Unit 19
Pre-Unit Assignment Task:
Task | Description | Person responsible for the task | Date to be completed by: | Date completed | Choose team leader | This is a very important role so choose the most suitable person for the role | NadimAbidMuhammed | 14/09/12 | 08/09/12 | Break down the task | Identify the sub-tasks that need to be completed | Nadim | 14/09/12 | 09/09/12 | Research benefits/theories of teamwork | Benefits of Teamwork | Nadim | 14/09/12 | 09/09/12 | | Research the theories of Belbin. Who is Belbin and what was his theory? | NadimAbid | 14/09/12 | 09/09/12 | | What Characteristics are required of a high performance teams. | Nadim | 14/09/12 | 10/09/12 | Research theories of team leadership (John Adair) | Research the theories of John Adair. Who is John Adair and what was his theory about teamwork? | NadimMuhammed | 14/09/12 | 10/09/12 | | What are the qualities of an effective team leader? | Nadim | 14/09/12 | 10/09/12 | Prepare structure of presentation | Decide on how the presentation is to be conducted | NadimAbidMuhammed | 21/09/12 | 10/09/12 | Prepare presentation | Prepare the resources, plan how the parts of the presentation will fit together | Nadim | 21/09/12 | 12/09/12 | Evaluation of teamwork | Complete questionnaire on how well the team worked together | NadimAbidMuhammed | 28/09/12 | 12/09/12 | Evaluation of leadership | Complete questionnaire on the leader | AbidMuhammed | 28/09/12 | 12/09/12 |
Assignment 1: The importance of teams
Task 1 (P1): Describe different types of teams and the benefits of teams for an organization:
Introduction:
A team is recognized as a collection of people who are assigned to a job role, based on their capability, to carry out their job duty as effectively and efficiently to their ability. These people share the same vision and effectively have the same goal. In order to work as a team, the members within the group must be committed to working together in order to achieve success.
Working in a team brings in various benefits such as tackling difficult problems which could prove difficult to solve by an individual. From the research that has been conducted, the following section presents an overview of the different types of teams and the benefits of working in a team. The following section will highlight crucial information which corresponds towards the importance of a team. This includes: * The different types of teams * The benefits of working in a team * Personal experience
The different types of teams:
There are two types of team which can be formed depending on the situation and the goals which are to be achieved. This consists of either being a formal or an informal team. The following section highlights the difference between both the teams.
Formal Team:
A formal team is created in order to fulfill a particular purpose. These teams have been set up to achieve a specific objective. For example in a bike event, a speacilised team of mechanics has been formed to carry out a specific objective and that includes maintaining the bikes before, during and after the event. In order to carry out and perform the job duties effectively, certain guidelines or rules are introduced to help guide the team. This consists of information such as team reunion and a form of leadership structure. As mentioned beforehand, in many organisiations, formal teams are considered as being structured to perform a set task or a group of tasks.
An example, in terms of businesses, will include the “Quality Circle”. This is where a group of employees meet at a regular interval to discuss the various ways on being able to improve their workplace and the way in which the work is carried out. The following Circle is led by a team leader who is able to communicate well with others as well as being able to justify opinions and suggestions correctly. Members of the group are encourages to take part by suggesting ideas. This helps gather various ideas which could then be taken upon to improve the way the work tasks are carried out.
Informal Team:
An informal team consists of creating a group containing various individuals, not set by organisiations, whom may see the benefit of working with one another to accomplish the main objectives. Informal teams normally consist of being less structured in comparison to a formal team.
An example of an informal team would be: A group of friends got together to complete the work assignment that was to be handed down by their form teacher. In comparison to a formal team, a formal team consists of having a better structure as they are aware of the goals and objectives that need to be accomplished. As mentioned, Formal teams have rules and clear expectations in terms of what each team member are required to do.
Size of Teams:
The size of a team is an important factor to consider as it affects the performance of the group overall. The team must consist of having the appropriate number of individuals. This depends on factors such as the task to be carried out and the speed to which it needs to be completed in. As of this, the optimum team size is required to help improve progress. It has been suggested that the optimum team size consist of five people. This is because: * The odd number will help prevent a standstill in decision making * The team is large enough to obtain various information and ideas from the individuals rather than resulting into suffering from insufficient information due to having a small group.
This enables the team to be large enough to provide sufficient information as well as being able to function efficiently. If the team results into having too many individuals it could result into being unstable in terms of members unable to manage themselves.
For example: For the pre-unit task, a group has been created to contain maximum number of three people. This enabled decisions to be made swiftly as it prevented a deadlock. Not only that, the individuals who were involved in the group participated well as well as being able to contribute an idea to which they have been credited for.
For this particular pre-unit assignment, a temporary team has been created to complete a specific task. Upon completing the task the team was no longer required as the project has been completed. Upon creating a temporary team it was vital to: * Clarify the main objective. This enables the members to view a similar and clear vision of what is expected as well as understanding the purpose of the team. * Being able to allocate clear roles to the team members
In comparison to a permanent team, a permanent team consists of working continuously. For example: a customer service team in a retail store. This particular team with interact with the members of the public and help tackle and solve any enquires or problems they may have.
The benefits of working in a team:
It is very important that team members have something to contribute back towards the team. This helps build on various areas such as an organisations productivity or effectiveness. In order to produce a successful outcome the team must be clear of the targets which have been set to be achieved. Being kept informed of the objectives will enable the team members to make effective contributions which could help departments as well as the organisation to achieve its main objectives. The main purpose of a team is based heavily around collective efforts rather than individuals working individually. As a result, teams are seen as a powerful instrument for any departments or organisations.
There are times when only project teams are required to be formed to carry out a specific duty. These types of teams can help benefit an organisation immensely. Project teams are set a specific deadline to which they will be required to complete their project by. In relation to businesses and organisation, a project team is most likely to be created when the project consist of introducing a new way of working. For example employees may be taught on how to use the new electrical equipment’s which have been bought in to help improve productivity of work. Effectively, this also applies to scenarios such as launching a new product. Upon launching the product, if the staffs have sufficient knowledge in terms of the product and health and safety procedures, it would result into the team being dismisses as they are no longer required.
In order to maintain team, a team leader or a project manager is required to help steer the members towards the right path. The team members must be aware of the goals to be achieved and assorted into carrying out a job role to the best of their ability. Other benefits a team provides with are the following: * Target setting * Monitoring performance * Reduction of alienation * Fostering innovation * Sharing expertise * Implementing change * Identifying and developing talent.
Target setting and monitoring performance:
Targets can be used to help teams and individual members of the team to improve on areas which they may lack certain ability or skills in. An example of this would be a sales team of five who are required to sell 1500 units of perfume within a month. That distributed equally between the team members effectively allocates each person with 300 units to sell. Targets are associated to a team or an individual by the team leader. Team leaders are required to carrying out the following as it allows a continuous monitoring to justify if the team are meeting their targets or not.
Targets allow monitoring to take place as it helps determine if the targets, that have been set, are met. Monitoring a performance can be done in various ways. In terms of monitoring an individual within a team, the most common monitoring method would be a performance review. This method consists of an agreement being formed between the individual and the team leader in terms of what they are required to do and if they are able to achieve it. From this point onwards, the team leader will continuously monitor and check whether the individuals are meeting the targets set. This report helps form a critical judgment which can then be used upon when reviewing an individual performance.
Reduction of alienation:
Being alienated lowers an individual confidence thus prevents contribution from taking place. Alienation can take place in situations such as being part of a large organisation. Team’s helps break down an organisation into smaller groups. Alienation occurs if an individual feels they do not belong or are not part of something. In teams, everyone is required to carry out a specific job role. This helps ensure that the members are contributing back to the team to help achieve their goal. Individuals have a say to what occurs within a team as well as being credited for any ideas put forward.
Fostering innovation:
Teamwork allows an encouragement for innovation due to various contribution given from team members as well as feeling empowered to be creative. This enables team members to support or reject the ideas presented. Not only that, any ideas presented can allow another member of the team to be inspired and build upon ideas which may have been presented or present a new idea.
