"The work of a team should always embrace a great player but the great player must always work" (Alex Ferguson).
Working in a team is considered to produce beneficial effect for the team itself, each individual within the group and team’s company by making it easier to achieve common goals within shorter period of time. This is the general expectation of the synergy effect. However, due to the complexity of individual’s character first of all, the process of work can be impaired. Most of all teamwork requires each and every participant to be directly involved in working process completely in terms of increasing productivity and generating new solutions. While playing my role within the group, several examples of such working process’s advantages along with disadvantages are about to be shared.
Three strengths of the team
Prosperity of ideas.
Working in a group provides an opportunity to generate a greater number of solutions, due to the various personal backgrounds each individual obtains: education, experience, point of view. After a greater number of ideas collected, the group is able to discuss them, evaluate the options, eliminate the unreasonable actions and establish an action plan. As the result, “brainstorming ideas as a group prevents stale viewpoints that often come out of working solo” (Mattson, D.).
Healthy risk-training development.
When working solo an employee is completely responsible for the results submitted, even though, he/she may not always receive a full credit for it. Meanwhile, working in a team requires sharing both: the responsibility in terms of failure and credit in terms of success. That is why team members are more likely to produce innovations and increase general productivity. “Teamwork allows employees the freedom to think outside the box” (Mattson, D.), take additional risk and maintain it according to the group capabilities.
Complementary strength blending.
The main reason to form a team is to combine the talents of each member in one working unit. An ability to build on the talents of teammates makes it easier to divide responsibilities, maintain the workflow and meet the deadlines, while performing within high quality standards. Each member should do its best in whatever he/she does best.
Three challenges of the team
Stubbornness.
“While persistence to stand by the truth is a virtue, obstinate refusal to consider new ideas and methods is a major problem” (Practical Manliness). This happens when a group member considers his/her introduced idea as the best possible option without taking into account the point of view of other group members. As the result, the progress does not occur; the entire solution development process is stuck on one or several persons. Sometimes such situation can lead to long arguing, general distrust and negatively influence group spirit.
Absence of team identity.
The situation takes place when members do not “feel mutually accountable to one another for the team’s objectives” (Nguyen, S.). The lack of commitment to same goals results in a low level of participation. As the result, an individual does not provide a substantial feedback, which could beneficially influence the entire group.
Ineffective leadership.
A group leader is the one responsible for the members to work in team, thus inappropriate task distribution, inadequate vision construction, demotivational behavior, unfair judgments, inability to resolve conflicts, etc. can have a dramatic influence on overall group performance.
Three changes necessary to improve group performance
Dealing with stubbornness.
It is necessary to learn how to carefully share the ideas with other team members, so that it does not get rejected from the very beginning due to the wrong delivering message. Moreover, a group leader should delegate the direction of the ideas’ flow, thus, this person should highlight the value of each opinion and keep in mind personal relations within the group.
Dealing with absence of team identity.
The group has to be initially formed by members, who are interested in reaching the same target. That is why a clear understanding of group goals is vital. Before starting the working process the goals should be announced to every participant. Those individuals, who obtain different goals, should be either additionally motivated, or asked to leave the team.
Dealing with ineffective leadership.
If the group has an opportunity to choose its leader, it should do so in order for this person to be respected and listened to. Farther, this person should carefully study the group’s and individuals’ values in order to be able to manipulate the working process by interaction with each member.
Conclusion
My personal preference falls for group work, since I find teamwork results more successful and worthy. Moreover, it is a great opportunity to learn from others and feel your own contribution valued. I believe that the mentioned above changes will improve our performance and bring the general group productivity to a new level.
References
22nd of February 2010. 4 problems that destroy teamwork. Practical Manliness. [Online]
Available at: http://www.practicalmanliness.com/5-problems-that-destroy-teamwork-and-how-to-solve-them/
[Accessed 9th March 2016].
Nguyen, S., 17th of December 2010. Eight common problems team encounter. Workplace Psychology. [Online]
Available at: http://workplacepsychology.net/2010/12/17/eight-common-problems-teams-encounter/
[Accessed 9th March 2016].
Mattson, D., 19th of February 2015. 6 benefits of teamwork in a workplace. Sandler Training. [Online]
Available at: https://www.sandler.com/blog/6-benefits-of-teamwork-in-the-workplace
[Accessed 9th March 2016].
