“Teamwork is the capacity to work in tandem towards the same goal. The ability to guide individual achievements to achieve organizational goals. It’s the catalyst that allows ordinary people to reach extraordinary outcomes.” -Andrew Carnegie.
Teamwork and team building is the most important factor in the efficiency of an organization. The days of the single corporate hero who could take an organization to the top of Fortune 500 lists through his charisma and wit have come to an end. Businesses are now seeking to form teams made up of people with complementary talents in order to accomplish corporate goals and objectives.
Teams are essential in every human endeavour, whether in volunteer or sports This article is confined to business enterprises.
Why teams?
Teams are formed in the following situations:
A mixture of skills, knowledge, and skills are needed to accomplish the task at hand. An individual might not possess the required combination.
Faced with challenges like declining profits, improvement in quality standards, and putting together a new plan, take on major initiatives for change and cross-functional coordination within massive and complicated organisations. Teams can be established to serve a variety of purposes. This is just an indication of the types of teams that can be created.
The stages of team development
Tuckman, as well as Jenson, have outlined the process of team development in their research, which is the best method to comprehend how teams work and to manage them. Teams must go through various processes before they are able to get settled and be effective. Understanding the development stages for the group is crucial to successful team management.
Stage 1 Formation
It is at this point that the team members gather and meet. Everyone is very courteous, make friends with one another and attempt to evaluate their respective roles within the team. The most important thing to think about for those who join the team when they are in the beginning stages is how and where they will fit into the group. This phase is marked by an easy acceptance of one another without controversies and with the guidance and encouragement from the team leader to settle down.
Stage 2 Storming
The stage of conflict and competition is when each person begins to begin working to develop a plan. It is a stressful time for everyone involved. Personal differences over issues pop up. Sometimes, the issue may be based on ethnicity, culture or simply the issue of asserting one’s strength in the team. Communication and interpersonal problems dominate this phase and can cause a flare-up of confrontation and conflict.
The leader must exercise the utmost caution and maturity during this point of team growth. He needs to demonstrate all of his network skills as well as emotional intelligence and management capabilities to create an environment that fosters positive relationships among team members and keep their attention back to team goals and vision.
Stage 3 Norming
When conflicts start to be resolved, work increases in speed. The team members settle into more positive working relationships. Now, the focus shifts to the common objectives of the team as well as concerns related to performance. A cohesive team that is aware of its strengths and weak points is able to achieve its highest performance by leveraging the skills and strengths of the team members. Also, this is the time that the leader of the team is able to give more effective delegation. Assuring team members of the ability to exercise a certain amount of autonomy within their functional areas allows them to unleash the creative potential of the team members, resulting in an extremely productive team.
Stage #4 performing
This is the step where the perfect identity for the group is established. There is a sense of independence and interdependence and learning, and sharing of knowledge, speed, and efficiency. The team has smoothed through the leadership of each team member. The team has very high levels of autonomy that have led to the emergence of new managers. The performance of the leaders is at the highest due to the high level of motivation.
A leader who is effective is aware of the various phases of the formation of the group and its development of the group. He is able to manage the team effectively by altering his team’s management methods in accordance with the stage of development the process that the team is through.
