Free Term Paper On Work Teams

Work teams play a crucial role in an organization as they include people who possess skills, knowledge and ability that help to facilitate the goals and objectives of the organization. The members of the work teams are permanent employees who perform the daily work and involve in decision making regarding the work of the team. Effective work teams should look for solutions rather than creating problems. It is essential to set performance goals for the team and define individual responsibilities for effective management. The members of the team must be aware of the importance of the work team and the necessity of its existence in detail along with the shared goals . The team members should possess the right mix of competencies so that they achieve the team’s goals in a smooth manner. The team as a whole should support the agreed procedures and guidelines that aid in making decisions. The members of the team should effectively communicate with each other and receive help whenever necessary.
The major difference between the work groups and work teams is that the work teams have the authority to decide on how, what and by whom the work is done. The work groups and work teams are distinct in terms of their job category and authority. In work groups, the leaders make decisions for the team members, while in work teams each member of the team contributes towards decision making . Work teams do not require direct supervision unlike work groups. The work team recommends the procedures for selecting the employees that would be a part of the other teams. The members of the work team describe the roles and responsibilities of the other team members, leaders, managers and facilitators. Work teams go through a series of phases in the implementation of the organizational goals, which is a long and complicated process. Since work teams are self-reliant, they also serve as problem-solving teams .
The members of the work team possess various kinds of skills that help them to function within the organization. The skills include training skills, which are necessary to perform the work, administrative skills, which are essential for smooth functioning within the organization and interpersonal skills, which are necessary to work both within the team as well the entire organization . Work teams are autonomous and take the entire responsibility of the results, be it positive or negative. They have a collective control over the work they perform and produce significant results through constant monitoring and control within the team. Some of the famous companies that implement work teams in their organizations are General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Xerox, Pepsi, Honeywell and many others . In the United States, over 20 percent of the organizations implement work teams, which is the primary reason for employee satisfaction and increasing business volumes.
The top management plays an important role in the successful implementation of the work teams. The top managers should stress on the business reasons for the utilization of teams and prepare for setbacks in improving the performance of the team members. It is the responsibility of the management to offer necessary support systems to the team members, which include, efficient inventory, effective scheduling, appropriate compensation, better hiring and selection and many others . Work teams include the best talent on the globe through telecommuting and other electronic technologies. The effectiveness of work teams depends on various factors. The size of the work team is the foremost factor that helps to maintain cohesiveness and commitment within the team. Another factor is the ability of the team members to undertake various tasks and responsibilities. The other important factors are commitment towards a common purpose and mutual trust among the team members. Effective teams work with loyalty, consistency and openness. They provide opportunities to share ideas and creativity for improvement.
The various factors that lead to the failure of work teams are ineffective communication skills and practices, lack of cooperation within the team, lack of motivation and leadership, breakdown of delegation and empowerment, poor interpersonal skills and work relationships, lack of trustworthiness and personal integrity among the employees, failure to adapt to the new work environment and many others . In the absence of a clear set of goals, even the most committed employees hesitate to confront the action and behavior of their peers. When the team members put their ego and career ahead of the organizational goals, it results in the ineffectiveness of the team. Functional and operational differences within the team also lead to team ineffectiveness due to conflicts in performing the tasks and handling responsibilities. Ethical concerns and diversity within the team are other major factors that lead to the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of the teams.
Group behavior, is one of the important elements that helps to achieve higher productivity when compared to the individual performance of the members. The major purpose behind grouping the work teams is to fulfill the purpose of task achievement through efficient performance. Group behavior offers strength to deal with problems and issues arising within the organization. It depends on the social and psychological factors of the individuals. Work teams have expected roles and behavior depending upon the organizational structure . They are able to achieve the organizational objectives due to formal structure and similar-minded employees working towards a single goal. Work teams place a great emphasis on the interpersonal relationships among the team members, which gives no place for internal conflicts . Group behavior aims at assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals as well the team as a whole. It helps in the efficient pursuit of personal and professional goals.
Work teams perform the best as the members of the team have the authority to monitor the functioning of the teams, assess the nature of rewards and evaluation and the types of tasks . Amidst various challenging contexts, work teams possess a stronger determination and orientation. Predicting the resource needs of the individual team members facilitates organizational performance. Work teams produce greater results in spite of diverse backgrounds of the team members. In fact the diverse characteristics of the members of the work teams act as a significant source of organizational strength. Mastering the skills of the team members involves constant training and guidance. Work teams not only focus on enhancing their existing skills, but also put their maximum efforts in acquiring new skills that help the organization to achieve its objectives. Frequent interaction among the members of the work teams leads to organizational success as each team member is well aware of the behavior and attitudes of the fellow team members . Thus, work teams are an asset to the organization for they result in maximum productivity and performance through constant efforts.

References

Hellriegel, Don and John Slocum. Organizational Behavior. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008.
Sims, Ronald R. Managing Organizational Behavior. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002.