Running Head PROACTIVE PLANNING 1

ProactivePlanning

InstitutionAffiliation

Effectiveteamwork is important to the running of an organization when strong,they make it through tough times of a company. To have a good unit, amanager must make a conscious effort to help employees as individualsto work as a group. Good performance and positive relations need tobe developed so that members can work seamlessly (Fapohunda, 2013).Managing a team is a difficult task and leaders need to have specificcharacteristics that help in creating efficiency, managers who lackthese qualities can learn to better themselves and become better atit.

Managersunable to create a functioning, efficient, self-directed, and highperforming team may be facing the challenge of having members wholack diversity. With participants of the same expertise andinterests, a unit may not achieve its goals. Communication is anessential component, if and when members treat themselves asindependent, the communication suffers. If the leader does notcommunicate to the unit, the project flow is broken, and goals arenot attained (Fapohunda, 2013).

Inan organization, conflict cannot be avoided, how members handleconflict is very crucial to a team’s development. The workingenvironment of a group also affects their performance. Theenvironment needs to be conducive for effective operations. Lack of ameeting place can hinder progress and development too. Units needmanagers to provide direction and purpose, because lack ofeffectiveness impedes the growth and achievement of goals. A strongleader that will guide and hold members accountable for their actionsis needed (Fapohunda, 2013).

Roleconfusion is another characteristic of ineffective teams. A managershould assign each person his particular role. Otherwise, memberswill not understand their specific duties, or they would choose notto go through with them. As a result, there would be chaos. Forfruition and productivity, a manager should identify the strengthsand weaknesses of the members so as to determine areas of priority.Successful teams have clear objectives that are collectively agreedupon, aims and objectives that go parallel with the company’soverall strategy and plan (Mauboussin &amp Callahan, 2014).

Managersthat have excellent organizational skills know where to start onprojects so that they can see it through to completion. Withexcellent organizational skills, he will be able to set the team’shierarchy, structure, and composition to make a successful team. Amanager should be able to perceive what is happening to the group andthe environment. He needs to identify issues, assess and work outwhat is not and be open enough to state when mistakes are made. Heshould have reason and a clear head. A good leader should be good atconflict resolution processes and educate members in the methods(Mauboussin &amp Callahan, 2014).

Agood leader has a sense of diversity he scouts for individuals whoare different and can introduce vision and propositions to the teamin matters regarding gender, age, culture, and ethnicity for success.Innovative thinking is a major characteristic in a manager, he shouldbe good at brainstorming, and be willing to grow from outdatedpractices. Innovative thinking brings about risks. Therefore, themanager should be able to adapt to change and not cave in (Mauboussin&amp Callahan, 2014).

Businessmanagers should hire those interested in sharing the workload andresponsibility with others. And with work ethics that will enablethem to strive through tough times to ensure projects are done welland on time. He should be able to select employees on how much theyare willing to devote to their job (Mauboussin &amp Callahan, 2014).

Appreciationis a quality necessary for good managers to form a highly successfulteam. He should be able to express his gratitude to members for ajob well done, and choose employees with respect to how much they arewilling to give to their duties. He should be able to define rolesfor each member, and match tasks to the abilities and talents ofindividual employees (Mauboussin &amp Callahan, 2014).

Toestablish effective teams, managers need to learn the power ofworking together for it is the source of success. The right peopleshould be chosen to complete the functions of a group with the rightpersonnel, work will always be done efficiently and effectively.Managers should learn to delegate duties, only then will members of ateam be productive because they are trusted. Managers shouldconsistently monitor the progress of their duties to ensureeverything is going according to plan (Mauboussin &amp Callahan,2014).

Successfulnegotiations, confrontation, and conflict resolution requirepreparation. Managers need to establish goals, identify trade-offs,and list alternatives to solve problems promptly. They also have toanalyze past relationships, identify expected outcomes, and recognizethe consequence of winning or losing (Zohar, 2015).

