Teamwork in Organisations - Essay Example

TEAMWORK IN ORGANISATIONS A common problem in many organizations is the lack of collaboration, unhealthy competition and miscommunication among the different departments of the institution. The conflict may arise between the members within the same department, or it may be across several departments of the organization. Oftentimes, this collision of groups or group members will eventually result to lower productivity rates and lesser flexibility in management, thus affecting the overall performance of the company. This, however, have led to the formation of teams to foster cooperation, unity and efficiency from the top level management down to the assembly line. The concept of teamwork has been a huge success that, “the number of Fortune 1000 companies using work teams increased by almost 20 per cent, and teamwork has become the most frequent topic taught in company training programs according to a survey (Samson and Daft, 2005).” A team is being defined as a group of two or more people with members interacting and coordinating with their work and accomplishing a performance goal (Daft and Marcic, 2003). Given the definition, it is understood that teams should operate as a single unit to carry out the functions of each member of the group and ultimately achieve the organization’s goal. There are several types of team, vertical and horizontal. The former possess a formal chain of command and it is sometimes referred to as a functional team while the latter, is composed of group members drawn from various departments and created for the purpose of performing a specific task and may be soon dissolved after the objective has been carried out. Regardless of the type of team, it is bound by a common goal: to fulfill personal need and achieve the organizational goal. There several factors causing chaos within the team and these are scarcity of resources, which may involve money, information and supplies, jurisdictional ambiguities occurring from unclear job boundaries and responsibilities, communication breakdown, personality clashes, power and status difference, and goal differences (Daft & Marcic, 2003). The use of teaming up integrates the knowledge, skills and information, thereby, providing more potential solutions to solve the problem at hand. While a team may prove to be beneficial to the organization since it provides productive results, careful consideration must be take place due to possible conflicts that may arise if not managed well and would yield unsatisfactory outcome on the team leader, group members and to the overall organization as well. According to Medsker and Campion, some of the disadvantages of team based system include: individuals who are not compatible with teamwork, workers must be selected to fit the team as well as requisite job skills, some members may experience less motivating jobs as part of the team, organization may resist change, conflict may develop between team members or other teams, teams may be time-consuming due to need for coordination and consensus, teams can stymie creativity and inhibit good decision-making if group thinking is prevalent, evaluation and rewards may be perceived as less powerful; “free-riding” within the team may occur, and less flexibility may be experienced in personnel replacement or transfer (Medsker, 1997). In order to establish an effective team, it is imperative to inculcate certain characteristics to promote maximum output which is clear and defined goals for each member so he can prioritize what needs to be done first. Each member must also be equipped with the knowledge and skills relevant to the context of his job. It is also important to develop mutual trust and respect through honest communication among group members, hence, negotiation skills is deemed necessary to promote collaboration and support within the team. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the leader to motivate his members in times of difficult situation in the group (Venneva, 2006). Aside from having all these essential characteristics of a team, it is beneficial to give incentives among its members to provide the opportunity for each team member to secure bonus for extra hard work while achieving the team’s goal and due to the group’s common incentive, it will flourish cooperation instead of competition thus enhancing the chance for success (Cascio, 1995). Whenever a conflict within the team occurs, it is the responsibility of the leader to resolve the issue. Therefore, he is expected to intervene and facilitate open communication to about changes in the group and it is the first step in the stages of team development for conflict resolution known as forming. Second, storming is the process of the leader encouraging his group members to participate in order for the dialogue to be effective. The third step of team development is norming, where the establishment of order and cohesion takes place. It is the goal of the leader to clarify team roles, norms and values. It is his task to make each group member understand and be aware of his role to set limits and clarify job descriptions, which may otherwise, create an issue delaying work and decreasing productivity. And when the event of task accomplishment through cooperation and problem-solving happens, it is becoming the fourth stage or performing. Each member has resolved the conflict and they are working together towards a common goal and lastly, adjourning is the fifth stage which happens upon completion of the project bringing closure to the assigned task. These five stages of team development is necessary for it to grow and establish a purposeful teamwork in the organization, without the cooperation of one would be detrimental to the group’s success. In conclusion, having teamwork promotes positive results as each individual attains personal satisfaction leading to productive output. It produces significant amount of work output and satisfies the personal needs of each individual in terms of fulfillment and attaining their goals. However, in order to attain these, it is a crucial role of the leader to facilitate change and execute the task at hand as orderly as possible to avoid conflict and promote harmonious relationship within the team. The leader is the key to gain cooperation through collaboration and group cohesiveness attained by good communication and negotiation skills. As Gomez-Mejia & Balkin put it, “the team environment produces synergy, which allows individuals to blend complementary skills and talents to produce a product that is more valuable than the sum of the individual contributions. This can energize and motivate individuals to perform at consistently high levels (Gomez-Mejia & Balkin, 2002).” REFERENCES (Samson & Daft, 2005) (Gomez-Mejia & Balkin, 2002) Gomez-Mejia, Luis R. & Balkin, David. (2002). MANAGEMENT. New York, NY. Daft, Richard L. & Marcic, Dorothy. (2003). UNDERSTANDING MANAGEMENT. Mason, OH. Medsker, G.J., Campion, M.A., "Job and Team Design," in Salvendy, G., Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics, pp. 450 - 489, Interscience, 18 Apr 1997 Veneeva, V. (2006, June 29). Ensuring Effective Teamwork in Organization. Retrieved May 17, 2009, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Ensuring-Effective-Teamwork-in-Organization&id=232585 Cascio, W., F., (1995), ‘Managing Human Resources’ International Edition, US: McGraw Hill. Read More