Working with and Leading People: Rackham and Morgan Theory - Assignment Example

Rackham and Morgan theory II. Evidence of your participation in a role-play a) Evidence of your participation in a role-play which will show that you can work in a team as a leader and member A team refers to a group of members who have a common, shared and particular purpose or goal. Members in a team are equipped with skills and have well defined role. The team members take full responsibility of the performance of the team. The team leader has the role of guiding, motivating and encouraging the team so that it can achieve the required goal. In order to perform this task, a team leader must possess a variety of skills and competencies that will help in giving the team direction. To begin with, the team leader defines the objectives and the plan clearly to the members so that they can have a clear understanding of what tasks they are expected to do in order to achieve the set goal. During the team work, the team leader must develop and maintain effective relations with the team. It is important for the team leader to have good communication and interpersonal skills. Moreover, the team leader is required to generate a sense of common goal and motivate the team in order to achieve high levels of performance. Finally, the team leader should continually monitor the performance of the members and evaluate the overall team work so that he can eventually provide a positive feedback to the management of the organization. Team members are required to possess good communication and listening skills because teamwork has a social aspect in it. They are also required to be honest and have integrity. Since performance of the team relies on the input of every member then each member should be reliable enough and trustworthy to undertake any task assigned to them. A good team member should have a positive attitude and be fair to the other members of the team. A good team member should also be flexible enough to adapt to the changes and dynamics that might occur in the course of duty. They should also exhibit a high level of commitment in terms of being punctual, being available as well as the effort that they display. b) Evidence of your participation in a role-play which will show that the team can work towards specific goals The indicators show that a team can work towards specific goals include the ability of the team has developed better understanding and tolerance of others. Also, it is evident that the team has gained cohesiveness if they are able to solve problems better and faster. If the quality of work and performance of a group is high, then it is another indicator. A reduction in the levels of absenteeism in the team is a sign that the team is working in harmony to achieve the specific goals. The effectiveness of a team in terms of achieving the set goals when the members are able to respect the opinions and suggestions of others and offering support or help to those who need it. Also, when members are able to recognize and appreciate the achievements and interests of others, it shows that the group is working towards a particular. Positive responsiveness to the changing demands shows that the team is flexible enough to handle the tasks assigned to them. It shows that they can adjust to the challenges and new information with greater speed and accuracy. c) Evidence of your participation in a role-play which will show that you can deal with any conflict or difficult situations arising in the team Conflict refers to the process whereby people perceive that others have taken an action that have a negative effect on their interest. Conflict is inevitable in a team, therefore, it is important that it be dealt with appropriately so that it does not affect the functions of the team. It can be either positive or negative. There are many conflicts that can occur in a team just as there are many ways to solve the conflicts. There are five basic approaches to conflict resolutions. The first is the avoidance approach whereby the team leader ignores and avoids making decision about solving the problem. The method gives the problem time to resolve themselves. It may be done to maintain neutrality for a short period. It can be used to gain or buy time. The second is accommodation approach is used when team members want to be agreeable and cooperative. Usually when an outcome is not so important to one of the conflicting team members, but is important to the other they accommodate it or if one thinks that they are not going to lose anything. The approach is also taken when the team leader intends to maintain peace. The third approach is compromised that applies when a team wants manage and also feels that they cannot win. It is a good strategy where goals are moderately high. The team members meet at the middle balance and agree. Each party sacrifices something for the sake of the agreement. The collaboration approach is the fourth approach which is rather appropriate because it helps the team gains long term commitment after the conflict is solved. It fosters good relationships and trust among the conflicting parties. It is useful in acquiring a synergy. It helps to see the other side’s view and leads to better quality solutions. The last approach, confrontation approach that involves being aggressive in trying to win in a conflict by one of the team members. It is also called coercive or competitive approach this strategy can be used in a matter of emergency when results crucial. III. Factors that influence the effectiveness of the team There are a number of factors that determine the effectiveness of the team. Cohesiveness refers to the tight bonds and togetherness that makes team members have integration of activities. It is important to consider is how cohesive members are with one another. Team cohesiveness results in greater commitment willingness to achieve the set goals. It is important to note that team cohesion also determines the extent to which team members, get along with each other, trust and respect each another’s abilities and opinions and also like one another and understand each other’s strengths, weakness and interests. Communication is another factor that determines the effectiveness of the team. Effective