Managersneed to learn how to minimize confrontations and resolve conflictsconstructively. By being exposed to positive attitudes, strategies,and behaviors associated with successful negotiations. Buildingnegotiation skills allow the setting of goals, prevent conflict, andbuild confidence. This enables them to resolve their differencesthrough cooperation and team building exercises. Learn how tonegotiate win-win arguments by making deals rather than blaming orhiding their real motives. To function effectively in challengingsituations, managers need to learn to control their anger, diffuseit, and focus on resolution (Zohar, 2015).

References

Fapohunda,&nbspT.&nbspM.(2013). Towards effective team building in the workplace.International Journal of Education and Research, 1(4),1-12. Retrieved from http://www.ijern.com/images/April-2013/23.pdf

Mauboussin,&nbspM.&nbspJ.,&amp Callahan,&nbspD. (2014). How to manage a team to make gooddecisions. Credit Suisse, 1-21. Retrieved fromhttps://doc.research-and-analytics.csfb.com/docView?language=ENG&ampformat=PDF&ampsource_id=em&ampdocument_id=1027595371&ampserialid=WaID4bAg2JGWEdmhE%2B5eJyJPYqIjGuJ8Sb8NUYoLmME%3D

Zohar,&nbspL.(2015). The art of negotiation- leadership skills required fornegotiation in time of crisis. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.285

PROACTIVE PLANNING 3

ProactivePlanning

ProactivePlanning

Havingsuccessful self-directed, high-performing teams is a valuable asset.These teams are highly appreciated by managers because they are ableto work as single units to achieve their set targets and objectives.According to Newton (2011)successful,self-directed, high-performing teams are motivated, focused,innovative, organized, efficient, time-conscious, and share a commongoal. Not all managers, however, have been able to build this kind ofteams. Some managers have had to deal with demotivated, inefficient,disunified and disorganized teams. This can be a huge barrier towardsattaining any set objectives. Unsuccessful teams often lead to loss,incomplete tasks, unnecessary expenses, poor quality services andfinal products, and ultimately, the collapse of the whole system.Recently I attended a managers meeting about the establishment ofthese successful, self-directed, high-performing teams. The companywas concerned because not all managers had succeeded in buildingeffective teams. In the meeting, a discussion took place thathighlighted the characteristics of successful team building elements.These elements were later put into comparison with those managers whodid not have successful teams. This paper seeks to summarize thediscussions in that meeting, analyze what could be wrong and thesteps necessary to build successful teams.

Duringthe meeting, one of the major challenges that were identified as ahindrance to successful team building was the absence of diverseskills and interests. Having a successful team entails building italong people who can offer different sets of skills and abilities.When team members all have the same type and level of competencies,then they cannot co-ordinate effectively as they will look to handlethe same role within the team, bringing about redundancy. This, inturn, makes the purpose of the team not to be achieved (Fransen,Weinberger, &amp Kirschner, 2013).Itis like having the same person replicated into many. Same interestsalso hinder innovation and creativity within the team structure. Teammembers need to be endowed with different sets of skills andinterests so that each can handle a different role within the team.The team being a system needs component parts that play differentroles towards the common goal.

Anotherimpediment to the development of a team is the aspect of poorcommunication. In a group setting, communication is usually anessential component. Newton (2011) states that there is no rolewithin a team that is independent of the other. All roles aretherefore interrelated and if any team member decides to treat theirrole as independent, then communication structure within the teamwill fail. Communication should start from the team leader. If amanager does not communicate with some of his members, then that teamwill not be self-directed and high performing since there will be aninterruption in the project flow. Constant effective communicationsimplifies tasks to the team members, gives them direction, bringsabout sharing of ideas, and fine-tuning of strategies and solutions.Effective communication has to be a possible factor in any team forcoordination and active role play to be ensured and sustained.

