210 likes | 533 Views
Team Management. Groups & teams have become more important because:. a ‘flattening’ of organisation structure — a reduction in the number of administrative or decision-making levels in the hierarchy of the typical large organisation
E N D
Groups & teams have become more important because: • a ‘flattening’ of organisation structure — a reduction in the number of administrative or decision-making levels in the hierarchy of the typical large organisation • an increase in real or apparent delegation of power or empowerment from top leadership to workgroup members — a move towards organisational democracy • an increase in the complexity of decision making, so that in some circumstances individuals acting alone no longer have enough technical knowledge and skills to make decisions without the help of others.
Group/team • Groups or teams consist of people who feel they belong together and are united in a common purpose • Are groups and teams the same thing? Teams can be seen as a particular type of group. • Groups can be small or large, official or unofficial, permanent or temporary, task-oriented or relationship-oriented (or both), strongly or weakly cohesive, physically concentrated or dispersed, effective or ineffective, and so on.
Advantages of team work • Team work is essential in corporates for better output and a better bonding among employees. • Better problem solving. Targets must be met and revenues have to be generated. Tasks must not be kept pending for a long time and ought to be completed within the desired timeframe. A single brain can’t always come with solutions or take decisions alone. He needs someone with whom he can discuss his ideas. In a team, every team member has an equal contribution and each team member comes out with a solution best suited to the problem. All the alternatives can be explored to come out with the best possible solution. Thoughts can be discussed among the team members and the pros and cons can be evaluated. • Tasks are accomplished at a faster pace when it is done by a team rather than an individual. An individual will definitely take more time to perform if he is single handedly responsible for everything. When employees work together, they start helping each other and responsibilities are shared and thus it reduces the work load and work pressure. Every team member is assigned one or the other responsibility according to his specialization, level of interest and thus the output is much more efficient and faster.
Cont… • Work never suffers or takes a backseat in a team. Mike was taking care of an important client and was the only one coordinating with them. Mike took a long leave and there was no one else who could handle the client in his absence. When he joined back after a long vacation, the organization had already lost the client. Had Mike worked in a team, others could have taken the charge when he was not there. In a team, the other team members can perform and manage the work in the absence of any member and hence work is not affected much. • There is always a healthy competition among the team members. Competition is always good for the employee as well as the organization as every individual feels motivated to perform better than his other team member and in a way contributing to his team and the organization.
Cont….. • Team work is also important to improve the relations among the employees. Individuals work in close coordination with each other and thus come to know each other better. Team work also reduces the chances of unnecessary conflicts among the employees and every individual tries his level best to support his team member. The level of bonding increases as a result of team work. • Team members can also gain from each other. Every individual is different and has some qualities. One can always benefit something or the other from his team members which would help him in the long run. Everyone is hungry for recognitions and praises. One feels motivated to work hard in a team and to live up to the expectations of the other members. Each member is a critic of the other and can correct him whenever the other person is wrong. One always has someone to fall back on at the time of crisis.
Types of Teams • Problem solving teams – share ideas, offer suggestions. Rarely given authority to implement or take action. Eg: quality circles • Self Managed wortk teams – • Teams are being set up or are evolving into being self-managed as part of the empowerment movement • A self-managed work team can be defined as “a group of employeeswho are responsible for managing and performing technical tasks that result in a product or service being delivered to an internal or external customer.” • self-managed teams are empowered to hire, organize, and purchase equipment without managements direct approval. The results from these teams have reportedly been very positive • recent studies found increased job satisfaction, customer service, and team organizational commitment79 and the facilitation of emergent leadership
Project Teams /Cross Functional teams - These teams are made up of individuals from various departments or functional specialities. • Virtual teams - Members performing knowledge-based tasks in remote locations can become members of so-called virtual teams
Being an effective team member 1. Adopting a positive attitude • having a positive attitude about the team experience has many benefits: • a positive attitude keeps team members from wasting the team's time with complaints, making the entire group more productive • thinking positively about having to work on a team makes the experience more enjoyable for everyone, and • team members who perceive feedback from other team members as a positive thing will be less defensive and will also be more likely to make changes that will result in improved team performance
strategies for developing and maintaining a positive mind-set about the team experience: • Concentrate on the positive aspects of your team members. If a teammate gets under your skin, focus on his good traits. • Focus on the benefits of working on a team. Understand that a group of like-minded professionals can always accomplish more than a single mind working alone. • Accept and learn from mistakes and experiences, and then move on. Mistakes can teach you as much as successes, and your response to them can turn a negative into a positive.
2. Being Proactive: As a proactive person, you'll reap the following benefits: • You'll have energy and enthusiasm. And the energy will be contagious, spreading throughout the team. • You'll have good planning skills. When you're proactive, you look into the future to find out what you and your team will need to do. • You'll have troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities. You'll always be searching for signs of potential problems and using creativity to solve them. • You'll enhance your communication skills, because you'll be anticipating questions others may have. This allows you to be clear and thorough, transmitting the information your team needs.
The basic principles of being proactive are simple but effective: • identify opportunities for action by searching for potential problems, errors, and causes of concern, and • get consent or acceptance from the rest of the team, which increases the chances that your proactive ideas will succeed
Being Tolerant • Acknowledge the right to differ • Treat others with respect • Focus on the problem not on the person • Limit the usage of “you’ when pointing out problem • Say ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ • Use provisional qualifiers
Phases of team decision • Orientation • Conflict • Brainstorming • Emergence • Reinforcement
Characteristics of effective team • Have a clear sense of purpose • Communicate openly & honestly • Reach decisions by consensus • Think creatively • Remain focused • Resolve conflict effectively
Conflict in Teams • Constructive • Destructive
Conflict Table I win I lose You win You lose
Methods to deal with conflicts • Competition (win-lose situation) • Accommodation(win-win situation) • Avoidance(lose-lose situation) • Compromise(lose-win situation) • Collaboration(win-win situation)
Measures to resolve team conflicts • Pro-action • Communication • Openness • Research • Flexibility • Fair play • Alliance
Over coming resistance • Express understanding • Make people aware of their resistance • Evaluate other’s objections fairly • Hold your arguments until the other person is ready for them