Sharing expertise:
Every member within a team is required to make a contribution in terms of presenting ideas or carrying out other team based activities. This allows members to share the expertise in certain fields. For example: a former Primark employee who has joined H&M is able to provide with valid information about how its competitor operates in certain fields. This information is accountable due to the fact that the following member has previously worked for its competitor.
Implementing changes:
Individual who come across changes within a company may resist due to being introduced into an unfamiliar factor especially if it is forced upon. However in terms of teamwork, managing changes through a team enables the individual to be better informed, of the changes to take place, through involvement in discussions.
Identifying and developing talent:
In order to have an effective team, the team must consist of individuals with different skills and abilities. In order to carry out this successfully, the team leaders must ensure that they recruit people whom tend to have various skills as this will enable the team to perform well. This includes recruiting a specialist to carry out a specific job role as well as being appropriate for the team.
Teamwork enables opportunities for managers as well as supervisors to identify talent within a team. This information can then be used to provide development and better opportunities for the individual to take upon to help develop their talent.
Personal experience (Working within a team):
For this particular assignment, I have been voted to carry out a role which consisted me of leading the team. As a team leader I had great responsibilities in terms of managing the team as well as ensuring that the task is completed as effectively and efficiently as possible. There are various job duties which were required to be carried out to ensure that work progress was continuous.
In this assignment, the first task was to select my own team. I have handpicked individuals based on their capability and their skills. This judgment has been based upon the time spent with each individual at work. Upon creating the team, we started to focus on the main aims and objectives. Introduction to between the individuals where not required as everyone where familiar with the members within the team. My team consisted of containing three members. Upon receiving the task, each members where assigned with a specific job role to carry. One of the team members where required to obtain information based on Adair’s theory where as another member was required to obtain relevant information based around Belbin’s theory. As a team leader I set myself the task to create the PowerPoint and add in other relevant and necessary information that was required. During the process of creating the PowerPoint, I inspected and monitored the progress of my colleagues. Once the team members had finished the research task, the information obtained from their research has been inputted into the PowerPoint and sourced upon, if required, to prevent any plagiarism from taking place. During the process of creating the first draft of the PowerPoint, I have requested my team member’s ideas and contribution on how the PowerPoint should be presented and how the layout of the presentation should take place. Upon finalizing the actual PowerPoint, I have once again requested my team members for their help. The team members where required to proof read the PowerPoint and suggest any improvements that could be made. Suggestion where implied to which the PowerPoint required to be amended. This included deleting unnecessary slide and inputting appropriate and relevant animation which suited the style and the nature of work. Upon completion, I ensured that everyone was accredited for the work they have contributed.
Assignment 1: Team Development
Task 2 (P2): Building a cohesive team
What makes a cohesive team?
Cohesive team is where the team is divided into two groups. Each group having a particular role to carry out which helps contribute towards enabling the team getting the task done. For example: some members concentrate on areas such as the task function whereas the other half concentrates on maintenance. The following highlights various tasks which are used to help achieve the task.
Task function: * Introducing objectives * Clarifying the goals * Obtaining information and opinions * Ensuring the group is focused and on track * Summarising the Ideas * Suggesting ways forward * Evaluating Contributions
Process maintenance role include: * Provide support to the other group members * Ensuring all the members of the group are included * Taking into account of disagreements * Proposing ideas for compromise * Monitoring the group overall.
An example of a high performance team is the GB rowing team. The following team consists of four individuals who must work together in order to steer and operate the boat towards the desired direction. The rowing technique used must be consistence and fast flowing in order to help generate enough speed to force the boat move off against the waves. The team leader of the group is situated at the front of the boat as the following member is able to direct instructions and information towards the rest of the team. The team leader is able to direct and introduce appropriate technique to use during rowing which is followed and abided by the rest of the team. The Team leader is also seen as continuously shouting out appropriate compliments to help motivate the team to achieve success. If good leadership and teamwork is incorporated, the objective of the team can be achieved.
The following highlights some of the key aspects listed for a cohesive team. From the points listed above, the theory of a cohesive team fits with the example which I have presented with. The task function of a rowing team is the actual boat riders themselves. The following group ensures that they are focused and on track in terms of achieving the goal. The boat riders themselves must share the same goal and suggest ways forward in order to strive the team forward. This is done by suggesting and applying the same techniques and following the same tactics in order to achieve as a team. On the other hand, the maintenance group of the team are made up of trainers and supporters who ensure that the boat riders are at their optimum condition mentally or physically to perform well. The trainers help provide support to the members by training and preparing them for the challenge ahead. Support itself comes from family and friends who encourage each team member to pursue and take on the challenge. The trainers are the ones who also monitors the overall group performance and aims to work on weak areas.
Another example is track cycling. Track cycling is similar to rowing. It consist of four individuals who must work together in order to achieve their goal. In order to do this the team must be able to keep a continuous fast flowing pace whilst cycling along the track. Factors which need to be taken account of are the type of race as well as racing position. An example event would be team sprint. Team sprint consists of having two teams racing against one another. At the end of each lap, the leading rider in each team pulls over at the banking leaving the other rider to lead onwards. The following procedure is then repeated again all the way up until the third cyclist, who is required to finish off the lap as quickly as possible. The team with the fastest time is declared as the winner. As a team, the each cyclist must keep up with continuous speed pace carried out as a team. Falling behind can result into the team losing. Other team work which needs to be taken into account of is communication amongst each team members. This includes body language such as hand gestures indicating when the leader is changing lanes to get off at the banking. Other team work skills include working alongside with the members and assorting the team accordance to skill and experience. Most common tactics used by cyclist in these events is to have the fastest cyclist lead the group as well as having the second fastest cyclist finish off the race. By using the following strategy, the second fastest player is able to help recover any time lost during the process as well as being able to secure the goal. The third cyclist requires good endurance qualities as well as being able to maintain high speed to finish.
In terms of the cyclist, the task functions consist of being carried out by the cyclists themselves as they are performing to achieve the same goal. The cyclist ensures that they all have a clear vision in terms of the objectives and the goals itself. The strategy and techniques, carried out on the field, is taken into account of and implemented if proven to be successful and beneficial. The team members ensure that each individual performing is on track and focused to perform to the best of their ability.
The maintenance group on the other hand is similar to the rowing team example. The group would consist of trainers and supporters. The trainers themselves will monitors the group’s performance overall by taking account of their current health and medical conditions. Every trainer would want their team members to be at the upmost condition to take on the challenges which lay ahead. Providing intense training to help build the form factors of preparing the cyclist is another aspect to take into account. Every single member of the group must be involved in order for the team to succeed. Failing to do so can lead to many problems appearing within a team for example: not being able to work together to perform a certain technique or maneuvers.
Task 2 (P4, P5, M1): Compare the roles of the different members of a team:
Belbin’s theory outlines eight different types of aspects required within the members of a team. The following section highlights how I have related Belbin’s theory in terms assigning each member to carry out a specific job duty.
Shaper:
The shaper in the team consists of setting the objectives and priorities to help direct the team towards the correct path. The shaper is most often seen as the team leader of the group as they specialise to help stride the team towards accomplishing the task. In relation to our team, the shaper of the team would be I simply due to the fact that I am motivated to achieve success. In order to attain successes for myself I aim to stride the team forwards to help achieve the same goal as a whole. Before the start of the task, I appointed myself as a team leader due to having personal experience within the field, as well as feeling confident of being able to help direct members of the team to achieve the same goal. Upon using the voting system to appoint the team leader of the group, it was declared that I was chosen to help direct the team. As the leader I oppose with task of ensuring all members had a task assigned as well as ensuring that the work was completed on time and to the highest satisfaction. This was achieved by setting out objectives to members according to their level of skills and how well they would be able to perform the task.
The Chair:
The chair of the group once again consists of being led by me. As the chair I have ensured that resources obtained are relevant and used effectively as well as coordinate the team properly. For example: human resources. I ensured that I worked with the suitable individuals who were focused and would contribute towards the task. This enabled me to build and work with a strong motivated team who were able to help by providing with different ideas and aspects. Associating individuals with a job role based on their ability of accomplishing the task to the highest standard is one of the key aspects which I have ensured was dealt with.
