Analyzing Effective Project Teams And Teamwork: Ecocern Essay.

Discuss about the Building Effective Projects Teams and Teamwork.

Leading, managing and developing people of an organization is considered to be one of the most important duty and responsibility of the leaders and managers of an organization as it is directly related with the operational efficiency of the organization. There are various aspects of leading, managing and developing people which are being followed in various business organizations. The approach taken by the leaders or managers of an organization to lead, manage and develop the people of their organization depends upon the goals and objectives of the organization and the needs of the organization from its people and vice versa. This report focuses on four aspects of leading, managing and developing people namely change management, leading people, managing people and building effective teams which are being observed at Ecocern, which is an Australian company that specializes in manufacturing 100% post recycled papers and various packaging products.

The contemporary issue which Ecocern is facing currently in its day to day operation is regarding change management as the company has implemented a new technology in its operations in order to increase the effectiveness of the manufacturing process. As stated by Barratt-Pugh and Bahn (2015) the implementation of new technology will help the company to reduce the wastage in the manufacturing process and will also help in cost savings of the company. But the contemporary issue which Ecocern is facing currently is regarding change management as the company needs to effectively manage the change so that it is easily accepted by all the stakeholders of the organization which will help in achieving the objectives and goals of Ecocern regarding the change.

Globalization is such a process which has impacted every aspect of the society. Apart from influencing the political aspects and the economic aspects, globalization also impacts the cultural aspect which is evident from the fact that there are various cultural influences that globalization has on business. As opined by Parker (2013) due to the process of globalization, different cultures of the world have come together in the same platform in order to make their business successful which has helped in influencing the business or the operations of the business. As a result of globalization people from different culture have come together to work at a single place and they together strive to achieve the goals of the organization for which they work which facilitates the flow of cultural norms, beliefs between different individuals belonging to different cultures which sometimes creates positive impact and in some cases facilitates negative impact. As stated by Pollack (2015) the transfer of cultural values and ethics within an organization benefits the organization, as the different stakeholders of the organization are more aware of each other’s preferences and expectations which helps in avoiding conflict in the organization and also acts as drivers for growth.

Change Management

As opined by Barratt-Pugh, Bahn and Gakere (2013) in context of change management, the transfer of cultural values between the stakeholders are very essential as different cultures have different perspectives regarding embracing and managing change and therefore the intermingling of cultures helps in driving and managing changes in an organization.

In context of Ecocern it can be stated that the company has ensured that transfer of cultural values take place in an efficient manner in the organization which will help in motivating and influencing various individuals who are reluctant towards the change in the company by evidencing the approach of another individual belonging to a different culture who would be adaptive to change. As opined by Buble (2015) the top management of Ecocern plays a vital role in facilitating change management in the organization by ensuring that every stakeholder of the company is on the same page regarding accepting and embracing the change in the company and the stakeholders who are reluctant towards the change are provided with adequate support regarding embracing the change. The change management approach adopted by Ecocern involves identification of the views of the stakeholders regarding change in the organization and then adopting the most suitable approach towards change management. As the change management within Ecocern depends on the culture of the organization, therefore Ecocern ensures that they follow a strong organizational culture which fosters innovation, creativity and growth and which believes in accepting and embracing changes in the external environment of the company.

According to Bainbridge (2015) the preliminary step which is involved in improving the operation of an organization is by identifying the best way of performing a particular task for the organization and after identification, developing a standard work procedure for everyone to follow in the organization. A standard work procedure is the result of organizing the tasks of an organization in the best possible manner and in the best possible sequence of steps so as to fully utilize the capability of the people, tools, equipment and materials of the organization.

In case of Ecocern the development of procedures and setting standards to it begins with the identification of the best ways to perform the day to day tasks of the company and accordingly developing a standard work procedure for the employees of the company to follow, in order to perform the day to day operations of the company effectively as desired to meet perceived performance outcomes.

Globalization and Cultural Influence

As opined by Bruns (2014) there are various benefits which Ecocern enjoys regarding process setting procedures and establishing standards to it namely, ensuring performance consistency in the company by setting a standard work procedure, facilitation of continuous improvement process in the operations of the company, ensuring all activities of the company are carried out in a safe manner, helping in the training of new employees who are recruited in the company.

