Establishing Teamwork in an Organization - Coursework Example

ESTABLISHING TEAMWORK IN AN ORGANIZATION Student’s name Code + Course name Professor’s name University name City, State Date TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page ......................................................................................................................... 1 Executive summary .......................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 4 Important themes are drawn from relevant literature ...................................................... 4 Organizational examples used as the basis for arguments ................................................ 7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 8 References ...................................................................................................................... 10 Executive summary This is an answer to the question whether establishing a team work is difficult in an organization. It explains how organizing teamwork can be achieved by use of proper managerial skills. The answer is defended by the use of theoretical perspectives and concepts taught in this subject. All works have been clearly referenced with the author’s name at the end of the answer. The use of these theories shows that organizing of teamwork is not hard as long as managers are smart. The answer finds that organizing cooperation requires the managers to be knowledgeable and all the required skills for their positions. They ought to choose people with relevant knowledge and expertise too. The recommendation discussed in this answer is; organizations should equate managers with all the relevant skills required for teamwork arrangement. Introduction Teamwork organizing can be defined as planning, selecting capable people and leading them to undertake a joint task successfully. This calls for an experienced leader who must be; a good planner, organizer, manager, and controller. A manager capable of selecting people with all the right skills and knowledge of accomplishing the anticipated task. Someone who balances the team’s size and can give his input and assistance anytime when required to do so. As long as teamwork is established by a manager with such characteristics, it can never be difficult. This is my stand. I will defend it using appropriate theories and concepts taught in this subject. I will also choose relevant organizations as examples to show the relevance of my arguments. Important themes drawn from relevant literature in the field of management will also be a critical area of discussion in this answer. Important themes drawn from relevant literature The principles of management form one of the main themes learnt from the readings; Henry Fayol developed them in the 19th century. They are valuable tools which managers in different organizations can apply and successfully establish excellent team work. Managers should always use these tools to avoid difficulties while setting teamwork. To start with, one of the principles is equity. Equity refers to fair distribution and sharing of work among members of a group. Managers should divide work equally among the team members. Unequal division of tasks among workers in a group lowers their morale and leads to dissatisfaction. Unity is another fundamental principle which managers should practice in the establishment of teamwork. This includes unity of command and direction. Integration is critical in teamwork. Team members can not deliver what is expected of them if they are not united. Members of a team should subordinate their personal interest for the general benefit of the team. This is an important principle meant to guide both the manager and the team members. Authority of the manager is a key element discussed by Henry Fayol. This is exercising power over a group of people to lead and control them. The manager has the authority over all the team members. He is there to lead and guide the team members so as to achieve the team’s set goals. The manager gives orders. They are given to the team members for them to follow and to be guided. Orders should be adhered to achieve the organization’s mission. Another principle is discipline. All team members should have high levels of discipline which enables them to be self-driven and give their maximum output in the group. Another core principle mentioned by Henry is remuneration of team members. It is achieved for instance by giving team members an extra coin for a job well done. It boosts their morale and consequently their output. Team members should all take an initiative of giving out their best. This should always be their guiding principle (Samson, Danny, & Richard, 2009). Team organization is another key theme that comes out clearly from the literature. It is achieved through the use of the right structuring of a team. Firstly, It requires managers to schedule their work properly. Work should be scheduled in such a way that it the workers will meet the set deadlines. A good example of scheduling works is through the use of Gantt chart which was started by Henry L. Gantt at the beginning of 20th century. In the team structuring, managers ought to individualize the team’s work. This enables persons to work in their areas of interest and expertise. It allows them to give out their best and maximum output. However, this should be balanced with the disadvantages which come with it including boredom and monotony. The structure should be functional and follow the proper theoretical concepts available; horizontal and vertical growth. In the structure, the span of control needs to be lower at the top and greater at the bottom. Managers should practice low levels of control for instance to the team supervisors and high concentrations to the casual workers (Astrangelo, Eddy & Lorenzet, 2004). Another key theme drawn from the literature is the setting of goals by any team. A goal is something someone wants to achieve within a specified period. They are either short term or long term. Goals are vital as they help team members to have a vision, mission, and a target. They set out their working pace as they strive to achieve them. In team establishment, a setting of goals should come up front since they are the guiding principles to all team members. Without goals, the team doesn’t have any direction. They are prepared by managers in the planning stage and their advantages include; gives the team sense, of course, their achievement means the accomplishment of the organization’s mission, helps in estimating the period which a certain task can take for its accomplishment and many more others. Managers should be keen to set realistic goals since unrealistic goals