Plant:
The creative person within the group was Abid Miah. Abid Miah ensured that the presentation, that was to be presented, was created and presented at an appropriate manner. This meant designing and using an appropriate theme to best suit the type of work and information that was being presented. For example: having good colour coordination, the right font, pictures and using appropriate animation. Abid Miah was chosen to carry out the plant role due to the fact that he resolves to thinking more outside the box as well as experimenting with new ideas and concepts whereas Mohammed and I tend to stick with the theories and aspects which are already present.
Monitor-Evaluator:
The monitor of the team consists of being each member of the team. This is due to the fact that each member of the team where able to identify problems which occurred during the working process. For example; each individuals where required to check each other’s work to which they were able to identify mistakes or errors within the work. Evaluating the progress consisted of being carried by me as this correlated to one of my responsibility as being the team leader. Being able to assess and evaluate the progress helped me identify the strength and weaknesses of the group.
Resource-investigator:
The following role was carried out by the team member Mohammed. Mohammed consisted of making further development to the work during his spare time. Since the additional work carried out was without any assist of the team members, Mohammed was required to report any changes made to the work. Changes made to the work would then be assessed and then approved depending on what has been included.
Company worker:
This particular role is carried out by each member of the team. Due to the team sharing the same clear goal and driven to achieve success, each member of the team consisted of being task orientated. This meant that 100% effort and the concentration was given to accomplishing the task.
Team worker:
Once again, the particular role is achieved and carried out by each individual members of the team. Due to personal experience with the members of the group, it is clearly identifiable that each member is caring towards one another. Each team members consist of working together as well as having a strong form of communication between one another. Working together as a team is unquestionably unpreventable due to strong relation with the individuals.
Finisher:
This particular role consists of being carried out by me. In order to accomplish our goal as a team, I ensured that the work provided and presented where up-to-date and meets to the highest satisfaction. If the following was not met, then the team was seen as far from accomplishing the task. As of this, I have ensured that the work done was completed before the deadline. Upon doing so, this resulted with the pre-unit work being accomplished within the space of 24 hours.
Task 3 (M2): Compare the effectiveness of different teams:
The following section will highlight the different team based scenarios which I have personally experienced. In light of this report, I am going to compare a good and bad teamwork as this will enable me to easily identify and compare different aspects.
The two different team situations which I am going to compare are: * T-shirt selling * Tug of war
T-shirt selling:
The t-shirt selling consisted of working within a group of four unique individuals. The following individuals where people who I had personal experience working with beforehand. This meant that I understand the capability of each individual as well as establishing a form of relationship.
The t-shirt selling originated from the contribution made by one of the team members whilst planning to carry out a form of activity for the charity even that was to be held. During the planning phase, various ideas where proposed which where interesting but wasn’t ideal in terms of setting up and carrying out the process. This identifies listening, and communication skills which has been used in order to do the following. By listening to one another and contributing ideas, it has enabled the team to progress and build the foundation of the activity that was to be carried out during the charity event.
As the team member, I was handed down job duties to carry out based on the best of my ability. My role consisted of carrying out a research which consisted of identifying the cheapest marketing site for t-shirt, paint and stencils as our aim was to present the public with hand-made t-shirts. Due to following the duties which have been handed down to me, the team was able to progress with the next task and that was to personalise the t-shirts. If the team members ignored the team manager and their job duties, the t-shirt idea would have not been developed.
Resources were purchased through online stores. Upon receiving the product, the team where required to create stencils as stencils were used along with the spray paint to input shapes and figures onto the t-shirt. In order to carry out the following tasks successfully, the team was split into two groups. One of the group ensured that the resources were gathered and handed down to group two who used to resources to cut out the stencils. Group one ensured that the appropriate amount of the following resources were obtained: cardboard and box cutter. Group two on the other hand where trained to use the equipment’s to create stencils. This corporation between the team members enabled the production of creating the necessary tools to create the product. This following task highlights various skills such as listening and communication skills, reliability, corporation and flexibility.
The last process of the event consisted of the team selling the product to the public. Approaching a member of the public to sell a product can be nerve racking especially if the individual isn’t confident and cannot persuade and communicate well with a potential customers. As of this the team was once again divided into two groups. One group consisted of making the sales, whereas the other group consisted of handling the financial aspects of the event. Once again the Team leader delegates task based on the person’s ability of being able to accomplish the task to the highest standard. The sales team displayed strong communication skills, motivation, positive attitude (reflect positive image) and determination. On the other hand, financial team display mathematical skills, analysing and problem solving.
Overall, the team work which has been displayed during the process highlights an effective team. This has been accomplishable due to the fact that all the members contributed and listened to one another. Due to being in this situation together and following the same goal, it has resulted with a positive outcome.
Tug of War:
The following team situation was not as effective as the t-shirt selling business. This is due to numerous aspects which took place during the activity. For example: the team members followed the same vision and that was to win the tug of war contest however, the team was unable to work with one another which resulted to the downfall of the team. The team leader was unable to assign the tasks effectively due to aspects such as being unaware of each individuals skills as well as not communicating effectively to the members. Tasks included dividing the strongest people of the team at the front and back section of the rope.
During the activity, there was no actual form of technique established between the team which enabled the other team the upper advantage. During the match, inappropriate criticism where distributed which demotivated the team members, leaving minority of the members feeling offended and in a bad attitude. This resulted into a conflict between the team members which as a result left the team disqualified from the contest.
Evaluation:
Comparing both team based situations, it is clear to distinguish which situation had the most effective team. The strength of the t-shirt selling team was the form of relation between the team members which abled the team to progress and understand the seriousness of the task that was required to be met. On the other hand the main weakness for the tug of war team was not being able to communicate and get through each individual which has resulted into the downfall of the team.
In both team situations, both team contributed towards accomplishing the tasks. In order to do this, each team members where required to follow the same goal and objectives which was identifiable and visible in both situations. Working in a team based environment is another similarity visible between both teams. The determination of accomplishing the task and achieving the goal is present in both teams as the overall aim for both the teams is to succeed at what they are doing.
There are identifiable differences between both teams which can be easily highlighted. This includes the following:
T-shirt selling Team: * Being able to work together effectively as a team to help accomplish the task * Listening to one another carefully * Following orders which have been handed down * Focused * Constructive criticisms where directed. Tug of war Team: * Unable to communicate effectively and assign the task effectively * Unable to manage the team effectively * No proper technique applied or followed by the team members * Share the same goal and vision but unable to work together to accomplish the goal * Inappropriate criticism demotivated people. This resulted with minority of the people in a bad attitude. * Raised conflict between the team members
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the effectiveness of a team bases around the fundamental policies of being able to communicate, corporate and correspond to different situations. Without the skills and experience of working within a team, the team is less likely to strive forward. The performance of the team determines the progression of the team. By working together, each team members are able to build upon their experience and skills as well help benefit the cause.
Task 1 (P3): Define the attributes and skills needed by a team leader.
The following report will distinguish the attributes and skills required by a team leader. The role of being a team leader can be taken on-board by anyone. A development in the particular area can help enable an individual become a good leader. From the research which I have conducted, I believe that there are 6 essential skills required from a team leader and they include: 1) Strong effective communication skills 2) Basic leadership skills 3) Strong team work 4) Results oriented 5) Influence and persuade people 6) Committed and well-focused
Strong effective communication skills:
Communication is one of the fundamental skills required to be able to express what the individual thoughts and feelings are. Communications skills consist of three crucial factors and they are speaking, listening and writing skills.
As a team leader, one main aspect of their job duty consists of being able to communicate their message clearly. The receiver must be able to understand the information being presented as this enables a continuous flow of communication between both parties. As the team leader, the individual must prevent the message from being too long and disorganised. The information spoken must be structured to enable the flow and understanding of what is being said. This prevents the receiver from losing attention and misunderstanding. If the team leader lacks on having strong communication skills, the team leader can present clarifications of key points to ensure the audience understand the message. For example: “what is required by each individual is….”
Listening skills on the other hand is substantial important for the receiver. Paying full attention can make a huge difference as this prevents and problems from occurring such as misunderstanding. It is disrespectful to pay no attention to what is being said. If the receiver does not understand something they can always recall on the particular information by asking relevant questions as well as summarising what has been said. This enables a clear understanding of what is being communicated.
