Developing an Effective Team

Developing an Effective Team

Hongmiao Li

Professor Matthew McNabb

Organizational Development and Change

Webster University

July 12th ,2016

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the steps on how to develop an effective team. Prior research focuses on the team leader, team building, team coach and team reward in order to create an effective team.

Keywords:  Team Leadership, Team Building, Input-output Models, Team Coach, Team reward, The Effectiveness of Team

Developing an Effective Team

"Team is defined as a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable" (Katzenbach and Smith 1999, P45) For example, teams may be project based and serve for as short-term condition, which finds them disbanding shortly after the project’s needs are met. Others may be long-term networked teams which require collaboration to assume on- going projects such as customer relations (Clark, 2005).

According to Bryant & Albring (2006), team leadership plays an important part in an organization to gain and maintain the competitive advantage. It is important to recognize that the appropriate leadership is necessary when determining how to build an effective team within an organization. According to Katzenbach and Smith (1999), a team leader is someone who provides guidance, instruction, direction and leadership to a group of other individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results. Katzenbach and Smith (1999) If the leadership of a particular organization is lacking, the capacity of the organization to produce an effective team is greatly diminished. Bryant & Albring (2006) In fact, a book entitled “The Psychology of leadership: New Perspectives and Research” David M. (2004) explains that the quality of leadership within a group is a direct determinant in whether or not that group fails or succeeds Bryant & Albring (2006)

What makes the effective team is based on team leader and team building. Although the team leaders have been in other types of leadership positions, they were somewhat inexperienced as team leaders. Bryant & Albring (2006) It is important to note that not all positions of leadership are identical and there are certain skill sets that are necessary as it relates to team leadership. To successfully manage a team, the leaders must know how to communicate with team members. Leaders must be able to articulate to team members as it relates to the goals of the team, task delegation, and performance expectations. In addition to inexperience and a lack of communication skills, the leaders tend to be somewhat passive in the manner in which they lead Bryant & Albring (2006)

Team leaders build effective team through team building.  According to a journal article entitled “Effective Team Building: Guidance for Accounting Educators”, a teams is "a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable" (Katzenbach and Smith 1999, P45). Meanwhile, groups are commonly defined as "a collection of two or more interacting individuals with a stable pattern of relationships between them who share common goals and who perceive themselves as being a group" (Bryant & Albring, 2006, P 241).

 In addition, teams are only as successful as the synergy they possess. That is, the purpose of a team is to produce a service or product that could not be produced if the team were to work individually Bryant & Albring (2006). As such, a successful team is committed to accomplishing a particular goal that is dependent upon the efforts of the entire team Bryant & Albring (2006). Since this is the case, team members must be able to trust another so that the goals of the team may be accomplished Bryant & Albring (2006). Another issue to consider as it relates to team building has to do with the fact that team members are mutually accountable. That is, all of the members are responsible collectively and individually as it relates to the product or service that is produced as a result of their efforts Bryant & Albring (2006). Again, trust is important as it relates to mutual accountability because each member of the team has to trust that the other members of the team will complete the tasks they are responsible for completing. Bryant & Albring(2006).

Another important facet of building an effective team is guaranteeing the skills of members are complimentary to one another. This means that the skills of the team should be heterogeneous. Bryant & Albring (2006). For instance, there might be a member of the team that has skills related to the use of information technology while another group member has good marketing skills. When working together these two members can create an internet marketing plan in which these differing skills can be utilized to create a plan that is beneficial to the company.

 One of the most prevalent models in the area of team building is the input-output placement model. The input stage of this model is related to personality characteristics. This model asserts that personality characteristics are important to consider when building a team Bryant & Albring (2006). A personality characteristic consists of traits, attitudes, and the behavioral temperament, personality traits including conscientiousness and agreeableness have been correlated to effectiveness. Bryant & Albring (2006). In addition, attitudes related to whether or not an individual enjoys or does not enjoy working in a group can also be correlated with group effectiveness Bryant &Albring (2006). In fact, individuals should be selected for teams based on personality because it also creates diversity. According to Bryant& Albring (2006), team role theory can be utilized to determine personalities and preferences Bryant & Albring (2006).

When an organization is in the process of building a team an additional consideration may be to add a team coach to the mix. The team coach may also act as the team leader or some other member of the team. The purpose of a team coach is to engage in direct interaction with the team and provide the team with the capacity to utilize their skills collectively (Hackman). The team coach may engage in leading launch meetings that take place before a project actually gets underway (Hackman). During the launch meeting, the coach cheers on the team and tries to ensure that team members are prepared to meet the tasks associated with completing the project. In addition, the Coach serves as a mediator for the team by interacting directly with team members to resolve issues directly related to team performance (Hackman). Basically the purpose of the coach is to encourage teamwork amongst the member of the organization (Hackman).