According to Romanelli (2018) while trying to standardize a work procedure of the company it is very important to observe the process and working closely with the people who are involved in the job. Therefore Ecocern ensures that it manages its people accordingly in order to standardize the work procedure of the company as setting standards to the work operations are dependent on the capability of the people working in the organization and the objectives of Ecocern.

Micromanagement, in terms of business management is defined as a management style where a manager closely follows or controls the work of their subordinates or other employees of a company. Micromanagement in general is perceived as a negative connotation as it demonstrates a lack of freedom in the workplace. As stated by Chaudhry and Joshi (2017) in the micromanagement approach it is observed that instead of giving instructions on various smaller tasks and then allocating time to supervise bigger tasks or concerns, a manager who is generally termed as micromanager usually monitors and accesses every single step of a business process in the company and avoids the delegation of decision making. It is generally observed that a micromanager feels disgusted when their subordinates make a decision regarding their tasks or business approach without consulting them even if they possess the authority to do so.

As stated by Sofat, Kiran and Kaushik (2015) in case of Ecocern it can be said that the company does not follow or approve the concept of micromanagement as it tends to creates dis-satisfaction among the workers of the company and also because Ecocern believes in providing freedom to the workers of the company so that they can work freely in the company without any fear or pressure from supervisors. This helps in increasing the quality of tasks. Instead of micromanagement the approach which Ecocern follows is managing their people where the workforces of the company are managed effectively without interference in the work approach or style of work of the workers of the company.

Building Effective Teams

As stated by Elvin (2014) in order to effectively manage their workforce, the company sets various realistic targets for the employees to achieve within the company and the employees of the company are assigned with different tasks at individual level or to work in a team. Every individual member or team member is detailed about their roles and responsibilities regarding various particular task of the company and they are held accountable for the outcome of the task which helps in effective realization of the particular roles and responsibilities among the employees regarding the various tasks of the company. Ecocern also ensures that they evaluate and access the need of every employee of the organization regrading performing a task and the managers of Ecocern accordingly helps employees in addressing their needs through various development programs within the company.

As opined by Sarkar and Singh (2013) after assigning tasks to the employees of the company, Ecocern focuses on developing Key Performance Indicators for each task that is assigned and accordingly checks the set Key Performance Indicators with the nature and outcome of the tasks. After setting and checking the Key Performance Indicators the employees of Ecocern proceeds towards achieving the defined Key Performance Indicators by the business as the success of each task and activity will be measured against the set Key Performance Indicators. Further after the task gets completed the output and outcome of the task are measured against the set Key Performance Indicators and accordingly performance evaluation of the employees take place.

According to Edwards, Schedlitzki, Turnbull and Gill (2015) the above mentioned approach of managing people in the organization which is being practiced in Ecocern is considered to be more effective than the micromanagement approach of managing people as the process of managing people through setting KPIs and measurement of outcomes using KPI’s helps the company to manage their workforces in a more effective manner than any other approach.

It is very important from the point of view of every organization to lead their workforce effectively in order to achieve the intended outcomes and objectives of the organization. Therefore the leadership quality and ability of the top management of the organization is very essential in order to effectively lead organizational team. In order to lead the workforce of an organization in an effective manner the leadership group or the leaders or managers of the organization need to focus on increasing the interaction with the workforce belonging to every level of the organization. As stated by llen, Carpenter, Dydak and Harkins (2016) leading people in an organization involves the daily activities that the leadership group or the leaders or managers of an organization must carry out in order to lead and mange workforces in an organization. Leading people in an organization is more of a tangible asset of management such as assigning, accessing and rewarding contributions of the employees of the organization. In order to effectively lead people in an organization it is very essential that a leader and manager of an organization is aware regarding what drives the people in the organization.

Conclusion

In case of Ecocern it can be said that leading people in the company involves understanding the needs of the people of the company and accordingly taking steps in order to address the needs of the people of the company. In case of Ecocern it is also observed that in order to lead people effectively in the company, empathy is displayed by the managers and leaders of the company which helps in better understanding of the feeling and perception of the workers which increases the satisfaction of the workers and this makes it easy to lead people in the company. As stated by Adams (2016) the leaders and managers of Ecocern also focus on asking various types of question to the workforce of the company regarding their experiences of their day to day tasks and accordingly provide assistance to the workers of the company in case of identification of various issues. The leaders and managers of Ecocern also focuses predominantly on motivating their subordinates in order to achieve the business outcomes and also to keep them dedicated towards their work which helps in achieving high efficiency for the day to day operations of the company.

