Is Establishing Teamwork Difficult in Organisations - Coursework Example

Establishment of Teamwork in Organisations Name Institution Course Date Executive Summary This report has analysed how teamwork brings together a group of individuals with identical interest who can work together in accomplishing set goals. According to the report, scientific management creates relationships between individuals and tasks that result to higher efficiency. It reduces the time required for each task and increases productivity. The report has further argued how management theories are aimed at establishing what is good for an organisation, how a manager should lead his team, emphasises on structure, etc. The report has discussed how management theorist called Winslow Taylor worked to minimize the amount of time an employee spent on a task by augmenting how the task was done. Further, it has established how Taylorism generally involves apportioning the components of manual labour in manufacturing surrounding by timing each movement in order to provide the best way each task should be performed. In doing so, workers could undergo training to perform exceptionally. Another theory by Elton Mayo and Roethlisberger showed that workers were more productive under supervision. It was hypothesized that choosing a co-worker with special treatment led to the increase in productivity. This Hawthorne studies indicated that productivity was directly related to social factors and suitable working environment was less important in enhancing work performance according to this report. There are some practices in an organisation that has affected the way businesses perform when it comes to teamwork. These include confused directions, lack of premeditated focus, ineffective interaction and inability to renew. These practices lead to teamwork failure hence affecting productivity. The report recommended that, to solve these problems, managers should encourage open communication, solve external challenges and facilitate effective performance. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Establishment of Teamwork in Organisations 4 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction A single brain most of the time cannot make critical decisions alone. A person requires support group to develop an effective solution. There are some tasks in organisations that cannot be accomplished by one individual; they require people to come together with the aim of accomplishing common goal. These people forming a team need to think on the same line and have common objectives. Individuals with different interests cannot form a team. Every team in an organisation is required to attain a predefined objectives and each member should contribute effectively for the goal to be attained. Team members should complement each other as individual effort does not matter so much in a team, thus work is done in unison. The establishing of a team in an organisation is not an easy work (Harris, 2003). Therefore, this report will analyse why establishing teamwork is difficult in organizations using various theoretical frameworks. Establishment of Teamwork in Organisations Team members need time for them to perform effectively and it is very difficult for all members to perform equally (Johnson and O’Neill, 2001). Some may not get along creating discomfort among team members. Sometimes team members may find it hard to cope with each other, and this may affect their performance. If one member does not perform as required, the whole team is at a loss (Maxwell, 2001). Therefore, team management should be in place to make sure that the team members coordinate for a common goal. Management is an essential part of an organisation. A team that is managed meritoriously often accomplish the set goals. The team leader is responsible for managing team. For managers to establish a successful team, it is paramount they be more of a supporter than a strict boss (Weiss, 2004). They should also ensure that all members are willing to take part in the team. They must motivate the team members, solve any query that may come up and participate in the team activities. Team building concepts brings a group of individuals with identical interests and create a team (Katzenbach, 2009). It provides a platform of teamwork creation. During development of a team, individual members are unclear of their role and are just starting to develop their roles. During the development stage of teamwork, managers are required to maintain the focus on what the team needs to deliver (Nemiro, 2004). The manager should focus on the clarification of what the team should achieve, encourage member participation, ensure effective communication, and build on teamwork values. One of the reasons why team fail is the occurrence of conflicts. It is important for manager to realize the negative impacts that result from direct confrontation in the midst of a conflict. Conflicts may occur between members during the development stage. Keeping the focus on the purpose of the team is essential at this instance. This may enable the differences to be dealt with and an agreement would be reached between members. Team building concepts encourages a positive perception of conflict. After a team has been put together, the most crucial stage is building a performing team (Stewart et al., 2000). With this, team members would thus see how their strengths and those of others can be combined in accomplishing the same goal. Scientific management theories would assist in explaining clearly the teamwork concept. One of the theoretical perspectives of management is Hawthorne studies conducted by Elton Mayo and Roethlisberger during the 1920s (Greenberg and Baron, 2003). The study was carried out among Hawthorne plant workers that focussed on managerial approach that assimilated the socio-psychological phases of human behaviour in business organisations (Nelson and Quick, 2003). According to the study, employees have financial, social, psychological and economic needs that need to be accomplished in order for them to be motivated in attaining their assigned tasks. This management theory was a result of challenges that came about from classical and scientific viewpoint on management. The study initially was conducted in order to establish whether employees were more active and responsive under particular environmental conditions like better-quality lighting (Aamodt, 2004). What resulted was shocking, as the studies showed that employees responded better to social factors like a team than other environmental factors. Hawthorne studies showed with no doubt that, employees worked effectively under additional attention from leaders. The study also showed that, although financial factor was important in motivating the employees, social factor is as important and contribute to their productivity. Another experiment carried out in Hawthorne studies was one where two women were selected and asked to choose additional four employees to join the test subject. In unison, the women were given tasks to assemble telephone relays in different rooms for five years and finally their output was measured by supervisors who spent the five years monitoring different variables that affected the productivity of both the groups. The variable measured included giving two five minutes rest time as discussed