Methods Used to Appropriately Manage Groups and Teams - Research Paper Example

A team refers to a group of people, often with different but complementary skill sets and tasks, who combine and work together in a network of interdependence, responsibility, accountability and self-management in order to achieve a common goal, project, reward or service. This fusion of a diverse array of opinions and inputs creates a synergy and collective commitment that translates into greater sum of performance; collectively, rather than individually. A group can be defined as an assemblage of individuals often together or in the same place and thus in regular contact and/or repeated interaction.

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Managing of a group/ team; Team Management refers to an organizations or individuals capability to connect, maximize and harmonize individual efforts in order to perform a task. This leads to a wide pool of talents, ideas, experiences and belief which create an ease of achieving a particular task or objective.

In view of all these, this paper seeks to analyze methods used to appropriately manage groups and teams, to expound on the process of evolving a group into a team and the importance of organizational structure in the that process.

Review of Literature

Thus, through the team, the individual grows and becomes better, which in turn results into improved performance of the team. The individual is the group and the group is the individual. Team work is crucial in a situation where an individual worker cannot complete his errands effectively or does it better if coupled with other associates (Leadership Techniques in Group Management Matjaz Saloven).

In the modern world, there has been a shift in paradigms and workplace dynamics such that organizations are shifting from the hierarchical functional structures of old to network structures that involve managers working out team types, communication strategies and team leadership in order to better gauge and improve upon team performance. As a result, more and more employee work teams are being integrated into the structural makeup of organizations. Delegation of duties to teams is a crucial element in the organization structure (Morgeson et al., 2010). Consequently, the consequences of governance on team dynamics is hence a very important component in team management. For the efficiency of teams, the leaders have to be good, utilize appropriate and modern leadership techniques.

To appropriately manage a team, one needs to comprehend first the nature of team operations. How a team functions and how individuals in the team contribute to the teams operations is key. Team effort is characterized by recurrent cycles of jointly reliant relations (Morgeson et. al., 2016). This cycles geared towards achieving goals can be categorized into two phases: the transition phase; involving planning towards achieving the goals and the action phase- which involves the doing of activities that directly lead to achieving the goals.

Due to human nature and the dynamics of working environments, over the course of the teams functions and processes, there is bound to be challenges. Therefore, effective team management is necessary to steer the team through such obstacles in order to deliver on their goals.

Discussion

In order to appropriately manage a team, there are key elements that have to be considered prior to the putting in place of the actual preferred method. Among the elements include:

Operational Communication there should be a proper communication channels both from the bottom up and from top to bottom. This allows ease in flow of messages, enhancing speed and means of communication, prompting faster feedback and increased flexibility of the organization (MSG Experts).

Goals the members of the team have to be made aware of objectives despite their vast diversity in ideas. Such a rich diversity has to be streamlined to work in benefitting the team due to the teams pursuit of a common goal.

Strong leadership the leadership has to be effective and functional in order to bolster cohesion within the team. This enables the team to focus clearly on its goals due to an already set out path and set of instructions (Boyer, 2016).

Established roles and responsibilities each member of the team should have their own clearly assigned roles in order to maximize on their contribution towards the team. Furthermore, the members have to know each others roles in order to avoid confusion and double work.

Once such elements have been adhered to, methods for effective team management can be put to use. The methods include:

Command and Control

This is often borrowed from its military application. Here a leader is supremely in charge, autonomous, authoritative and autocratic, ordering out members to complete their tasks against the backdrop of repercussion or failure upon the event of failure.

This method has particular drawbacks. The constant authoritarian regime like environment creates a dip in individual morale. There is also a lack of confidence as the members feel belittled by the team leader often spilling out into a lack of self-belief in ones own capabilities. Such environments also lead to poor performance as members rush in fear of repercussions and not necessarily producing quality work.

Engage and Create

This method of team management encourages input of the team members since they are welcomed into discussions in order to foster teamwork and team unity (Lencioni, 2002). This ultimately enhances productivity and accountability as the members feel involved and responsible.

Econ 101

This method uses the guise that members of the team will be extra motivated by the assured promise of a reward, often a monetary reward upon the achievement of goals or based on individual performance. Upon the event of failure, punishment is inevitable.

This method however ingrains material rewards over fulfilling work. This is a drawback since due to the diversity of members of the team, people may feel motivated by other factors more than just money or material gains.

It is also important for those managing, or rather leading, teams to focus on the collective performance rather than being overly focused on building effective work relationships with each individual under their leadership (Boyer, 2016). Such techniques contribute to the evolution of a group into a team.

In this evolution, it is paramount to consider influence that social dynamics in a well-organized team can put on the behavior of the teams members. Synchronized commitment and working collectively enhance cooperation, problem identification and/or solving, innovation and coordination, resulting into greater productivity. Output from the team and accountability for that output is in the hands of each individual member, both jointly and individually. Hence, motivation and productivity are directly dependent on each other; especially when members support each other. This breeds cohesion and a sense of solidarity, hence much can be done and achieved.

Furthermore, for a group to transition into a team, the members have to be allowed some level of control and responsibility too. There should be an evaluation of interests, abilities and skills in order to best use the skillset of the team. Organizational culture is important during this process in that the culture decides the way employees, in this case members of the team, interact at the workplace. A serene and healthy culture is very motivational to the individual members of the team.

Organizational culture promotes productive competition as employees try to outdo, outwit and outsmart each other. On the corporate front, success of teams within the organization promotes the brand image of the organization. It also unites members from different backgrounds, hence a wide array of ideas a team can have to work with.

In conclusion, there is indeed a need to appropriately manage teams and/or transition working groups into fully-fledged functional teams. The preferred methods are Engage and Create and/or Econ 101. These methods seem to get the best out of the teams members, boosting productivity. An assessment has to be done by the team leader in order to evaluate individual strengths within the team and to employ the right method of team management that properly suits the talents and ideas available.

References.

Boyer S. (2016). Team Management Tools and Techniques to Improve Your Team Management Skills. Retrieved from http://www.nutcache.com/blog/team-management-tool-and-techniques-to-improve-your-team-management-skills/Human Resource Development Quarterly (2008). Defining Team Roles and Responsibilities. (Instructor Guide). Pennsylvania: Human Resource Development Quarterly.

Lencioni, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Hoboken: New Jersey; John Wiley & Sons.

Management Study Guide Experts. Effective Team Management Skills: Team Building. Retrieved from http://www.managementstudyguid.com/effective-team-management-skills.htmMorgeson, F. P., DeRue, D.S., Karam, E. P. (2010). Leadership in teams: A functional Approach to understanding leadership structures and processes. Journal of Management.