Written skills are another form of effective and efficient means of communicating. This can be done in different forms such as memos, emails and reports. When forming the following types of document, the team leader must take into account of who its audience is. If the following document is being used to be viewed by a senior manager, then the document must be created to fit the particular audience and expectations. Keeping this in account, the team leader should also prevent itself from providing too much information as it can be irrelevant.
Basic leadership skills:
As the team leader, the person is required to be able to lead and influence a group’s behaviour, attitude and actions in order to achieve its aims and objectives. In order to motivate the members of the group, the team leader must be enthusiastic and energetic in order to stride the team forward. Other aspects include, having the ability of sharing the same vision with the rest of the members of the group. Delegating responsibilities based on the person skills and experience of accomplishing the task to the highest standard. Being able to influence team members through persuasion.
As the team leader, the person must keep account of the four W’s which include what, when, where and why. This enables the team leader to structure the choices, ideas and concepts it comes across.
Strong team work:
In order to create a strong team, it is recommended to have people who are able to introduce diverse skills. A strong teamwork will be able to accomplish on delivering results. Any additional help that can be obtained should be taken on-board especially if it is able to help accomplish a common goal.
A strong teamwork consists of having members working alongside together and not as an individual. Failing to do so breaks the whole meaning of teamwork. By contributing ideas, taking account of what is being said and providing appropriate criticisms. Being an active participant and taking part as a team is what makes a strong team. As the leader, the person must contribute by participating with the group members as this helps build trust and confidence in the team. This helps establish a line of work as well as produce a positive outcome.
Results oriented:
Being able come up with strategies and tactics as well as implementing procedures that produce results is one of the key essentials. The outcome will not only benefit the team but also the organisation or the business itself. In order to do the following, the person must be able to understand clearly what the main goals and objectives that have been set. Upon doing so, the person is then required to plan out ways in which this can be achieved. This requires taking on-board internal and external factors which can have an effect on the overall outcome. This positive outcome can be achieved with the contribution from the team members themselves.
Influence and persuade people:
Being able to influence and persuade people helps determine the success and failure of the team leader. If the team leader is unable to do the following, it would result with either little or no progress being made. In order to progress, help will be required. People are needed to be persuaded in order to provide help.
Influence and persuasion can take in different forms. As a good team leader, this means avoiding the use of fear, threats and misuse of authority. In order to obtain help, a negotiation can take place as it provides the helper with the opportunity of being rewarded for their effort. At times, if the team leader has a strong reputation, people will offer help for free as they will want to take part in the success that is to be created.
Committed and well-focused:
Being committed and devoting the time to help the team to achieve success is another crucial factor. As the team leader, the person must be able focused on the tasks set out. Procedures should be implemented to help progress the team forward. If the team leader fails to be committed and focused, it displays a negative imagery to the other members of the group. This disintegrates the confidence and performance level of being able to successfully achieve the team goals.
Overall, improving and incorporating new leadership skills will help benefit the team, business and organisation. In order to accomplish the following, the person must be committed to improving their skills. Without the commitment, the person will unable to expand their skills.
Task 3 (D1): Evaluating the teams overall performance
List strength, Weakness and give conclusion
The team performance was substantial as we manage to finish the task off within duration of 2-3 days. The performance and commitment towards the tasks assigned was accomplished to the highest satisfaction. However, as present in any form of team situations, there were a few bad pointers here and there. This hints at the effectiveness of the managing the team such as Human Resources.
Within our group, I put myself forward to becoming the team leader which I have successfully taken the role upon through a voting system. The first task as the team leader was to clearly communicate the tasks that required to be completed. Upon doing so I delegated role based on the individual’s ability. Abid Miah was required to carry out the research based around Belbin’s theory whereas Muhammad Khaium was required to research Adair’s theory. Whilst the following tasks where being conducted, I assigned myself the role of conducting the research of identifying the benefits of the team. The first phase of the team conducted of each individual researching about a particular topic. After conducting the research, the information were gathered and reviewed to clarify if it was suitable and appropriate.
The next process concluded of preparing the structure of the presentation and actually creating the presentation itself. During this particular exercise, there were some issue which occurred. For example; one of the team members did not contribute as much as they could have due to facing personal issues. As of this, the person was more withdrawn to themselves which resulted to less communication, less participation and more hassle of maintaining. As of this, the individual was prevented from taking part in the activity as they reduce and prevented any progress from occurring. Due to the individual’s behaviour and attitude towards the work in the particular activity, they were prevented from taking part in the formation of the presentation itself.
The presentation was single handed create by myself as I feared that associating the rest of the group will result to slow progress and the creation of a presentation which doesn’t meet my expectation. As of this, the presentation was created without anyone contribution. This has led to various problems and conflicts from occurring for example alienating the members. This alienation has caused the members not being satisfied with the actions which I have taken, even if it were to improve the current work progress the team was waking. To tackle the following problem, I apologised for the actions which I have taken and promised to continue to work as a team and taken into account and reward for everyone’s contribution. Another problem which has occurred was that the members of the team where unable to justify which part of the presentation they were to present. As of this, I had to go through the presentation again and highlight areas which each members where going to present. This particular task was unnecessary and was time consuming.
Before the presentation was produced, I have requested team members to go through the whole presentation and pin point errors which I have missed. This form of contribution has enabled me correct any mistakes which have occurred. After this process, the presentation was presented at a respectable quality.
Limitation is inevitable when carrying out any form of team assigned tasks. As the team leader, aspects which were visible included lack of commitment as well as the questioning of trust. The following highlights some of the aspects which were identifiable during the team work that were carried out.
The communication between each team members was superb. This is due to the formation of the relationship between each member of the years. Each member was able to express ideas freely, and contribute in numerous ways as this helped share their expertise. The specialists were able to work in areas which they were most confident in as this enabled the quality of the work to be maintained throughout the process. For example: The creation of the presentation was personally handled by me as I have a number of experiences within the field. The presentation created by myself was intended to be appropriate and suitable for the audience. The weakness that was presented within the communication was the use of technical terms used by myself as minority of the time was not understandable by the other members of the group. This caused problems to occur. This particular situation can be easily prevented and resolved by using appropriate terms and language which is understandable by both parties.
The performance monitoring that was performed was kept to a minimum which could have been improved on. Due to the form of trust which I have associated with the members, I did not take account of the work progress each team members where performing. This has resulted to some members misusing the trust and not performing the work that was required. As of this, there was a conflict between myself and the other members due to not meeting the deadline set out. This was an identifiable weakness that was present within my team. As a team leader, I should have monitored the team, as failing to do so have hindered the team work progress. The following problem can be easily avoided by continuously checking on the members over a period of time. However this shouldn’t be done too often as it could result to the team members feeling nervous as well as establish the thought of me not trusting the individual. By keeping a close eye, the team leader will be able to verify the work progress contributed by each member as well as identify the weak areas within the team. Upon doing so, the members can then be properly accredited for the amount of work and contribution they have inputted.
The presentation that was presented went accordingly as planned. However, there were some flaws that crippled the overall satisfaction of the presentation. The strength of the presentation included aspects such as the structure of the presentation, the information that was included in the presentation as well as the individual’s performance in terms of presenting. The design, imagery and information used attracted and grasped the audience attention. Yet, the downfall of the presentation corresponded to the length of the presentation. The presentation consisted of having too many slides which effectively could have resulted to losing minority of the audience’s attention. This information was received from the evaluation carried out by an assessor. This has helped enable me and other team members identify possible problems which can occur when creating a presentation. The following problem can be easily avoided by inputting information that is most crucial as well as the keeping the presentation concise and appropriate for the audience.
Conclusion:
Overall, this report has enabled me to identify my team strength and weaknesses. This report identifies the team overall performance in terms of communication, performance monitoring and the limitations that team leaders need to be accountable for. Taking this into account, I believe that working in a team is a positive aspect to come across. The reason to this is because as an individual I am able to grasp ideas and different aspects which I necessarily wouldn’t have come across. Working in a team enables a person to visualise an idea or a concept from a different prospective. Not only that, each members are able to share their expertise within a particular field. As of this, I believe working in a team is more effective and efficient then tackling a particular task individually. From the information which I have obtained, I plan to associate the skills and experience into enhancing the overall performance of a team. This includes any team based scenarios which I come across in the distant future.
