Developing Effective Teams - Essay Example

Introduction

If one takes a close look at the contemporary business world, one will be able to see that it is significantly different from its counterpart from the past. Indeed, the companies are no longer fixed on maximizing the return on investment at any cost and are willing to engage concepts that were developed in the scientific world. That is why many processes that used to develop naturally are not well-examined and there is a considerable amount of literature about it. This allows companies to take the control over some aspects of business and make sure that it will be successful since the development of it will be systematic. This paper will analyze the issue of developing an effective team, suggesting that in order to do so, a manager should pay attention to three important elements: tasks, people, and relationships.

Task analysis

To begin with, it may be important to focus on the importance of task for an effective team. Thompson (2004) suggests that the success of a team “is determined by the nature of the work that groups are doing” (p. 73). This means that the task that a team is facing will largely condition the very team. Indeed, if forming a team required one size fits all approach, then teams all over the world would be similar to one another; however, how can one compare a team that has the task to build a road to a team that is responsible for designing a missile without noting any differences? Therefore, it is rather obvious that people should see the big picture of the work that they are doing in order to achieve the maximum effectiveness.

Another point that should be mentioned is that the task that a team faces also has an influence on the amount of authority that it has or the role of a manager. For example, in the example above, a road construction team does not have any authority over the task: it must deliver a part of the road and it must comply with the standards. On the other hand, the rock scientists are able to enjoy a bigger freedom since their task does not place strict limitations on them. Moreover, Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2012) suggest that it may be particularly important to distinguish between different types of teams based on their task: there are tactical teams that are oriented at performing a particular action; problem-solving teams which take care of a wide range of issues on a daily basis, and create teams which are responsible for expanding the horizons.

Finally, one should also keep in mind that the nature of tasks can be different. For example, there are tasks which can be explicitly stated: they encourage people to deliver a tangible result. For example, building a new segment of a road or an operating missile is an example of a demonstrable task. On the other hand, developing a new corporate strategy is something that cannot be easily explained. In addition to that, it is quite important for the success of a team to make sure that the interests of the people involved are aligned with each other, with the team, and with the company. In case they are opposing, problems might occur. Moreover, it may be quite suitable to determine the right level of interdependence.

People

The next aspect of forming an effective team deals with managing people. It must be noted that every person possesses a wide range of skills. They can be divided into three groups: technical, task-management, and interpersonal (Biafore & Stover, 2012). Ideally, a successful team would consist of people who possess all three kinds of skills. However, this is rarely the case. Nevertheless, it may be important to analyze each type to gain a proper understanding. Thus, technical skills focus on the ability of a person to perform a certain kind of work. For example, in order to build a missile, a person has to be a rocket scientist. Task management skills focus on the ability of an individual to structure one's work properly. Finally, interpersonal skills are most important when it comes to communicating with other team members.

The issue that always emerges when managing teams consists of several individuals is diversity. The scholars suggest that it has both advantages and challenges. Speaking of the first, it is quite obvious that the more diverse a team is, the bigger is the talent pool. In addition to that, diversity also contributes to having multiple viewpoints on the same issue. Another point that should be mentioned is that decision making is generally enhanced by this phenomenon as a team is able to avoid problems of homogeneous teams. So, the combination of a large talent pool, multiple viewpoints, and an enhanced decision-making lead to something that any company or organization will enjoy – competitive advantage. Moreover, it is also suggested that a diverse team will have the same advantage is competing against other teams.

Nevertheless, there are certain challenges that are identified with diversity. First of all, this phenomenon may not be clear enough: what exactly should be diverse? It may not be logical to focus on some external characteristics such as demographics as this would be a too superficial solution. Secondly, there is no consensus regarding the extent of the diversity. Thirdly, co-existence of team members who share different characteristics often leads to an increased chance of a conflict. This might be regarded as one of the major disadvantages of this phenomenon. Fourthly, it is rather obvious that if one person evaluates another person and they belong to different cultural or other environments, the evaluation will be biased. Finally, some team members may suffer from solo status should they be the only representative of a certain characteristic, for example, one woman in a team will be under constant pressure.

Relationships

The last aspect that a team manager should pay one's attention to is the relationship between the team members. One would make no mistake suggesting that any team might be perceived as a small society; that is why the phenomenon of socialization will also be present to a certain extent. Andrews, McConnell, and Wescott (2010) note that there are several stages that every team member will experience. The first of them is entry which reflects the situation when a person is introduced to the team: one has not made any significant contribution to it yet. The second stage is acceptance and it occurs when a person is recognized as a valid member based on one's performance. The other stages such as divergence and exit occur when a person ceases to be a team member.

The importance of role negotiation in forming a successful team can hardly be exaggerated. First of all, it is important to establish that there are two kinds of roles: those oriented at tasks and those oriented at people; so, it is essential to deterring which roles suits a particular person. This is a rather important aspect of forming a team since competition over status and roles is inevitable: everyone will be willing to acquire a higher status that would give more authority. Finally, it is important to keep in minds that real status of a person should be properly distinguished from pseudostatus: the former is formed by one’s actual skills, abilities, and competence while the latter is the result of certain characteristics that a person does not have any control over (for example, age or ethnicity).

Moreover, the effective management of relationships between people will result in the necessity of establishing norms. The first thing that should be stated about the latter is that they differ from rules. The rules are explicit, predetermined, and apply to everyone. The norms are implicit, created by the team, and apply only to the team members. It is often suggested that the biggest percentage of norms is created during the first meeting; that is why a considerable amount of attention should be paid to it. Another point that should be mentioned is that norms should be effectively enforced. Indeed, there is no need to design norms if those who break them will not be punished. Therefore, norms can be compared to walls that direct the development of the relationships inside the team.

Conclusion

Having examined all the points which were mentioned in the paragraphs above, one is able to come to the following conclusion: the formation of an effective team will necessarily include address three elements which are task, people, and relationships. During task analysis, a manager is supposed to align the nature of the team being created with the tasks to achieve maximum effectiveness. When addressing people, it is important to make sure that the team members possess the right skills and the team is diverse enough. Finally, the relationship between the individuals should be properly managed. In order to do so, people should be assigned to the suitable roles in order to avoid competition over the status. Moreover, norms should be established in order to guide the performance of the team.