Blog 9- Teamwork

Schein (1998) defined teamwork as a group of individuals, who interact with each other, they are aware that they are working together as a group to achieve a common goal. Work groups can be formal, informal, permanent or temporary and are formed when a group of individuals have something in common. Teamwork models and theories explore what makes up an effective team and how this can be achieved.

As part of my role of marketing module for my business degree I was required to work in a group and put together an event to raise money for charity. I chose to work with my friends which proved to be a good decision as we managed to raise over £800 for my chosen charity Robs Arttt through a sponsored walk.

I can relate this group work to Gersick's Punctuated Equilibrium model (1988), this can be seen below. This theory relates to temporary groups with deadlines and the basic concept of the model is that half way through a project the group suddenly see that the deadline has approached sooner than anticipated therefore elevating their productivity as suggested by Brown (2008). This model consists of three phases; phase one is where the group is keen to get started on the project and have lots of ideas. The second phase takes place as the midpoint, this is also known as inertia which is where the group is not doing anything. At the final stage there is accelerated activity in order to complete the group’s common task. Relating Gersick’s model back to our charity assignment group work I found that when we recieved our assignment the group immediatley started work, assigning each individual with tasks. This gave each member of the group a role immediatley with one member naturally taking control. However we then went through a period where no work was carried out as we had planned everything necessary for the charity walk and was just waiting for the event to occur, this can be seen as the midpoint on Gersicks model. We left planning for the charity exhibtion to the last minute which meant that we had to work quickly and efficiently together to ensure we had a successful stand. In our group i found that inertia didnt last very long as we didnt want to leave the assignment until the last minute. I think this is what enabled our group to achieve a better standard of work.

The final theory that can be applied to the charity assignment group work is Belbin’s team roles. This is one of the most popular and widely used methods of analysising an individual’s preferred role within a group by conducting a questionnaire. Each individual will have a preferred role but will also have elements of the other roles as well. According to Mullins (2010), Belbin discovered that the most effective groups consist of a range of roles, which are conducted by different people within the group.  Belbin identified nine different team roles within a group which were; plant, resource investigator, co-ordinator, shaper, monitor-evaluator, teamworker, implementer, completer and specialist. The charity group proved to be very effective as there was a variety of different team roles within the group. Using Belbins self-perception inventory we found out that two of the group members including myself were company workers or implementers. This role involves being conservative, disciplined, dutiful, predictable and efficient. I felt the results of the Self-perception inventory very accurate as this best describes the role I took within the group. Another member of my group was a shaper and the other two were team workers. A shaper allows the group to overcome obstacles and teamworkers are individuals who has the ability to respond to people and situations effectively. We found that the combination of these team roles complimented each other providing an effective group.

Belbin's team roles

Tuckman (1973) created a model to identify the five stages of developing a team which are; forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. This model can be used to review the group work conducted on motivation earlier on in the year. Forming is where the group is put together; it is here where the hierarchical structure of the group and individual roles and responsibilities are decided according to Mullins (2010). As members of the group get to know each other better conflict is more likely to occur because individuals will put forward their views more openly, this is known as the storming stage. However we didn’t experience this as everyone in the group was already friends and all got along so naturally just formed a hierarchical position within the group. Storming and is an important stage as working arrangements for the operation of the group are often changed. The third stage in Tuchman’s theory is norming, this is where guidelines are established and individuals agree to perform. I feel that we did progress through this stage as the group divided aspects of the task and agreed to perform by a certain date. At the performing stage, if the group has progressed successfully through the first three stages they are able to fulfil its purpose and complete their common task to a high standard. After successfully completing the first three stages in Tuckmans theory we merged each team member’s individual part of the work together to create a report on motivation. The final stage is adjourning, this occurs when the task is completed and results in the group breaking down. As the group was only temporary with a specific purpose the group broke down after completing the motivation report. The success of the group strongly relates to the fact that

The times (2010) created a list of the top 100 companies to work for within the British workplace. The list was derived from employee’s views and the policies from employers. In order to rank the companies based on their performance a methodology was created, this used eight key indicators of staff engagement. The research gathered results based on a persons experience within a variety of categories including; leadership, my manager, personal growth, wellbeing, my team, giving something back, my company and fair deal. The company that received the highest overall score and came first was a charity called P3, which is a drop in advice centre. The results showed that they received top results in six of the eight factors one of which being teamwork which scored 87% suggesting that it was a major contributing factor to their success. Employees have said that colleagues go out of their way to help each other within the workplace, improving both communication and making the job more enjoyable. The co-ordinator and manager of a small team Catherine Fearon stated that she finds making time for her colleagues very important, many of which used the drop in centre before working there. Catherine said "You're giving clients individual support and supervision. It's very important that staff get that too" (The times, 2010).

The second company where teamwork has been identified as a major contributing factor to their success was Beaverbrooks the jewellers ranking 3^rd for 2010. It can be concluded from the survey results that staff don’t just like working here, they love it. Senior management can regularly be contacted by an employee by email or phone and they regularly visit the 66 stores. Results showed that 86% of employees have fun with their colleagues and 80% said they feel a strong sense of family within their team. Teamwork within a branch is encouraged with celebration nights being one of the incentives for top performing teams. As employees are happy within their job and the community in which they work it encourages the retainment of staff with over the half the workforce having worked there for five or more years.

To conclude; teamwork is an essential quality within all types of group and teamwork to ensure success. This can be related to both recreational teams such as football as well as employment and work groups. After looking at models and concepts of teamwork it can be seen that the personalities and team roles of individuals within a group are what makes the group work successful. It is important to have a variety of roles in order for the common goal to be achieved. A dysfunctional team is often caused by poor communication skills and the inability to work as a team. This can be caused by an imbalance of roles within the team i.e. too many leaders or plants. By looking at the times top 100 company’s survey it can be deduced that it is important for employees to work as a team in order for the company to be successful.

References

Books

Mitchell,T and Larson,J.(1987) People in organisations: An introduction to organizational behaviour.3^rd ed. Singapore: McGrow-Hill Book Co.

Mullins, L. (2010) Management and organisational behaviour.9^th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Websites

Better Projects (2008) Punctuated equilibrium [online]. Available from: http://www.betterprojects.net/2008/05/punctuated-equilibrium.html [accessed 8 March].

P3 (2011) P3 Logo [online]. Available from: http://www.p3charity.com/ [Accessed 8 March 2011].

The manufacturing network (2011) Belbins team roles [online]. Available from: http://www.manufacturingnetwork.org/SITE/UPLOAD/IMAGE/Belbin_team_roles1.gif [Accessed 8 March 2011].

The times (2010) Beaverbrooks the Jewellers [online]. Available from: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article7030215.ece [accessed 8 March 2011].

The times (2010) P3 [online]. Available from: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article7030217.ece [accessed 8 March 2011].

The times (2010)The times 100 companies to work for [online]. Available from: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/ [accessed 8 March 2011].