According to Peterson (2016) the core principles of leadership which are demonstrated by the leaders and managers of Ecocern regarding leading people in the company are namely providing a safe working environment to the people, creating effective roles and filling them with eligible people, effective assigning and assessment of the daily works of the people of the company, development of team capability, recognizing and rewarding the contributions of the people in the company, facilitating and building team work, facilitating continuous improvement and leading change in the company.

The management approach which is followed in Ecocern is also responsible for effective leading of people in the company. The management approach which is followed in Ecocern is contingency management approach which states that there is no definite way of management and for every situation, there is a set of circumstances which determines how a situation can be dealt upon. The contingency approach followed by Ecocern ensures that the company can adapt to any sort of situation in the current dynamic business environment. The contingency approach of management helps in leading people in Ecocern by recognizing the change in needs of their people and accordingly helping to address those needs by taking different approaches for different situation.

It is very important from an organizational point of view to build effective teams in an organization as the success of an organization depends more on the effectiveness of teams of the organization than on effectiveness of individuals within the organization.

In order to build effective teams in organizations, it is very important that every team member possesses a high emotional intelligence capacity as emotional intelligence of the team members helps in facilitating relationship between the members which is very crucial for building effective teams. As stated by Matthews and McLees (2015) emotional Intelligence is defined as the ability to identify and manage self-emotion and the emotion of others. Emotional intelligence requires various skills such as emotional awareness, the ability to harness emotion and applying them to various tasks of an organization such as problem solving, thinking and the ability to manage emotions which includes regulating and managing own emotions and encouraging and settling down other people.

As stated by Hanekom (2016) in order to build an effective team it is very important for the team members to recognize their own capability as well as recognize the capability of other team members which would help in increasing co-ordination among the team members that in turn helps in building an effective team. The analysis of self-capability and capability of others also help in delegation of tasks within the team which ensures that the quality of the task remains high due to the delegation of the appropriate task to the appropriate team member. In order to understand self-capability and the capability of others it is very essential that the communication between the team members is of highest quality which facilitates un-interrupted flow of information among the team members and helps in identifying self-capability and other’s capability.

Social Intelligence is another vital component which helps in building an effective team in an organization. Social Intelligence is defined as the ability of an individual to interact well with others which are generally termed as people’s skill. Social Intelligence is a learned ability which involves situational awareness, idea of social understanding and self-awareness. As opined by Maheshwari and Vohra (2015) there are various contributing aspects of social intelligence namely communication skills, social roles and rules, impression management and understanding the motivation of others. In context of effective team building in Ecocern it can be stated that every team member should possess social intelligence which would help in better understanding of other team member and their motivation through effective communication and interaction skills of the team members that would help in building effective teams within organization.

As opined by Eriksson and Anders (2018) work-life balance is another key aspect of effective team building in organizations as provision of better work-life balance in the organization helps in increasing the effectiveness of the team of organizations. Work-life balance is defined as the balance that an individual requires between time allocated for work and other aspects of life. The provision of proper work-life balance in the various teams of Ecocern helps in increasing the effectiveness of the team as higher work-life balance helps in motivating the team members which increases the operational efficiency which in turn increases the effectiveness of the various teams of the organization.

In case of Ecocern it is observed that the company focuses on increasing the emotional intelligence and the social intelligence of the team members of various groups of the organization by providing a common communication platform which helps in facilitating communication between the team members which increases the interaction between the team members of various groups of the organization. In order to increase the effectiveness of the various teams, the company focuses on developing the communication system which helps in analysing self-capability and others capability among the team members that further helps in building effective teams.

Based on the analysis of Ecocern on various aspects of learning, managing and developing people it can be recommended to the top management of Ecocern that the company needs to improve the communication framework and communication strategy which will help in improving all the above mentioned aspects of the company. As communication is one of the most vital tool for improving the overall efficiency of the company and to achieve the intended outcomes of the business, therefore Ecocern needs to improve their communication framework. Presently communication take place in the company through direct meetings and e-mails among the various levels and various groups of Ecocern but it offers a little room for inconsistency. Therefore it is recommended that Ecocern can develop a communication platform for the company by designing an application which will help in facilitating effective communication in the company. The recommended communication platform would eliminate doubts regarding the occurrence of various communication errors and mis-communication as the communication will be saved and stored in the database of Ecocern which will help in preventing loss of information. Another advantage which is associated regarding the recommendation is that the stored information in context to communication between employees will help in the analysis of the employee needs and motivation so that the company can take action accordingly.  