Themanagers` discussion also discovered that lack of experiencedleadership adversely affects the team building process. Team leadersneed to make sure that they offer a sense of belonging, purpose,motivation, and direction to all team members. If a particularmanager fails to provide this, then team development will be severed.Strong leadership is key to a strong team as illustrated by (Fransen,Weinberger, &amp Kirschner, 2013).Goodleaders take responsibility and offer guidance and maintain momentum.They also hold the members accountable in their respective areas andinspire the team members. Effective leaders should monitor the team`sprogress from an individual level and offer support where it isneeded. The absence of leadership creates a leadership vacuum whichcan trigger complacency and disillusionment from team members.Conflicts are also common where leadership lacks.

Aspointed out above, a leadership vacuum is one factor that can lead toan emergence of a conflict within the team. Other causes of conflictsamong team members may include: overworking some members,underpayment, strained relationships, discrimination within the team,etc. The discussion took cognizance of the fact that minor conflictsare inevitable, but how you handle them makes the difference betweena successful and a failing team. Disagreements are part of groupdynamics, which should be exploited for the benefit of the team.Effective conflict resolution is critical to maintaining focus andunity within the team.

Wealso discussed the role played by confusion in the development of ateam. We found out that each person must understand their specificroles within the structure of the team. Lack of this understanding ofspecific roles leads to confusion and inability to delivereffectively in the team. When some members fail to understand orfollow up on their specifically assigned roles, then the team cannotoperate as a coordinated and cohesive unit (Wellington, 2012).Thisconfusion eventually leads to the team failing.

Apoor working environment is another issue that was raised in thediscussion. Teamwork needs a conducive environment to work and meet,and lack of a designated location of working or conducting teammeetings can hinder progress.

Themanager`s meeting then discussed the various steps that can beemployed by these failed teams in their rebuilding process. Themeeting agreed that clear goals, diversity characterize a successfulteam. Effective decision making, conflict resolution skills, clearcommunication, defined roles, strong leadership, conducive workingenvironment, and equal participation of each team member are othercharacteristics of a successful team. According to Wellington,(2012),thereare various steps can be undertaken to ensure all teams realize thesefeatures. These steps were outlined in the meeting as below.

Thefirst step is to establish leadership and identify the teamobjectives, clearly defining the team`s work. The mission, purpose,and expectation of the team need to be identified and understood byall members. This role of creating awareness falls to the teamleader. The next step involves choosing the right team members.Getting the right people for the defined functions in the team iscrucial. The right team members provide broad perspectives on theteam`s projects. The third step involves the delegation and assigningof roles and responsibilities to each team member, providing thenecessary resources and setting forth clear guidelines for eachmember. After assigning duties, the team leaders need to monitorprogress at regular intervals. Verification of the operations of theteam is necessary. Create a forum to share concerns, ideas andproject status. Finally, there is the need to celebrate teamsuccesses and achievements. When a particular goal is achieved, theteam should appreciate each member`s contribution, and this willbuild cohesion, good relations, winning mentality and motivation(Wellington, 2012).

Recommendations

Themeeting recommended that the struggling managers need to learn fromthe successful ones. They agreed that this kind of a manager`s forumwhere they meet and share ideas needs to be a regular occasion sinceit will help maintain the sharing of ideas and monitoring how eachmanager is progressing. There also was a need to offer managerial andleadership training to improve managerial skills in areas likecommunication, conflict resolution, and team selection techniques.

Conclusion

Itis the dream and responsibility of every manager to have a successfulteam. The complex and dynamic nature of teams calls for strongleadership and members abilities to enhance teamwork. Merely bringingpeople together is not enough. Getting them to work for a commonpurpose is the hard task that managers are faced with. Challengeswill be encountered, but there is the need to resolve and handle eachchallenge as a team. These challenges are the reason why managers areemployed to devise strategies that will address them.

References

Fransen,J. Weinberger, A &amp Kirschner, P. A. (2013). Team effectivenessand team development in CSCL. Educational psychologist.

Newton,R. (2011). The management book. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall

Wellington,P (2012). Managing Successful Teams. London: Kogan page.