Topics Paper
Priya Babukumar
Sullivan University
MGT 597 - CPT Externship Class August 25th, 2015
Team Building and Development
It takes extraordinary leadership to assemble great teams. Leaders who are not reluctant to course right, making challenging choices and launch principles of implementation that are continually being met – and enhancing them at all times. Whether in the working environment, expert sports, or our nearby community, team building needs a keen understanding of individuals, their merits and what makes them eager to work with others. Llopis mentioned, “Team building is both an art and a science and the manager who constantly brings out great performance teams is worth their weight in gold” (2012).
Building organizations needs the knowledge and skill to build ever-lasting teams. This is the reason why most managers can never become leaders and why most leaders never achieve the utmost summit of success. It involves the knack to ace the “craft of individuals” and knowing how to move hundreds of individuals at the right place and at the right time. It means to know how each individual thinks and how to best use their skills properly at all times. It’s like playing a continuous match of chess – realizing that each incorrect move can cost the organization thousands of dollars, if not millions (Llopis, 2012).
All through life, we all like to be made to feel commendable and acknowledged, realizing that our presence can be a piece of vital
Within any successful team, you will find leaders, it need not be the manager, and it doesn’t have to be the same person all the time, you only have to look at any successful sports team to see that there are numerous leaders and within the team each person knows the role they have to perform at any set moment and can change as the situation needs. This has been well explained in the Belbin Team Architecture.
When groups are operating effectively they can solve more complex problems, make better decisions, release more creativity and do more to build individual skills and commitment than individuals working alone. Today’s leader must be an enabler of people and a facilitator of teams. All groups are dynamic, complex, ever-changing, living systems that – just like individuals – have behaviour patterns and lives of their own. The characteristics of high performing Teams
The workforce in many parts of the world continues to comprise a multitude of diverse nationalities. Increasingly, organisations within the regions are relying on teams and teamworking in pursuit of performance improvement, while at the same time educational institutions are making increasing use of teamwork as a means for delivering education and learning. It is important, therefore, to understand the differing patterns of teamworking skills developed by workers from diverse backgrounds, as these will have a significant impact on workplace behaviour.
Many of us have seen that "Nobody's Perfect - But A Team Can Be" and we have seen a team produce a quality and quantity of work far higher than the sum of what the separate members could have produced on their own. The success of any Endeavour hinges on the behavior, talents, balance and cohesion of this management team. There are two main points when it comes to relevance of teams, the first is the recognition that human strengths usually bring countervailing weaknesses and the second is that some combinations of these roles have a greater probability of team success than others.
The selection of a team leader is of key decision that can have a great impact on the overall success of a team. A good team leader should be able to build and maintain team morale, instilling confidence and trusting in other team members allowing them to work together to achieve the teams goals (Llopis, 2014). The ability to understand the stages of a team and provide the guidance to all members is essential. The stages of forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Abudi, 2010) are a helpful framework for recognizing patterns during team conversations and the understanding that team development may not always be linear. The aptitude to walk the team through these stages and ensuring they understand the development of the team and why things are happening in certain ways is an important part of the self evaluation process. Having ways to identify when certain behavioral patterns are occurring and a way to then cause changes to the team behavior can help the team maximize its productivity.
Effective coaching and team building skills are important in many contexts. Whether discussing a high school soccer team or a team of business executives, many of the same strategies and skills are needed to allow teams to succeed to their highest potential. In this paper I will discuss these strategies and skills and explain their importance. I have interviewed a former high school soccer player about her interpretations of effective coaching and team building skills, and will compare the information gathered during the interview with issues discussed in the Robbins and Hunsaker text.
An effective and productive team doesn't just happen. It requires structures, support and processes that encourage development. Team building happens over time. When building and developing a cohesive, effective and productive team you need to determine how your team fits and the roles they play in the organisation. Does anything need to be changed? How and when can these changes be put into action? Organisational, strategic and operational plans need to contain suitable mechanisms for supporting team development.
At Grinnell Regional Medical Center (GRMC), there are a variety of teams that make up the organization which includes the hospital and outpatient affiliated clinics. Due to the diversity of healthcare services that are provided at GRMC, a team leadership approach is essential to the success of the organization. According to Northouse (2016), leadership is “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (p. 6). Through this process, leaders help to create vision and direction for the team while engaging others on the team through motivation and inspiration, to reach a common goal (Northouse, 2016). In this paper, we will discuss the steps necessary to create more successful teams at various levels
In the book Creating Effective Teams: A Guide for Members and Leaders by Susan A. Wheelan (2016), the reader is challenged with transitioning a work group into an effective team body. Throughout the text, effective teams is described as a methodical discipline that places emphasis on principles and strategies that can withstand adversity among members. Wheelan adopts a philosophical stance in moving the reader from group development to a high performance team. By providing a checklist for the organization, team, and leader, the author helps members and teams to make the necessary improvements within their cultural setting. In essence, being a part of an effective team should flow out of our being.
FORMING:This is the introductory stage where individuals come together to become a team. At this stage, individuals are trying to find their place and as a result, we could have a lot of conflicts and other negativity appearing but this helps the group understand themselves better and value each other more.
The team working is an important concept of the society wherein few people work together towards a common goal. In American culture, working in teams often considered contrary. Marvin Weisbord, author and organizational development expert, mentioned that, “Teamwork is the quintessential contradiction of a society grounded in individual achievement.” Still building, leading and organizing successful teams considered as a critical leadership task. It is always challenging to have people work together closely to achieve specific tasks in any team environment.
When team members are selected, it would be vital to explain the value of teamwork skills in the workplace. With teamwork comes passionate leadership. It is important to be passionate about the work you do and those you help. To be a passionate leader, the team must have a vision and guiding principles steering their work. They must also share similar values and be able to articulate those values in their day to day work. They set the example and always exemplify the standards of their team. Passionate leaders are committed to their team for the long term and care about making a difference in a positive way. Finally, they celebrate their achievements, success, and are always happy for each other (Davies & Brighouse, 2010). Teamwork means passionately
Thompson, L. L. (2011). Making The Team: A Guide for Managers (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
The science of team building is an art. The uncontrollable variables are people. Just putting a group of talented individuals together for the sole purpose of goal achievement can be met with disastrous results. It can leave individuals left feeling unfulfilled and lead to costly mistakes in the long run. While team building can be considered an art, there are some methods and approaches that can assist with successful builds. While no approach is full proof, taking time to acclimate oneself with human
Building and leading a high performing team takes planning. In order to develop a successful team, a good leader must first have a reasonable and concrete expectation of the end goal as well as a solid understanding of the teams components. Once the team is formed, in order for the leader to successfully successfully guide his or her team, an environment of trust must be built, adequate resources must be supplied, timely feedback supplied, and positive reinforcement paired with recognition distributed. These are things that I learned along the way in my experiences as a manager in my various careers. I saw what worked for my managers, and what backfired. I tried to apply those in practice, and made many mistakes along the way. The keys are to determine what defines a high performing team, and to lead rather than direct.