communication is essential to the team members since it helps them understand the goals and is also the useful in agreeing on the ways to achieve those goals. Some of the indicators of effective team communication include efficient decision-making processes, a strong desire to enhance communication, a willingness to consider all opinions and effective conflict resolution. Apart from that groupthink is another determining factor which refers to the tendency of the team to suppress opposing suggestions that do not add value to the group in order to preserve group harmony. This is most applicable where the team members want to minimize conflict. Homogeneity refers to the degree to which team members possess similar or divergent attributes. It is important for the team leader to strike a balance between overly homogenous or heterogeneous characteristics of the team. During the process of assessing team homogeneity, the team leader should consider the similarities and differences in the education levels, skills, income levels, abilities, personal characteristics and the cultural background of the team members. The effectiveness of the team may also be determined by role identity which refers to the degree to which members are capable of taking up different roles in the team structure, hence diversifying efforts and developing experts for the subject matter. There are divergent skills and ideas that members bring to the team that provides a number of capabilities necessary to achieve a goal. Stability is the sixth factor that significantly influences team effectiveness is the degree of stability among members and project leaders. Effective role identity is attained by the teams that have experience greater levels of group cohesion, better communication methods and lower turnover rates. Team size is a factor of consideration when evaluating the performance of a team. Evaluating the size of the team enables, team leaders to maximize productivity to ensure greater levels of team performance. Delegation or well defined roles for each team member gives the team a sense of purpose and eventually brings about team effectiveness. It helps to ensure that roles do not clash or bring conflicts. TASK 2 i) The factors involved in planning the monitoring and assessment of work performance There are number of factors that determine the level of competence of a team. This include, job analysis which involves identifying the elements that constitute the task and the activities that are associated with it as well as its outcomes. The other factor is skills analysis which involves the identifying the elements of skills such as the senses involved like vision and touch, right and left hand or foot operations and interactions with other operations. The role analysis is also another factor that is involved in the assessment of the performance of work for a team. Role analysis is applicable where there are administrative and managerial jobs that require high levels of interaction with other people and coordination. Competence analysis and frameworks are important for measuring the performance standards because they define the skills knowledge and competencies required. Existing records, for instance, job specifications and the organisation chart. ii) How to plan and deliver the assessment of the development needs of individuals In order to deliver the assessment of the needs of individuals, there are need to create a plan to help the each team member to achieve the needs the have set. The following is the plan of how to deliver an assessment of the development of individual needs of the team members: Firstly, is to determine the purpose for conducting the needs assessment. Secondly, there is need to clearly define the goals and objectives of the team in order to assess the needs of the team. Thirdly, it is important to select the suitable approach that will be used in collecting the relevant information to perform the task of the team. Fourthly, design the instruments and the procedures required to perform the task of the team. The fifth step involves preparing an estimated budget and a timeline for the needs assessment. The sixth step has to do with conducting a pilot test to examine the instrumentation as well as the procedures. The seventh step is where you now implement the collection of the information. Later, in the eighth step, the data and information is analyzed. The ninth step involves preparing a report of the findings of the team. Then in the final step, the efforts of the team are evaluated and information of the needs assessment is used. iii) How to evaluate the success of the assessment process In order to assess the success of the assessment there are indicators that that help to achieve this goal. These include assessing the strategic alignment of the assessment process, the reward systems that are linked to performance and the availability of resources as well as the authority employed to deploy the resources efficiently. An assessment of the evaluating the effectiveness of the communication channels is also important. The availability of knowledgeable and qualified team members is also key in this process. It is also important to put into consideration the teams’ desire for being accountable for their performance, as well as the commitment of the team leader. It is also to determine if there is evidence of the cultivation of a positive attitude and culture by the team members because it ultimately affects their performance. REFERENCES Cohen, S. & Ledford, G.E. The effectiveness of self-managing teams: A quasi-experiment. Human Relations. (1994):Pp 47, 13–43 Pearce, J.A. II & Ravlin, E.C. The design and activation of self-regulating work groups. Human Relations. (1987):Pp 40(11), 751–82. Manz, C.C. & Sims, H.P. The potential for ‘groupthink’ in autonomous work groups. Human Relations. (1982): Pp 35, 773–84 British Psychological Society.Team Management Index (TMI), Review of Personality Assessment Instruments (Level B) For Use in Occupational Settings. (1995): Pp. 268-273. Margerison, C.J., Davies, R.V., & McCann, D.J. High-Flying Management Development, Training and Development Journal, February. (1987): Pp 38-41. Rackham, N. and Morgan, T. Behaviour Analysis in Training, McGraw-Hill. (1977) Read More