The Importance Of Team Building And Management Essay.

You are required to prepare a report that responds to the questions detailed below.
You will be assessed on your demonstration of underpinning knowledge and theory and application to the questions. You will be given a grading rubric to clearly identify the criteria to be used in assessing your work.

You are required to prepare a report and respond to the following questions:
1. What differentiates a group of people from a team? 
2. Explain why it is important to establish a clear team purpose.
3. If you were appointed the leader for a newly established team, describe how you would ensure that all members of the team knew what they had to accomplish. 
4. Charters, mission/ vision statements, role and responsibility statements are all examples of documents that record in writing a team’s purpose and role. Collect an example of three of these documents. Comment on each of them as to how effective they are. 
5. Why is encouraging participation in the planning, decision-making and operational aspects of the team’s work important for developing team cohesion and what role does feedback play in doing this? 
6. Describe a self-managing team 
7. Consider a team that you have either led or have been a part. Describe the members of the team in relation to Belbin’s roles and answer the questions that follow.
1. Did you have the recommended mix of roles – that is, was the team heavily weighted with a particular role type or were there gaps?
2. Describe the impact this had on team effectiveness.
3. Briefly describe the stages, issues and successes that your team went through during its life cycle 

8. You are the team leader for a busy, customer focused technology support centre. Sue is a long-standing member of your team. Her position requires her to answer the telephone, handle face-to-face enquiries regarding technical difficulties, use her knowledge and experience to solve problems and finally to communicate solutions to customers.

Until recently, you considered Sue very capable. You received good feedback from other staff and customers about her technical ability and customer service skills generally. Recently, however, you have received a number of complaints about her from another team member and from several customers. The complaints relate to her terse and harsh interpersonal skills and her lack of responsiveness when dealing with problems. Things have become so bad that it is having a negative impact on Sue’s immediate teammates. One has refused to work with her and another has complained that they are unable to complete their work, as Sue is not feeding the paperwork through quickly enough.

Differentiating between a Group and a Team

1: A group is a compilation of individuals who coordinate their own efforts while a team comprises of a group of individuals who share a common purpose of the team and a plethora of challenging goals. They are united by team spirit, a unified vision of the team and commitment towards achieving the goals of the team and towards each other. This commitment towards each other also creates a sense of accountability, which leads to a strong bond between members of a team and leads to a strong motivation to perform (Block, 2018).

2: It is important to establish a clear team purpose because one cannot build a team if one lacks a clear purpose and goals. A definite plan outlining the various purposes, goals, objectives and values binds a group together and transform the group into a team. Coming together to develop that plan builds consensus, understanding and commitment (Forsyth, 2018). As the leader of a team, one uses the plan to set varied expectations for individuals and the team as a whole.

3: If I was appointed as the leader for a newly established team, I would ensure that all members of the team knew what they had to achieve by talking to the team members about their respective functions and the goals of the team as a whole. I would share the vision of my company with them, share the mission statement of the company and enlighten them about the goals and objectives of the company (Forsyth, 2018). I would define the team roles in line with the various organizational roles, objectives and plans; I would work with my team members to establish an understanding of team roles, purposes, accountabilities and responsibilities. I would also develop performance plans for every member of the team.

4: The Mission of the Coca-Cola Company is to refresh the world in mind, body and spirit, to inspire moments of optimism and happiness through their actions and brands, to create value and make a difference. The mission statement of Coca-Cola is truly effective because their advertisements reflect hope, optimism and happiness and their beverage quenches the thirst. It is also available in various sizes and is value for money. The vision of the Coca-Cola Company includes inspiring each another to be the best by ensuring a great place to work, offering a wide variety of beverages that satisfy an individual’s wants and desires, building a positive relationship with partners  based on mutual loyalty, being a global responsible citizen and being an effective organization (De Mooij 2018).

5: It is important to encourage participation in the planning, decision-making and operational aspects of the team’s work important for developing team cohesion because by doing so every member feels that he or she is part of the team. Every individual and member of the team feel included which results in bonding and leads to team cohesion. It also fosters team spirit and strengthens the team bond. Feedback plays an important role because it makes one aware of the areas that one needs to improve. It makes one aware of one’s mistakes and helps to rectify it. Employees can also get motivated to perform better if one asks for their feedback because they feel appreciated and valued. Feedback can help to improve the performance of the team members as well. Feedback is a tool for continued learning and is important in an organization in order to develop and improve relationships, stay united to one’s goals, develop products, improve services and improve relationships.