Task | Description | Person responsible for the task | Date to be completed by: | Date completed | Choose team leader | This is a very important role so choose the most suitable person for the role | NadimAbidMuhammed | 14/09/12 | 08/09/12 | Break down the task | Identify the sub-tasks that need to be completed | Nadim | 14/09/12 | 09/09/12 | Research benefits/theories of teamwork | Benefits of Teamwork | Nadim | 14/09/12 | 09/09/12 | | Research the theories of Belbin. Who is Belbin and what was his theory? | NadimAbid | 14/09/12 | 09/09/12 | | What Characteristics are required of a high performance teams. | Nadim | 14/09/12 | 10/09/12 | Research theories of team leadership (John Adair) | Research the theories of John Adair. Who is John Adair and what was his theory about teamwork? | NadimMuhammed | 14/09/12 | 10/09/12 | | What are the qualities of an effective team leader? | Nadim | 14/09/12 | 10/09/12 | Prepare structure of presentation | Decide on how the presentation is to be conducted | NadimAbidMuhammed | 21/09/12 | 10/09/12 | Prepare presentation | Prepare the resources, plan how the parts of the presentation will fit together | Nadim | 21/09/12 | 12/09/12 | Evaluation of teamwork | Complete questionnaire on how well the team worked together | NadimAbidMuhammed | 28/09/12 | 12/09/12 | Evaluation of leadership | Complete questionnaire on the leader | AbidMuhammed | 28/09/12 | 12/09/12 |
Assignment 1: The importance of teams
Task 1 (P1): Describe different types of teams and the benefits of teams for an organization:
Introduction:
A team is recognized as a collection of people who are assigned to a job role, based on their capability, to carry out their job duty as effectively and efficiently to their ability. These people share the same vision and effectively have the same goal. In order to work as a team, the members within the group must be committed to working together in order to achieve success.
Working in a team brings in various benefits such as tackling difficult problems which could prove difficult to solve by an individual. From the research that has been conducted, the following section presents an overview of the different types of teams and the benefits of working in a team. The following section will highlight crucial information which corresponds towards the importance of a team. This includes: * The different types of teams * The benefits of working in a team * Personal experience
The different types of teams:
There are two types of team which can be formed depending on the situation and the goals which are to be achieved. This consists of either being a formal or an informal team. The following section highlights the difference between both the teams.
Formal Team:
A formal team is created in order to fulfill a particular purpose. These teams have been set up to achieve a specific objective. For example in a bike event, a speacilised team of mechanics has been formed to carry out a specific objective and that includes maintaining the bikes before, during and after the event. In order to carry out and perform the job duties effectively, certain guidelines or rules are introduced to help guide the team. This consists of information such as team reunion and a form of leadership structure. As mentioned beforehand, in many organisiations, formal teams are considered as being structured to perform a set task or a group of tasks.
An example, in terms of businesses, will include the “Quality Circle”. This is where a group of employees meet at a regular interval to discuss the various ways on being able to improve their workplace and the way in which the work is carried out. The following Circle is led by a team leader who is able to communicate well with others as well as being able to justify opinions and suggestions correctly. Members of the group are encourages to take part by suggesting ideas. This helps gather various ideas which could then be taken upon to improve the way the work tasks are carried out.
Informal Team:
An informal team consists of creating a group containing various individuals, not set by organisiations, whom may see the benefit of working with one another to accomplish the main objectives. Informal teams normally consist of being less structured in comparison to a formal team.
An example of an informal team would be: A group of friends got together to complete the work assignment that was to be handed down by their form teacher. In comparison to a formal team, a formal team consists of having a better structure as they are aware of the goals and objectives that need to be accomplished. As mentioned, Formal teams have rules and clear expectations in terms of what each team member are required to do.
Size of Teams:
The size of a team is an important factor to consider as it affects the performance of the group overall. The team must consist of having the appropriate number of individuals. This depends on factors such as the task to be carried out and the speed to which it needs to be completed in. As of this, the optimum team size is required to help improve progress. It has been suggested that the optimum team size consist of five people. This is because: * The odd number will help prevent a standstill in decision making * The team is large enough to obtain various information and ideas from the individuals rather than resulting into suffering from insufficient information due to having a small group.
This enables the team to be large enough to provide sufficient information as well as being able to function efficiently. If the team results into having too many individuals it could result into being unstable in terms of members unable to manage themselves.
For example: For the pre-unit task, a group has been created to contain maximum number of three people. This enabled decisions to be made swiftly as it prevented a deadlock. Not only that, the individuals who were involved in the group participated well as well as being able to contribute an idea to which they have been credited for.
For this particular pre-unit assignment, a temporary team has been created to complete a specific task. Upon completing the task the team was no longer required as the project has been completed. Upon creating a temporary team it was vital to: * Clarify the main objective. This enables the members to view a similar and clear vision of what is expected as well as understanding the purpose of the team. * Being able to allocate clear roles to the team members
In comparison to a permanent team, a permanent team consists of working continuously. For example: a customer service team in a retail store. This particular team with interact with the members of the public and help tackle and solve any enquires or problems they may have.
The benefits of working in a team:
It is very important that team members have something to contribute back towards the team. This helps build on various areas such as an organisations productivity or effectiveness. In order to produce a successful outcome the team must be clear of the targets which have been set to be achieved. Being kept informed of the objectives will enable the team members to make effective contributions which could help departments as well as the organisation to achieve its main objectives. The main purpose of a team is based heavily around collective efforts rather than individuals working individually. As a result, teams are seen as a powerful instrument for any departments or organisations.
There are times when only project teams are required to be formed to carry out a specific duty. These types of teams can help benefit an organisation immensely. Project teams are set a specific deadline to which they will be required to complete their project by. In relation to businesses and organisation, a project team is most likely to be created when the project consist of introducing a new way of working. For example employees may be taught on how to use the new electrical equipment’s which have been bought in to help improve productivity of work. Effectively, this also applies to scenarios such as launching a new product. Upon launching the product, if the staffs have sufficient knowledge in terms of the product and health and safety procedures, it would result into the team being dismisses as they are no longer required.
In order to maintain team, a team leader or a project manager is required to help steer the members towards the right path. The team members must be aware of the goals to be achieved and assorted into carrying out a job role to the best of their ability. Other benefits a team provides with are the following: * Target setting * Monitoring performance * Reduction of alienation * Fostering innovation * Sharing expertise * Implementing change * Identifying and developing talent.
Target setting and monitoring performance:
Targets can be used to help teams and individual members of the team to improve on areas which they may lack certain ability or skills in. An example of this would be a sales team of five who are required to sell 1500 units of perfume within a month. That distributed equally between the team members effectively allocates each person with 300 units to sell. Targets are associated to a team or an individual by the team leader. Team leaders are required to carrying out the following as it allows a continuous monitoring to justify if the team are meeting their targets or not.
Targets allow monitoring to take place as it helps determine if the targets, that have been set, are met. Monitoring a performance can be done in various ways. In terms of monitoring an individual within a team, the most common monitoring method would be a performance review. This method consists of an agreement being formed between the individual and the team leader in terms of what they are required to do and if they are able to achieve it. From this point onwards, the team leader will continuously monitor and check whether the individuals are meeting the targets set. This report helps form a critical judgment which can then be used upon when reviewing an individual performance.
Reduction of alienation:
Being alienated lowers an individual confidence thus prevents contribution from taking place. Alienation can take place in situations such as being part of a large organisation. Team’s helps break down an organisation into smaller groups. Alienation occurs if an individual feels they do not belong or are not part of something. In teams, everyone is required to carry out a specific job role. This helps ensure that the members are contributing back to the team to help achieve their goal. Individuals have a say to what occurs within a team as well as being credited for any ideas put forward.
Fostering innovation:
Teamwork allows an encouragement for innovation due to various contribution given from team members as well as feeling empowered to be creative. This enables team members to support or reject the ideas presented. Not only that, any ideas presented can allow another member of the team to be inspired and build upon ideas which may have been presented or present a new idea.
Sharing expertise:
Every member within a team is required to make a contribution in terms of presenting ideas or carrying out other team based activities. This allows members to share the expertise in certain fields. For example: a former Primark employee who has joined H&M is able to provide with valid information about how its competitor operates in certain fields. This information is accountable due to the fact that the following member has previously worked for its competitor.
