In the modern world, there is an increasing demand for well-organized and motivated teams. People who work in teams are really efficient within the business environment. Usually, good teams are chosen to perform the tasks rather than single individuals, especially in the innovative spheres. Such groups include professionals with different skills who seek to achieve the best general results. Through the team cooperation it is easier to avoid serious mistakes. That is why employers prefer to hire teams for working on some specific projects. Therefore the best teams are more likely to get the jobs, but let us to back up this fact by some evidences in the context of the functions of management.
First of all, some people think that it is easier to draw up plans for single workers than for the group of workers. On the one hand, setting goals for individuals is really not so complicated task as defining objectives for teams. There are no problems of diversity in characters and abilities of team members. But from the other point of view, the expected amount of the goals achieved by teams is higher than by single workers. This is the result of diversified individual mistakes risks. The possibility of good results increases with the number of people involved. Pina Tarricone in her well-known case study of successful teamwork describes some elements of an effective plan for the team. All the objectives are divided into smaller ones for each team member to make the whole performance better. If one member of the team fails to achieve his goals it can be compensated by the good results of his colleagues. Planning in this context is quite innovative process that is aimed at defining goals for each team-member as well as drawing up a strategy for the team in general.
The success of the team depends on its organization. The best teams are well-structured units with an effective controlling and decision-making mechanisms. Cooperation between members helps the team to be ready with results in time despite some obstacles. The organization of groups also reflects the connection between team leaders and other members that is aimed at simplifying different functional processes. Good teams are always flexible and self-sustaining. Members of the team perform different functions and the results of the team in general are better than just results of individuals. The authors of the book “Break All the Rules” compared the productivity of different organizational structures in different teams. The results proved the theory according to which well-organized teams show the best performance. Many transnational corporations use matrix managerial structures and team-working approach to form special groups of people on different levels of the organization in order to provide innovative solutions. The good team should also involve experts who work in the interrelated spheres and are rational in their estimates. Consequently good organized team provides the employers with the best results. Teams that have efficient structures deal successfully with really complicated issues.
Leading is the complicated process of motivating individuals to complete different tasks for the benefit of the community (particular team or company). It involves some special instruments that help a manager or a team leader to persuade workers to perform their jobs as efficiently as possible. After comparing the roles of leaders in different companies that were quite influential before the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008-2009 and who succeeded in overcoming the difficulties one may notice that this company had leaders who could be trusted. Furthermore, most of these companies were divided into small target units with a clearly defined chain of responsibilities. Leading also means inspiring people. Teams headed by the talented leaders are the most «influential unities that can change the world» according to F. Taylor. Big companies try to hire managers who will be followed by their employees on the long road to success of the whole company. The functions of the team leaders are rather multiform. They should set objectives, motivate workers, develop strategies, and control the performance. Every manager is responsible for the results of each member. So the role of team leader is really significant in context of forming the best team and keeping the highest level of its performance.
Controlling of team performance is an important activity of the organization. Without control of the achieved results, further development of the company is impossible. It is really important to provide control on each level of the decision-making chain because without it the company can be compared to a board sailing without definite purpose. Control may be classified as external and internal. Internal control is performed by the manager or team leader and is aimed at measuring the performance of each team member. External control considers the team as unified subject and the expert committee does not include the members of the team. The best teams are controlled really thoroughly. Employers usually search the teams who do not hide their mistakes and try to define and correct them in time. After controlling some changes may be made within the team structure to increase the productivity in the future. Furthermore, without control the team performance is impossible to be truly estimated.
Conclusion
Organizing the team work is really complicated process shaped up by many different factors. Team-working also add some specification to the basic management functions. The best teams are always chosen by employers as the most efficient unities. The large-scale goals can be achieved by teams with great results due to diversified risks. Also good organization of team's results in their efficient performance. The role of team leader is very significant; he acts like a motivator for his colleagues. The team is controlled at each stage of its functioning. All the elements listed above are crucial for a team to be considered the best. And only such kinds of teams are likely be chosen by employers and get the jobs.
Works Cited
Clinton Free, Norman Macintosh, Mitchell Stein, Norman Macintosh, Mitchell Stein. MANAGEMENT CONTROLS: THE ORGANIZATIONAL FRAUD TRIANGLE OF LEADERSHIP, CULTURE AND CONTROL IN ENRON. 2007. <http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/management-controls-the-organizational-fraud-triangle-of-leadership-culture-and-control-in-enron/>.
Coffman, Marcus Buckingham and Curt. First, Break All the Rules. 1999.
Tarricone, Pina. Successful teamwork: A case study. Perth, 2012.
