Unit 19- Developing Teams in Business (D1)

In this section I will be assessing how the University and the Estates Office measure team performance against goals and objectives.

There are many problems that hinder good group dynamics. We don’t usually have the luxury of picking who we are going to work with on a team; dealing with different personalities and personal agendas are common challenges in working within a team. Other commons challenges like, poor leadership, bad communications, and lack of focus can be helped or eliminated by establishing team roles.

The features of effective team performance is set up through positive leadership, this is something which is developed and nurtured. An effective team will work together, be focused and all the time supporting each other along the way to achieve and reach goals. For a team to be effective, each team member needs to be clear on their roles and responsibilities relating to their job. Team performance will be more effective if there is respect for the leader/manager and an understanding towards their job role and responsibility. The leader/manager should also be aware of the skills or weakness within the team and be able to provide support were necessary and also utilise their strengths. Training and support will enable staff to improve

To identify our strengths and weaknesses as a team and as individual members of the team and adopt corrective measures as we realize the challenges and benefits of teamwork.

A team is a type of organizational group with independent members. They share common goals and work together to meet these goals (Northouse, 2016). The organization where I work has teams at various levels for maximizing the success. These teams include, core teams, coordinating teams, patient aligned care team (PACT), contingency teams, ancillary teams, support and administration teams (Veterans Health Administration [VHA], 2015). Some of these teams have interdepartmental members while others have intradepartmental staff. Successful teams have a concrete blueprint and that contributes to their effective functioning. There are several factors that affect these teams irrespective of the level. The factors comprise the presence of a clear task, separation from non-team members, authority, and stability. The factors like working conditions, team process and bridging the gaps are concerns for the executive level. The complexity of the task, individual skills and their diverse specializations affect the selection of the team members. The team’s meaningful interactions decide their success. Independent teams can help promote friendly competition within the organization and lead to better staff performance. An efficient leader can design and launch an effective team through careful planning and selection of the right members. He/she keeps the factors that affect the success of the team in mind when designing the teams. The patient care units

A second strength would be an individualized consideration provided to each team member with a focus on self-interest which as a key advantage to accomplishing good work. My team trusts my guidance as their leader because they know that in the end I have their success as individuals in mind. Over time I have proven to them that I have no personal agenda to adhere to and therefore the decisions I make with regard to them are solely for their benefit. I am able to delegate tasks to individuals that I believe are willing and excited to accept the task at hand, whether they believe they are ready or not. It is my belief in others to rise to any challenge that fuels my strength as a leader. Only when they do not succeed, do I find it necessary to intervene and take action. This foundation of trust is also vital to my success as a leader.

| “The top 10 features of an effective team are: * clear purpose; * open communication; * constructive conflict; * effective problem-solving and decision making; * defined roles, responsibilities and accountability; * strong relationships; * systems and procedures; * experimentation and creativity; * measurement and self-assessment; * shared leadership.” For a team to be effective, they need to have clear

Description of what key attributes enhance the team’s success and cause them to be differentiated

The features of effective team performance is set up through positive leadership; something which is developed and nurtured. An effective team will work together, be focused and supportive of each other to achieve and reach goals. For a team to be effective, each team member needs to be clear on their roles and responsibilities relating to their job. Team performance will be more effective if there is respect for the leader/manager and an understanding towards their job role and responsibility.

Since you can't expect a new team to amaze when it first comes together, putting together a robust team that functions well was a challenge. The second challenge was the fact that we were all the same age and almost all had the same level of experience, which put an extra burden on me trying to influence the team and make them believe in me and trust me as a leader.

My team has a number of strengths. First of all, it is the flexibility of majority of team members, thereby creating an effective team. The team members, although they come from different units, they are capable of accommodating each other’s views resulting in a strong team.

If we were randomly asked to define the word “team” many of us would have numerous variations of this multifaceted word; some would proclaim it means helping others, backing one another while others might define it as unanimity or culpability. The French associate the word team, with the slogan “Esprit de corps” a majestic word that was adopted by the United States Marine Corps. This matchless catchphrase means: “a sense of unity, of enthusiasm for common interests and responsibilities.” As early as childhood it has been ingrained into us that teamwork is congenial and effortlessly achieved. When in fact it wasn’t until society was introduced to Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, written by Patrick Lencioni, did civilization start to realize that teamwork is hard to measure and even harder to achieve because the has been loosely used as well as misinterpret. Lencioni understands that teamwork is a difficult thing to measure and achieve, his book reminds us that the power that comes from teamwork cannot be denied. It would be hypothesized that through the authors’ comprehensive exploration and methodical examination, he reveals ways for civilization to comprehend the term as well as employ each other successful; conversely this can’t be done until the dysfunctional factor is properly identified and controlled. Hence the reason for his in-depth plunge in explaining the five dysfunctions and method that can be utilized by teams to overcome the dysfunctionalities.

There are several attributes that a team must have to be regarded as an effective one. First, an effective team has interdependent members. Its productivity and efficiency are influenced by the level of coordination and interaction amongst and between its members. Second, effective team helps its members work together rather than alone. This implies that the team outperforms the productivity of an individual in the team. Third, effective team functions so efficiently that in the end, it yields the magnetism. The attraction created evokes the feeling of wanting to be associated with the team amongst its members because of the merits derived from team membership. Fourth, such team does not always have the same person as the leader. The leadership role is rotated amongst the team members as it grows and expands over time. Fifth, the members of team care for and nurture each other. None of the members is treated as unimportant in the team. Every member is recognized to play an integral part towards the success of the team. Sixth, effective team comprises members that applaud and encourage the leader, and vice versa. The mutual spirit of encouraging each other helps the members to work harder. Finally, the membership of these teams trusts each other wholly. Alongside their desire to succeed individually, the members also wish that their partners also succeeded as well.

The following pages focus on presenting the performance of teams and some of the factors that influence them. The Introduction describes important issues about teams and their development. The Task 1 section describes the relationship between different steps of this process and performance, and the relationship between different roles played by team members and the performance of the team. The Task 2 section describes the importance of emotional intelligence on team performance. The Task 3 section addresses the issue of interpersonal skills and their influence on teams. The Conclusions section presents some of the most important issues addressed by this paper.

Over the past three months at Talbots, I feel I have grown not only as an employee but also as a person. Talbots has given me the skills and information that I will need for my corporate internship and for my future. As my time at the store comes to an end, I feel it is important to evaluate myself on my performance at the store. I used the final evaluation sheet given to me by my professor and self-evaluated my performance. Overall, I would rate my performance at the store as outstanding, or a 9/10. I personally feel that I have improved a substantial amount as an employee and I really have seen growth in myself with customer interactions and understanding the merchandise. For my mid-semester evaluation, I needed improvement on my knowledge of the merchandise and customer interaction; I can now say that I am an expert at both. I took the criticism from my last evaluation and used it to fuel my desire to learn the products. Even though I still need improvement on punctuality, I am unable to improve due to train schedules. Maybe, once I move back into the city I will have an easier time arriving to work in a timely manner. Besides punctuality, all other areas of my evaluation were rated outstanding. Even though there was nothing else to improve, I still made sure I was working to the best of my abilities. I really believe I did the best job I could working at Talbots and that is why I rated myself outstanding for the evaluation.