by group members and then changing to two ten minutes rest time not a preference of the group members. Altering a variable led to an increase in productivity. The research concluded that workers were more productive because they perceived that they were being supervised individually. It was hypothesized that choosing a co-worker with special treatment led to the increase in productivity. Hawthorne studies indicated that productivity was directly related to social factors and conducive working environment was less important in enhancing work performance (Champoux, 2003). Another key scientific management theory is called Taylorism established by Frederick W. Taylor. Taylor was the first individual to create management concepts including centralization, specialization and division of labour and scalar chain that were later on used by other researchers. Taylorism generally involves apportioning the components of manual labour in manufacturing surrounding by timing each movement in order to provide the best way each task should be performed (Frey and Osterloh, 2002). In doing so, workers could undergo training to perform exceptionally. This management technique was essential in performance drives and it was a rigid system with discrete and specialized task. Taylor scientific management required the managers to develop a science-based operation that would replace existing opinion. The managers were expected to accurately estimate the correct time and technique for each work. In addition, according to the scientific management, managers were also expected to take all the responsibilities of workers except team performance carried out by workers. Managers at times were expected to surrender some of the powers over to the employees in order to create cooperation. For the workers, Taylorism required them to share equally prosperity of the organisation, agree to undertake training where necessary, co-operate with the manager in creating the science and agree with the decisions made by the management. Scientific management employed by W. Taylor has been used to maximize productivity in private and public organisations (Taylor, 2012). It has the shortcomings of not paying attention to the human aspects of employment, creating boring modest jobs. Maslow, another theorist, developed a neo-human relation theory (Abbott and Booth, 2014). He believed that human needs were arranged in a hierarchy with higher needs placed at the top. The hierarchy contained self-actualization at the top and physiological needs at the bottom. Maslow assumed that individuals were required to satisfy each level of need first before pushing their needs to the next level. Today, the main focus of western societies is to elevate to the top of the hierarchy of needs, where jobs have become emblematic feature. According to Maslow theory, the managers should motivate and satisfy the needs of subordinates in order to increase productivity. An example of an organisation that has adapted team work is W.L. Gore and Associates (Anderson and Vinzcio, 2000). The company utilization of team concept has enhanced its innovation. Gore and Associates is structured around less than 250 employees and every individual is in a team. The employees are given an opportunity to experiment with the existing products as they create new uses. Team concept in the company has led to an unremitting stream of patent application used to create new products for industrial use. In addition, Ford reduced automobile design cycle after enactment of team concept (Liker and Mejer, 2006). Through involvement of teamwork on planning, manufacturing and engineering, Ford eliminated tailbacks that caused delay in the design process. Team work also assisted in reducing the cost involved in manufacturing and its market share increased in the 1980s. However, team concept does not work for all organisations. Behavioural theorists are working towards establishing the appropriate time when the team would be effective, what type of organisation can fully benefit from team work, what motivates the team, and so on. While team concept has proven to be effective in extraordinary results, research has shown that approximately 50% of organisation team works leads to failure. Emergence of technology has affected teamwork. Concerted software enables business to carry out teamwork at any time and location. Issues of accountability, team selection has arisen for management to solve on the basis of business goal and objectives. There exist some practices in an organisation that has affected the way business perform. Many managers think that they have a common understanding with their team members. Expected conduct, organisational strategies and role description supports this assumptions but a number of realities undermine it. Some organisation teams lack strategic focus. Teams with uncommon direction carry out work as usual, instead of inquiring and allowing team members to do what adds value to the organisation. A focussed team has a leader who develops major growth initiatives, reruns analyses and makes all management decisions. Also, ineffective interactions between team members and manager can be a problem to organisations. Although team members often talk to each other, they fail to communicate vital information and subdue crucial opinions due to fear of retaliation. This usually leads to conflicts within team members. Poor communication between team members is usually caused by inability to exploit miscellaneous viewpoints reducing the ability of team members to adapt to market changes. Another problem that affects organisations is insularity. Team members tend not to listen to information from external environment. This information can impact key organisational decisions. Teams that pay attention to such information have time to reflect on them and assess its impacts. Lack of effective and organised criteria of receiving information from outside sources may result to generation of unplanned focus. Although many teams in organisations believe in organisational renewal, few adopt processes that bring back commitment. Some problems may be the reason behind teams not considering assessing their performances. Many team members are frustrated by their jobs. They tend to overlook new bases of information and insight that would source them out of their comfort zone. Personal dissatisfaction usually discourages members to take risks. Many efforts to improve teamwork performance fail because team members fail to speak the needs of managers. Some ways of reenergizing and enhancing teamwork is by addressing team’s challenges and threats, encouraging effective and open communication and minimizing external influence from other organisations since what works for one organisation may not work for another (Koures and Posner, 2012). Conclusion In conclusion, team concept brings a group of individuals with identical interests and creates a team. Establishment of teamwork is very crucial. Not all team concept work on every organisation. According to management theorists, productivity is directly related to social factors such as teamwork concept. Although teamwork as a social factor in organisation is difficult to establish, it generally has a positive impact in every aspect of a business. References Aamodt, M. 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