - 65 Haim, A. B., (2002). Participation Programs in Work Organizations: Past, Present and Scenarios for the Future, Greenwood Publishing, Pp. 38 - 40 Hartman, M. G., (2002). Fundamental Concepts of Quality Improvement, ASQ Publishers, Pp. 101 - 105 Hunt, J. G., (2004). Organizational Behaviour, Wiley Publishers, Pp. 191 - 195 Landy, F. J., Conte, J. M., (2006). Work in the 21st Century: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Wiley-Blackwell Publication, Pp. 545 - 547 Lawler, G. E., Mohrman, S. A., Ledford, G. E., (1995). Creating High Performance Organizations: Practices and Results of Employee Involvement and Total Quality Management in Fortune 1000 Companies, Jossey-Bass Publication Levine, D. I., Tyson, L., (1990). Team Work in Research and Development Organizations: The Characteristics of Successful Teams, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 16(1), Pp. 29 - 42 Löffler, E., Vintar, M., (2004). Improving the Quality of East and West European Public Services, Ashgate Publishing, Pp. 72 - 77 Pearson, C. A. L., (1992). Autonomous Workgroups: An Evaluation at an Industrial Site,, Human Relations, 45(9), Pp. 905 - 936 Rose, E., Buckley, S., (1999). Self-Directed Work Teams: A Trainers Role in the Transition, American Society for Training and Development Publication, Pp. 29 Salas, Stagl, Burke & Goodwin, 2001, Pp. 190 Salas, E., Goodwin, G. F., Burke, C. S., (2008). Team Effectiveness in Complex Organizations: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectiveness and Approaches, CRC Press, Pp. 41 Seers, A., Petty, M. M., Cashman, J. F., (1995). Team Member Exchange under Team and Traditional Management: A Naturally Occuring Quasi Experiment, Group & Organization Management, 20(1), Pp. 18 - 38 Smith, J. A., Whitehall, F. B., (1997). Optimizing Quality in Electronics Assembly: A Heretical Approach, McGraw-Hill Professional, Pp. 298 - 300 Read More