Article Analysis Essay on Team Building: Proven Strategies for Improving Team Performance

Introduction

The article I have chosen to critique is "Team Building: Proven Strategies for Improving Team Performance, 5th Edition" by William G. Dyer, Jeffrey H. Dyer, W. Gibb Dyer, Jr. The main idea of the article is to provide the skills and knowledge required by experts to form high-functioning and effective teams by borrowing from the Four C's framework, which insists on context, competencies, change and composition. The article also touches on how the diversity of teams within organisations promotes innovation in today's dynamic working environment.

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The author's purpose in writing this article was to give insight on how to create effective teams to improve performance by explaining the Four C's of developing a team. The first step was to describe and illustrate context, which involves laying a foundation for a successful team, the second element is composition, and it consists in getting the right people to form a capable group. The third element, which is competencies comprises in developing the skills possessed by each team member to ensure high performance, and the last part is changed, and it involves finding more creative and effective ways of coexisting and working together towards a common goal Dyer, (Dyer, Jr & Dyer, 2013). The author finally concentrates on problem-solving through team building within a team, team building in different groups and the challenges faced by team members during team building exercises for the future.

By reading this book, the reader will understand the concepts and ideas as well as suggestions that they can practically use when managing a team in all aspects of life, either in a business or a school setting or in any other activities that involve different relationships (Galegher, Kraut & Egido, 2014). The key topics that support the author's focus for this article include but not limited to the four C's of team development, solving distinct problems through techniques such as team building, team building in diverse teams and the challenges of team building that may affect future teams (Dyer, Jr & Dyer, 2013). These topics are detailed enough to provide ample details to enlighten the reader as to what the article is implying for audiences who are seeking research data in regards to team building and the different types of teams.

For instance, the authors gives specific details about how to solve problems through team building including explaining and illustrating how to manage conflicts in a team, how to overcome unhealthy agreements and ways in which one can lead innovative teams. The author also adds various illustrative examples of different chapters such as the challenges of managing diverse groups and how to lead creative teams even in competitive environments. The author demonstrates that today's business environment is very dynamic, but with increased teamwork, it can endure all the obstacles. Dyer, Jr & Dyer (2013) further insists that team composition is essential to adapt to the visible and virtual setting as well as the local and global setting. Consequently, a comprehensive theory is integrated with some of the most practical techniques to help team building practitioners and researchers looking for information on the topic.

The author of this book, William Gibb Dyer, has been an educator for over 20 years, and he served in Marriot School of management as a Dean of studies. Besides, he has a bachelor of arts from BYU and a master's degree in arts from the same university, and later in 1955, he acquired his PhD in social psychology from Wisconsin university. Both his academic and professional life has always focused on topics such as team dynamics and organisational change, which means he is qualified enough to carry out a research about teamwork and team dynamics and publish such a book. He also developed the first 360-degree feedback I the world, an instrument used to assess managerial style and managerial effectiveness. All these credentials and expertise makes him a credible author for such a book.

Besides, the author used appropriate methods to gather evidence to support his claims because he used a variety of sources. He evaluated different experts on team dynamics, and he did a literature review to asses what other researchers have gathered on the same as well as to identify the existing gaps in knowledge, he has carried out surveys and interviews too not to mention focus groups (Dyer, Jr & Dyer, 2013). Therefore, his findings and recommendations are relevant and reliable. He also presents a logical argument because he argues systematically from a set of premises until he comes up with a conclusion using a logical implication through logical inference. The author has also developed online assessments, student teams in a classroom setting can use one, and the other one is designed for organisational groups.

From my assessment, the author succeeded in making his point because he has clearly explained the concepts and ideas as well as suggestions that can be used in managing a team in all aspects of life, either in a business or a school setting or in any other activities that involve various relationships. I agree with the author's idea because I have witnessed how teamwork can enhance performance. For instance, when revising for my exams, I understand better when I work in a diverse group than when I am doing it alone. People introduce new ideas and techniques for solving complex problems, which makes work more comfortable for me when revising on my own. The best thing I learned from the article is that group composition is an` important element in promoting success and I would highly recommend it to my friends so that they do not just form groups, but rather form effective ones.

Conclusion

Teamwork is healthy and helpful, but teams face several challenges such as communication barriers, lack of trust between members and time wastage. However, all these can be managed using simple techniques such as team building as suggested in the book. The need for teamwork will remain high because it improves performance and teams have to come up with active team building activities to better manage teams in the future. One of the best activities to adopt is volunteerism which improves delegation and motivation among team members.

References

Dyer, W. G., Dyer, W. G., Jr., & Dyer, J. H. (2013). Team building: Proven strategies for improving team performance (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Galegher, J., Kraut, R. E., & Egido, C. (Eds.). (2014). Intellectual teamwork: Social and technological foundations of cooperative work. Psychology Press.