Implementing changes:
Individual who come across changes within a company may resist due to being introduced into an unfamiliar factor especially if it is forced upon. However in terms of teamwork, managing changes through a team enables the individual to be better informed, of the changes to take place, through involvement in discussions.
Identifying and developing talent:
In order to have an effective team, the team must consist of individuals with different skills and abilities. In order to carry out this successfully, the team leaders must ensure that they recruit people whom tend to have various skills as this will enable the team to perform well. This includes recruiting a specialist to carry out a specific job role as well as being appropriate for the team.
Teamwork enables opportunities for managers as well as supervisors to identify talent within a team. This information can then be used to provide development and better opportunities for the individual to take upon to help develop their talent.
Personal experience (Working within a team):
For this particular assignment, I have been voted to carry out a role which consisted me of leading the team. As a team leader I had great responsibilities in terms of managing the team as well as ensuring that the task is completed as effectively and efficiently as possible. There are various job duties which were required to be carried out to ensure that work progress was continuous.
In this assignment, the first task was to select my own team. I have handpicked individuals based on their capability and their skills. This judgment has been based upon the time spent with each individual at work. Upon creating the team, we started to focus on the main aims and objectives. Introduction to between the individuals where not required as everyone where familiar with the members within the team. My team consisted of containing three members. Upon receiving the task, each members where assigned with a specific job role to carry. One of the team members where required to obtain information based on Adair’s theory where as another member was required to obtain relevant information based around Belbin’s theory. As a team leader I set myself the task to create the PowerPoint and add in other relevant and necessary information that was required. During the process of creating the PowerPoint, I inspected and monitored the progress of my colleagues. Once the team members had finished the research task, the information obtained from their research has been inputted into the PowerPoint and sourced upon, if required, to prevent any plagiarism from taking place. During the process of creating the first draft of the PowerPoint, I have requested my team member’s ideas and contribution on how the PowerPoint should be presented and how the layout of the presentation should take place. Upon finalizing the actual PowerPoint, I have once again requested my team members for their help. The team members where required to proof read the PowerPoint and suggest any improvements that could be made. Suggestion where implied to which the PowerPoint required to be amended. This included deleting unnecessary slide and inputting appropriate and relevant animation which suited the style and the nature of work. Upon completion, I ensured that everyone was accredited for the work they have contributed.
Assignment 1: Team Development
Task 2 (P2): Building a cohesive team
What makes a cohesive team?
Cohesive team is where the team is divided into two groups. Each group having a particular role to carry out which helps contribute towards enabling the team getting the task done. For example: some members concentrate on areas such as the task function whereas the other half concentrates on maintenance. The following highlights various tasks which are used to help achieve the task.
Task function: * Introducing objectives * Clarifying the goals * Obtaining information and opinions * Ensuring the group is focused and on track * Summarising the Ideas * Suggesting ways forward * Evaluating Contributions
Process maintenance role include: * Provide support to the other group members * Ensuring all the members of the group are included * Taking into account of disagreements * Proposing ideas for compromise * Monitoring the group overall.
An example of a high performance team is the GB rowing team. The following team consists of four individuals who must work together in order to steer and operate the boat towards the desired direction. The rowing technique used must be consistence and fast flowing in order to help generate enough speed to force the boat move off against the waves. The team leader of the group is situated at the front of the boat as the following member is able to direct instructions and information towards the rest of the team. The team leader is able to direct and introduce appropriate technique to use during rowing which is followed and abided by the rest of the team. The Team leader is also seen as continuously shouting out appropriate compliments to help motivate the team to achieve success. If good leadership and teamwork is incorporated, the objective of the team can be achieved.
The following highlights some of the key aspects listed for a cohesive team. From the points listed above, the theory of a cohesive team fits with the example which I have presented with. The task function of a rowing team is the actual boat riders themselves. The following group ensures that they are focused and on track in terms of achieving the goal. The boat riders themselves must share the same goal and suggest ways forward in order to strive the team forward. This is done by suggesting and applying the same techniques and following the same tactics in order to achieve as a team. On the other hand, the maintenance group of the team are made up of trainers and supporters who ensure that the boat riders are at their optimum condition mentally or physically to perform well. The trainers help provide support to the members by training and preparing them for the challenge ahead. Support itself comes from family and friends who encourage each team member to pursue and take on the challenge. The trainers are the ones who also monitors the overall group performance and aims to work on weak areas.
Another example is track cycling. Track cycling is similar to rowing. It consist of four individuals who must work together in order to achieve their goal. In order to do this the team must be able to keep a continuous fast flowing pace whilst cycling along the track. Factors which need to be taken account of are the type of race as well as racing position. An example event would be team sprint. Team sprint consists of having two teams racing against one another. At the end of each lap, the leading rider in each team pulls over at the banking leaving the other rider to lead onwards. The following procedure is then repeated again all the way up until the third cyclist, who is required to finish off the lap as quickly as possible. The team with the fastest time is declared as the winner. As a team, the each cyclist must keep up with continuous speed pace carried out as a team. Falling behind can result into the team losing. Other team work which needs to be taken into account of is communication amongst each team members. This includes body language such as hand gestures indicating when the leader is changing lanes to get off at the banking. Other team work skills include working alongside with the members and assorting the team accordance to skill and experience. Most common tactics used by cyclist in these events is to have the fastest cyclist lead the group as well as having the second fastest cyclist finish off the race. By using the following strategy, the second fastest player is able to help recover any time lost during the process as well as being able to secure the goal. The third cyclist requires good endurance qualities as well as being able to maintain high speed to finish.
In terms of the cyclist, the task functions consist of being carried out by the cyclists themselves as they are performing to achieve the same goal. The cyclist ensures that they all have a clear vision in terms of the objectives and the goals itself. The strategy and techniques, carried out on the field, is taken into account of and implemented if proven to be successful and beneficial. The team members ensure that each individual performing is on track and focused to perform to the best of their ability.
The maintenance group on the other hand is similar to the rowing team example. The group would consist of trainers and supporters. The trainers themselves will monitors the group’s performance overall by taking account of their current health and medical conditions. Every trainer would want their team members to be at the upmost condition to take on the challenges which lay ahead. Providing intense training to help build the form factors of preparing the cyclist is another aspect to take into account. Every single member of the group must be involved in order for the team to succeed. Failing to do so can lead to many problems appearing within a team for example: not being able to work together to perform a certain technique or maneuvers.
Task 2 (P4, P5, M1): Compare the roles of the different members of a team:
Belbin’s theory outlines eight different types of aspects required within the members of a team. The following section highlights how I have related Belbin’s theory in terms assigning each member to carry out a specific job duty.
Shaper:
The shaper in the team consists of setting the objectives and priorities to help direct the team towards the correct path. The shaper is most often seen as the team leader of the group as they specialise to help stride the team towards accomplishing the task. In relation to our team, the shaper of the team would be I simply due to the fact that I am motivated to achieve success. In order to attain successes for myself I aim to stride the team forwards to help achieve the same goal as a whole. Before the start of the task, I appointed myself as a team leader due to having personal experience within the field, as well as feeling confident of being able to help direct members of the team to achieve the same goal. Upon using the voting system to appoint the team leader of the group, it was declared that I was chosen to help direct the team. As the leader I oppose with task of ensuring all members had a task assigned as well as ensuring that the work was completed on time and to the highest satisfaction. This was achieved by setting out objectives to members according to their level of skills and how well they would be able to perform the task.
The Chair:
The chair of the group once again consists of being led by me. As the chair I have ensured that resources obtained are relevant and used effectively as well as coordinate the team properly. For example: human resources. I ensured that I worked with the suitable individuals who were focused and would contribute towards the task. This enabled me to build and work with a strong motivated team who were able to help by providing with different ideas and aspects. Associating individuals with a job role based on their ability of accomplishing the task to the highest standard is one of the key aspects which I have ensured was dealt with.