Conclusion

From the above report it is clear and evident that effectiveness of leading, managing and developing people in an organization enables them to accomplish their pre-decided goals and objectives. From the above report it is also clear and evident that the efficiency regarding leading, managing and developing people is dependent on the skills and qualities of the leaders/managers or leadership groups of the organization as they remain responsible for effective management of workforces within the organization. From the above report it is also clear and evident that there are various skills and qualities which must be present in the leader/manager such as communication skill, interpersonal skills, negotiation skills, emotional intelligence and social intelligence that supports in effective management and leading people.

References

Adams, D. E. (2016). The relationship between transformational leadership and knowledge management in the public sector.  Business Premium Collection. [Online] Available at-https://search.proquest.com/docview/1845882668?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Bainbridge, H. (2015). Devolving people management to the line. Personnel Review, [Online] 44(6), 847-865. Available at- doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/PR-10-2013-0193  Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Barratt-Pugh, L., and Bahn, S. (2015). HR strategy during culture change: Building change agency. Journal of Management and Organization, [Online] 21(6), 741-754. Available at- doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2014.95 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Barratt-Pugh, L., Bahn, S., and Gakere, E. (2013).Managers as change agents. Journal of Organizational Change Management, [Online] 26(4), 748-764. Available at- doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-Feb-2011-0014 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Bruns, H. (2014). HR development in local government: How and why does HR strategy matter in organizational change and development? Business Research, [Online] 7(1), 1-49. Available at- doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40685-014-0002-z Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Buble, M. (2015).TENDENCIES IN EVOLUTION OF 21ST CENTURY MANAGEMENT *. Management : Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, [Online] 20, 1-17. Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1684188919?accountid=30552  Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Chaudhry, S., and Joshi, C. (2017). Transformational leadership, HR practices and affective commitment to change: A theoretical perspective. Journal of Organisation and Human Behaviour, [Online] 6(3), 37-45. Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1948234006?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Edwards, G., Schedlitzki, D., Turnbull, S., and Gill, R. (2015).Exploring power assumptions in the leadership and management debate. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, [Online] 36(3), 328-343. Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1679361500?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Elvin, C. (2014). Chapter 04: Trust-based leadership and resilient organizations in the 21st century: The growing importance of trust in developing successful organizations (1st edition ed.). London: Kogan Page Ltd. Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1809898742?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Eriksson, Y., and Anders, F. (2018).Visual management for a dynamic strategic change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, [Online] 31(3), 712-727. Available at- doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-05-2016-0103 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Hanekom, J. (2016). Sales vs engineering - building effective teams. Cape Town: SyndiGate Media Inc. Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1816224370?accountid=30552Accessed as on 7/10/2018

llen, M., Carpenter, C., Dydak, T., and Harkins, K. (2016). An interpersonal project leadership model. Journal of Information Technology and Economic Development, [Online] 7(2), 24-39. Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1861348432?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Maheshwari, S., and Vohra, V. (2015).Identifying critical HR practices impacting employee perception and commitment during organizational change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, [Online] 28(5), 872-894. Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1710607315?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Matthews, R., and McLees, J. (2015).Building effective projects teams and teamwork. Journal of Information Technology and Economic Development, [Online] 6(2), 20-30. Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1778454971?accountid=30552  Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Parker, P. F. (2013). Evolving job competencies for the human resource professional in the 21st century. Business Premium Collection. [Online]  Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1353098100?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Peterson, T. M. (2016). Building a leadership-driven organization through people and process. Business Premium Collection. [Online]   Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1728918406?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Pollack, J. (2015). Is there a divide between change management theory and practice? The Business & Management review, 6(2) 64-72. Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1678577875?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Romanelli, M. (2018).Organizations and people for sustainability. Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, [Online] 6(1), 117-128. Available at- doi.org/10.25019/MDKE/6.1.07 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Sarkar, S., and Singh, P. (2013). Managing facets of HR during slow down phase - the Indian way. Journal of Organisation and Human Behaviour, [Online] 2(4) Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1503489797?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018

Sofat, K., Kiran, R., and Kaushik, S. (2015). Management of organizational change and its impact on commitment: A study of select Indian IT companies. Global Business and Management Research, [Online] 7(3), 69-86. Available at- https://search.proquest.com/docview/1767141501?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 7/10/2018