can be very demoralizing to the team members (.Macionis, John & Ken, 2009) The context of culture also bears considerable weight in the literature of teamwork. Managers must consider the culture of different members when establishing teamwork. These include the traditional customs, behaviors, and beliefs of an individual community. A team is made of some persons whom in many occasions comes from different cultural backgrounds. Different cultures do conflict with each other. This means that members of the same team can have disputes between them due to culture differences. Individuals are advised to try and understand each other’s culture so as to avoid such conflicts. The manager being the overall head of the team should be the master planner with all the necessary tactics to handle different cultures. He should come out and guide the team members in managing diverse cultures. In case a conflict happens to arise between colleagues of the same team, it should be solved by the use of proper conflict mechanisms like mediation and arbitration. They should be resolved as fast as possible since they lead to poor output by team members (Nohria, Joyce & Robertson, 2003) The issue of Labor is also another theme drawn from the teamwork literature. It’s an essential area of discussion in the field of collaboration. Labor can be defined as work done by a person and involves the use of energy. Managers should well understand work before establishing cooperation. They should be well versed with the skills necessary for organizing work in any team. Proper organization of work helps a team in many ways. To start with, it enables a team to work within the specified time frames. This is because when people are well organized in a workplace, they can work fast and efficiently. Secondly, when labor is well organized, working is easier. People can freely move around undertaking the tasks allocated to them. Proper labor organization also helps different members to understand well what is required of them. There will be no confusion regarding what someone is expected to do which boasts a team's efficiency and unity. Labor organization, in general, is one of the primary tools which helps a team to achieve it’s set goals and managers establishing teamwork should give it proper attention (Joseph, 2016). Organizational examples used as the basis for arguments One good corporate example which has made me be against the view that establishment of a teamwork 's hard is the organization of railroad construction in the 19th century. If at that time people managed to establish a cooperation, how can it be difficult for us to do the same today? In the 21st century. It definitely can’t if we only apply the relevant skills as I earlier mentioned. During the age of rails, Daniel Mc MacCallum showed excellent organizational and management skills. In the construction of the Erie railroad, he ha specified a job description. This shows good labor management skills which come with significant advantages discussed above. He prepared accurate performance reports which indicate a significant managerial role of supervising. Daniel used merit basis fir promoting and paying different team members. This means that those who worked to their level best got an additional advantage. The action was promptly taken for those who showed poor performance. Team members were held personally responsible for mistakes done. He showed a clear line of authority, communicating and being responsible for one's actions which are necessary tools for a manager (Macionis, John & Ken 2009). Another good organizational example which has made me take my stand is the steel industry which was being run by Andrew Carnage. He borrowed the skills from Daniel Mccallum and even improved them. The use of these excellent managerial skills came with many advantages including the lowering of steel prices for the end user. He used a new Bessemer furnace technology to start vertical and horizontal integration of his firm in the industry of steel manufacturing. Andrew applied accounting to guide the pricing strategy of steel. He demonstrated excellent managerial skills by correctly organizing labor, gave authority to those who deserved it and grouped activities by departments. Perfection in communication organization was evident in his steel firm. He gathered all the resources required for the running of the company and controlled their usage by measuring the performance of each and every member of his working team (.Macionis, John & Ken, 2009) Conclusion While establishing a teamwork, managers should first understand the that the effectiveness of any organization is achieved when the team's operations are perfect. The manager ought to select persons with the correct skills and expertise while at the same time balancing the team’s size and diversity. He should be a role model to all the team members and ready to give his input any time when required to. Organizations should be very keen while selecting managers. They should choose experienced persons capable of delivering that which is expected of a manager. Individuals with excellent organizing, planning, directing, staffing and controlling skills. References Astrangelo, A., Eddy, E.R., & Lorenzet, S.J. (2004). The Importance of Personal and Professional Leadership. Leadership and Organization Development Journal. Joseph, E. (2016). Organizational behavior: integrating individuals, groups, and organization. Routledge publishers. Linked In Talent Solutions 2014a, 4th Annual Report: 2015 Australia Staffing Trends, viewed 8 July 2015, http://talent.linkedin.com/blog/index.php/2014/11/the-global-trends-that-will-shape-recruiting-in-2015 Linked In Talent Solutions 2014b, 4th Annual Report: 2015 Global Recruiting Trends, viewed 8 July 2015, http://talent.linkedin.com/blog/index.php/2014/11/the-global-trends-that-will-shape-recruiting-in-2015 Macionis, John & Plummer, Ken (2009) Sociology: A Global Introduction, 4th edition, Pearson Education Limited, 2009. Nohria, N., Joyce, W. and Robertson, B. 2003 ‘What Really Works’, Harvard Business Review, July. Quinn, R. E., MFaerman, S. R., Thompson, M. P., McGrath, M. R. & St Clair, L. S. 2007. Becoming a Master Manager: A Competing Values Approach, John Wiley & Sons Press. Ritzer, George. 2009. The McDonaldization of Society. Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press Samson, Danny, and Daft, Richard L. 2009. Fundamentals of Management, 3rd Asia-Pacific ed. South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning Australia. Schermerhorn, J.R., Davidson, P., Poole, D., Woods, P. Simon, A. McBarron, E. 2014, Management, 5th Asia–Pacific Edition, 5th Edition. John Wiley & Sons Australia. Read More