Plant:
The creative person within the group was Abid Miah. Abid Miah ensured that the presentation, that was to be presented, was created and presented at an appropriate manner. This meant designing and using an appropriate theme to best suit the type of work and information that was being presented. For example: having good colour coordination, the right font, pictures and using appropriate animation. Abid Miah was chosen to carry out the plant role due to the fact that he resolves to thinking more outside the box as well as experimenting with new ideas and concepts whereas Mohammed and I tend to stick with the theories and aspects which are already present.
Monitor-Evaluator:
The monitor of the team consists of being each member of the team. This is due to the fact that each member of the team where able to identify problems which occurred during the working process. For example; each individuals where required to check each other’s work to which they were able to identify mistakes or errors within the work. Evaluating the progress consisted of being carried by me as this correlated to one of my responsibility as being the team leader. Being able to assess and evaluate the progress helped me identify the strength and weaknesses of the group.
Resource-investigator:
The following role was carried out by the team member Mohammed. Mohammed consisted of making further development to the work during his spare time. Since the additional work carried out was without any assist of the team members, Mohammed was required to report any changes made to the work. Changes made to the work would then be assessed and then approved depending on what has been included.
Company worker:
This particular role is carried out by each member of the team. Due to the team sharing the same clear goal and driven to achieve success, each member of the team consisted of being task orientated. This meant that 100% effort and the concentration was given to accomplishing the task.
Team worker:
Once again, the particular role is achieved and carried out by each individual members of the team. Due to personal experience with the members of the group, it is clearly identifiable that each member is caring towards one another. Each team members consist of working together as well as having a strong form of communication between one another. Working together as a team is unquestionably unpreventable due to strong relation with the individuals.
Finisher:
This particular role consists of being carried out by me. In order to accomplish our goal as a team, I ensured that the work provided and presented where up-to-date and meets to the highest satisfaction. If the following was not met, then the team was seen as far from accomplishing the task. As of this, I have ensured that the work done was completed before the deadline. Upon doing so, this resulted with the pre-unit work being accomplished within the space of 24 hours.
Task 3 (M2): Compare the effectiveness of different teams:
The following section will highlight the different team based scenarios which I have personally experienced. In light of this report, I am going to compare a good and bad teamwork as this will enable me to easily identify and compare different aspects.
The two different team situations which I am going to compare are: * T-shirt selling * Tug of war
T-shirt selling:
The t-shirt selling consisted of working within a group of four unique individuals. The following individuals where people who I had personal experience working with beforehand. This meant that I understand the capability of each individual as well as establishing a form of relationship.
The t-shirt selling originated from the contribution made by one of the team members whilst planning to carry out a form of activity for the charity even that was to be held. During the planning phase, various ideas where proposed which where interesting but wasn’t ideal in terms of setting up and carrying out the process. This identifies listening, and communication skills which has been used in order to do the following. By listening to one another and contributing ideas, it has enabled the team to progress and build the foundation of the activity that was to be carried out during the charity event.
As the team member, I was handed down job duties to carry out based on the best of my ability. My role consisted of carrying out a research which consisted of identifying the cheapest marketing site for t-shirt, paint and stencils as our aim was to present the public with hand-made t-shirts. Due to following the duties which have been handed down to me, the team was able to progress with the next task and that was to personalise the t-shirts. If the team members ignored the team manager and their job duties, the t-shirt idea would have not been developed.
Resources were purchased through online stores. Upon receiving the product, the team where required to create stencils as stencils were used along with the spray paint to input shapes and figures onto the t-shirt. In order to carry out the following tasks successfully, the team was split into two groups. One of the group ensured that the resources were gathered and handed down to group two who used to resources to cut out the stencils. Group one ensured that the appropriate amount of the following resources were obtained: cardboard and box cutter. Group two on the other hand where trained to use the equipment’s to create stencils. This corporation between the team members enabled the production of creating the necessary tools to create the product. This following task highlights various skills such as listening and communication skills, reliability, corporation and flexibility.
The last process of the event consisted of the team selling the product to the public. Approaching a member of the public to sell a product can be nerve racking especially if the individual isn’t confident and cannot persuade and communicate well with a potential customers. As of this the team was once again divided into two groups. One group consisted of making the sales, whereas the other group consisted of handling the financial aspects of the event. Once again the Team leader delegates task based on the person’s ability of being able to accomplish the task to the highest standard. The sales team displayed strong communication skills, motivation, positive attitude (reflect positive image) and determination. On the other hand, financial team display mathematical skills, analysing and problem solving.
Overall, the team work which has been displayed during the process highlights an effective team. This has been accomplishable due to the fact that all the members contributed and listened to one another. Due to being in this situation together and following the same goal, it has resulted with a positive outcome.
Tug of War:
The following team situation was not as effective as the t-shirt selling business. This is due to numerous aspects which took place during the activity. For example: the team members followed the same vision and that was to win the tug of war contest however, the team was unable to work with one another which resulted to the downfall of the team. The team leader was unable to assign the tasks effectively due to aspects such as being unaware of each individuals skills as well as not communicating effectively to the members. Tasks included dividing the strongest people of the team at the front and back section of the rope.
During the activity, there was no actual form of technique established between the team which enabled the other team the upper advantage. During the match, inappropriate criticism where distributed which demotivated the team members, leaving minority of the members feeling offended and in a bad attitude. This resulted into a conflict between the team members which as a result left the team disqualified from the contest.
Evaluation:
Comparing both team based situations, it is clear to distinguish which situation had the most effective team. The strength of the t-shirt selling team was the form of relation between the team members which abled the team to progress and understand the seriousness of the task that was required to be met. On the other hand the main weakness for the tug of war team was not being able to communicate and get through each individual which has resulted into the downfall of the team.
In both team situations, both team contributed towards accomplishing the tasks. In order to do this, each team members where required to follow the same goal and objectives which was identifiable and visible in both situations. Working in a team based environment is another similarity visible between both teams. The determination of accomplishing the task and achieving the goal is present in both teams as the overall aim for both the teams is to succeed at what they are doing.
There are identifiable differences between both teams which can be easily highlighted. This includes the following:
T-shirt selling Team: * Being able to work together effectively as a team to help accomplish the task * Listening to one another carefully * Following orders which have been handed down * Focused * Constructive criticisms where directed. Tug of war Team: * Unable to communicate effectively and assign the task effectively * Unable to manage the team effectively * No proper technique applied or followed by the team members * Share the same goal and vision but unable to work together to accomplish the goal * Inappropriate criticism demotivated people. This resulted with minority of the people in a bad attitude. * Raised conflict between the team members
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the effectiveness of a team bases around the fundamental policies of being able to communicate, corporate and correspond to different situations. Without the skills and experience of working within a team, the team is less likely to strive forward. The performance of the team determines the progression of the team. By working together, each team members are able to build upon their experience and skills as well help benefit the cause.
Task 1 (P3): Define the attributes and skills needed by a team leader.
The following report will distinguish the attributes and skills required by a team leader. The role of being a team leader can be taken on-board by anyone. A development in the particular area can help enable an individual become a good leader. From the research which I have conducted, I believe that there are 6 essential skills required from a team leader and they include: 1) Strong effective communication skills 2) Basic leadership skills 3) Strong team work 4) Results oriented 5) Influence and persuade people 6) Committed and well-focused
Strong effective communication skills:
Communication is one of the fundamental skills required to be able to express what the individual thoughts and feelings are. Communications skills consist of three crucial factors and they are speaking, listening and writing skills.
As a team leader, one main aspect of their job duty consists of being able to communicate their message clearly. The receiver must be able to understand the information being presented as this enables a continuous flow of communication between both parties. As the team leader, the individual must prevent the message from being too long and disorganised. The information spoken must be structured to enable the flow and understanding of what is being said. This prevents the receiver from losing attention and misunderstanding. If the team leader lacks on having strong communication skills, the team leader can present clarifications of key points to ensure the audience understand the message. For example: “what is required by each individual is….”
Listening skills on the other hand is substantial important for the receiver. Paying full attention can make a huge difference as this prevents and problems from occurring such as misunderstanding. It is disrespectful to pay no attention to what is being said. If the receiver does not understand something they can always recall on the particular information by asking relevant questions as well as summarising what has been said. This enables a clear understanding of what is being communicated.