Establishing a Clear Team Purpose

6: A self-managed team refers to a semi-autonomous, self-organized group of employees whose members plan, perform daily activities and duties under no supervision or bare minimum amount of supervision. A self-managed team is accountable and is responsible for  producing every aspect of a product and delivering a service. A self-managed team carries out both supporting task as well as technical tasks. A self-managed team is also known as a self-directed team.

7: Some of the members of my team were Resource Investigator, Teamworker, Coordinator, Plant, Monitor Evaluator and Specialist (Twardochleb 2017).

7a: Yes, I had the recommended mix of roles to become a high performing team. The team was evenly distributed with an equal amount of role types and there were no gaps.

7b: By using the Belbin individual report, individuals had a greater understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, which leads to communication that is more effective between managers and colleagues. The Belbin individual report also help one to develop great teams and understand and improve existing teams and everybody can feel that they are making a difference in the workplace. The Belbin method had been incorporated into our syllabus in our college as a way of improving the teamwork abilities of students. The feedback received from the students was that Belbin is a relevant and meaningful tool and during the teamwork exercises, the students are very engaged (Twardochleb 2017). They receive a theoretical approach to teamwork and a language in which they can talk about their own and the strengths and weaknesses of their friends and classmates. There have been indicators to show that there has been a positive impact on their ensuing teamwork.

7c: In our organization, two teams that worked in the production department were dependant on each other. They were facing animosity issues. Due to miscommunication and lack of understanding, there were continuous disruptions in the workflow which led to conflicts between the members of the two departments. To resolve the issue, the HR of our organization introduced Belbin Team Roles to both parties. The teams sat  together and understood each other and the problems that the other team was facing. After the session the team members easily resolved issues and engaged in effective communication as the Belbin model created an atmosphere that was conducive to talking and understanding.

8. I would call Sue to my office, talk to Sue, and ask her if everything was all right. I would ask if everything is all right at her home and in office and if she requires any help. Since this performance issue has happened suddenly, it could be due to external factors like Sue’s personal life. Given that she was a good hardworking employee, there must have been some reason that led to her underperforming as an employee.  I would be a compassionate and a calm listener, listen to her problems, and help her find a solution. I would tell her what the company expects from her and the various repercussions for underperformance. I would offer to train her again if required and tell her to build team spirit. I will ask her why she is so jittery almost all the time and if she is getting enough sleep. If I feel that she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to taxing deadlines or some problems at home or in her workplace, then I would request my senior to grant her leave for a week so that she can relax and come back to the office refreshed and rejuvenated. I would ask her to speak to a counselor who would help her not only to identify her problems but also find a solution to them. I would tell her teammates to be a little more cooperative and sympathetic towards her and be polite, cordial and understanding with her. I would tell Sue gently yet firmly that her missing deadlines, is having a negative effect on the work of her colleagues as well and that this needs to stop. I would try to tell her that the aim of this meeting is to try to find a solution to the problem rather than to vent. This approach will help her to feel valued and boost her morale. I would ask Sue what motivates her and find out if she has been recognized and appreciated for all the good work that she has done over the years.

References:

Block, P. (2018). Team development. Work, 3, 3.

De Mooij, M. (2018). Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. SAGE Publications Limited.

Eubanks, D. L., Palanski, M., Olabisi, J., Joinson, A., & Dove, J. (2016). Team dynamics in virtual, partially distributed teams: Optimal role fulfillment. Computers in human behavior, 61, 556-568.

Forsyth, D. R. (2018). Group dynamics. Cengage Learning.

Sinek, S., Mead, D., & Docker, P. (2017). Find your why: A practical guide for discovering purpose for you and your team. Penguin.

Singh, B. J. R., & Kaur, M. P. (2016). Corporate social responsibility in India. International Journal of Higher Education Research & Development, 1(1).

Twardochleb, M. (2017). Optimal selection of team members according to Belbin’s theory. Zeszyty Naukowe Akademii Morskiej w Szczecinie.

Venturini, B., Mosso, C. O., & Bellotto, M. (2015). We are diverse but belonging to the same team: an empirical study on the relationship between diversity and identification. La camera blu. Rivista di studi di genere, (11).