Written skills are another form of effective and efficient means of communicating. This can be done in different forms such as memos, emails and reports. When forming the following types of document, the team leader must take into account of who its audience is. If the following document is being used to be viewed by a senior manager, then the document must be created to fit the particular audience and expectations. Keeping this in account, the team leader should also prevent itself from providing too much information as it can be irrelevant.
Basic leadership skills:
As the team leader, the person is required to be able to lead and influence a group’s behaviour, attitude and actions in order to achieve its aims and objectives. In order to motivate the members of the group, the team leader must be enthusiastic and energetic in order to stride the team forward. Other aspects include, having the ability of sharing the same vision with the rest of the members of the group. Delegating responsibilities based on the person skills and experience of accomplishing the task to the highest standard. Being able to influence team members through persuasion.
As the team leader, the person must keep account of the four W’s which include what, when, where and why. This enables the team leader to structure the choices, ideas and concepts it comes across.
Strong team work:
In order to create a strong team, it is recommended to have people who are able to introduce diverse skills. A strong teamwork will be able to accomplish on delivering results. Any additional help that can be obtained should be taken on-board especially if it is able to help accomplish a common goal.
A strong teamwork consists of having members working alongside together and not as an individual. Failing to do so breaks the whole meaning of teamwork. By contributing ideas, taking account of what is being said and providing appropriate criticisms. Being an active participant and taking part as a team is what makes a strong team. As the leader, the person must contribute by participating with the group members as this helps build trust and confidence in the team. This helps establish a line of work as well as produce a positive outcome.
Results oriented:
Being able come up with strategies and tactics as well as implementing procedures that produce results is one of the key essentials. The outcome will not only benefit the team but also the organisation or the business itself. In order to do the following, the person must be able to understand clearly what the main goals and objectives that have been set. Upon doing so, the person is then required to plan out ways in which this can be achieved. This requires taking on-board internal and external factors which can have an effect on the overall outcome. This positive outcome can be achieved with the contribution from the team members themselves.
Influence and persuade people:
Being able to influence and persuade people helps determine the success and failure of the team leader. If the team leader is unable to do the following, it would result with either little or no progress being made. In order to progress, help will be required. People are needed to be persuaded in order to provide help.
Influence and persuasion can take in different forms. As a good team leader, this means avoiding the use of fear, threats and misuse of authority. In order to obtain help, a negotiation can take place as it provides the helper with the opportunity of being rewarded for their effort. At times, if the team leader has a strong reputation, people will offer help for free as they will want to take part in the success that is to be created.
Committed and well-focused:
Being committed and devoting the time to help the team to achieve success is another crucial factor. As the team leader, the person must be able focused on the tasks set out. Procedures should be implemented to help progress the team forward. If the team leader fails to be committed and focused, it displays a negative imagery to the other members of the group. This disintegrates the confidence and performance level of being able to successfully achieve the team goals.
Overall, improving and incorporating new leadership skills will help benefit the team, business and organisation. In order to accomplish the following, the person must be committed to improving their skills. Without the commitment, the person will unable to expand their skills.
Task 3 (D1): Evaluating the teams overall performance
List strength, Weakness and give conclusion
The team performance was substantial as we manage to finish the task off within duration of 2-3 days. The performance and commitment towards the tasks assigned was accomplished to the highest satisfaction. However, as present in any form of team situations, there were a few bad pointers here and there. This hints at the effectiveness of the managing the team such as Human Resources.
Within our group, I put myself forward to becoming the team leader which I have successfully taken the role upon through a voting system. The first task as the team leader was to clearly communicate the tasks that required to be completed. Upon doing so I delegated role based on the individual’s ability. Abid Miah was required to carry out the research based around Belbin’s theory whereas Muhammad Khaium was required to research Adair’s theory. Whilst the following tasks where being conducted, I assigned myself the role of conducting the research of identifying the benefits of the team. The first phase of the team conducted of each individual researching about a particular topic. After conducting the research, the information were gathered and reviewed to clarify if it was suitable and appropriate.
The next process concluded of preparing the structure of the presentation and actually creating the presentation itself. During this particular exercise, there were some issue which occurred. For example; one of the team members did not contribute as much as they could have due to facing personal issues. As of this, the person was more withdrawn to themselves which resulted to less communication, less participation and more hassle of maintaining. As of this, the individual was prevented from taking part in the activity as they reduce and prevented any progress from occurring. Due to the individual’s behaviour and attitude towards the work in the particular activity, they were prevented from taking part in the formation of the presentation itself.
The presentation was single handed create by myself as I feared that associating the rest of the group will result to slow progress and the creation of a presentation which doesn’t meet my expectation. As of this, the presentation was created without anyone contribution. This has led to various problems and conflicts from occurring for example alienating the members. This alienation has caused the members not being satisfied with the actions which I have taken, even if it were to improve the current work progress the team was waking. To tackle the following problem, I apologised for the actions which I have taken and promised to continue to work as a team and taken into account and reward for everyone’s contribution. Another problem which has occurred was that the members of the team where unable to justify which part of the presentation they were to present. As of this, I had to go through the presentation again and highlight areas which each members where going to present. This particular task was unnecessary and was time consuming.
Before the presentation was produced, I have requested team members to go through the whole presentation and pin point errors which I have missed. This form of contribution has enabled me correct any mistakes which have occurred. After this process, the presentation was presented at a respectable quality.
Limitation is inevitable when carrying out any form of team assigned tasks. As the team leader, aspects which were visible included lack of commitment as well as the questioning of trust. The following highlights some of the aspects which were identifiable during the team work that were carried out.
The communication between each team members was superb. This is due to the formation of the relationship between each member of the years. Each member was able to express ideas freely, and contribute in numerous ways as this helped share their expertise. The specialists were able to work in areas which they were most confident in as this enabled the quality of the work to be maintained throughout the process. For example: The creation of the presentation was personally handled by me as I have a number of experiences within the field. The presentation created by myself was intended to be appropriate and suitable for the audience. The weakness that was presented within the communication was the use of technical terms used by myself as minority of the time was not understandable by the other members of the group. This caused problems to occur. This particular situation can be easily prevented and resolved by using appropriate terms and language which is understandable by both parties.
The performance monitoring that was performed was kept to a minimum which could have been improved on. Due to the form of trust which I have associated with the members, I did not take account of the work progress each team members where performing. This has resulted to some members misusing the trust and not performing the work that was required. As of this, there was a conflict between myself and the other members due to not meeting the deadline set out. This was an identifiable weakness that was present within my team. As a team leader, I should have monitored the team, as failing to do so have hindered the team work progress. The following problem can be easily avoided by continuously checking on the members over a period of time. However this shouldn’t be done too often as it could result to the team members feeling nervous as well as establish the thought of me not trusting the individual. By keeping a close eye, the team leader will be able to verify the work progress contributed by each member as well as identify the weak areas within the team. Upon doing so, the members can then be properly accredited for the amount of work and contribution they have inputted.
The presentation that was presented went accordingly as planned. However, there were some flaws that crippled the overall satisfaction of the presentation. The strength of the presentation included aspects such as the structure of the presentation, the information that was included in the presentation as well as the individual’s performance in terms of presenting. The design, imagery and information used attracted and grasped the audience attention. Yet, the downfall of the presentation corresponded to the length of the presentation. The presentation consisted of having too many slides which effectively could have resulted to losing minority of the audience’s attention. This information was received from the evaluation carried out by an assessor. This has helped enable me and other team members identify possible problems which can occur when creating a presentation. The following problem can be easily avoided by inputting information that is most crucial as well as the keeping the presentation concise and appropriate for the audience.
Conclusion:
Overall, this report has enabled me to identify my team strength and weaknesses. This report identifies the team overall performance in terms of communication, performance monitoring and the limitations that team leaders need to be accountable for. Taking this into account, I believe that working in a team is a positive aspect to come across. The reason to this is because as an individual I am able to grasp ideas and different aspects which I necessarily wouldn’t have come across. Working in a team enables a person to visualise an idea or a concept from a different prospective. Not only that, each members are able to share their expertise within a particular field. As of this, I believe working in a team is more effective and efficient then tackling a particular task individually. From the information which I have obtained, I plan to associate the skills and experience into enhancing the overall performance of a team. This includes any team based scenarios which I come across in the distant future.
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