Team Working Environment
The intensely competitive global business environment is marked by innovative ways of enhancing business performance and profitability. Many industry leaders consider team-based work environments as the best model that involves all resources in actively developing and contributing to the organization’s success (Fapohunda, 2013). Teamwork is a job concept that sees employees as participants of interdependent groups rather than as distinct individuals assigned with tasks. Teamwork is an essential element in any setting, and aims to facilitate the best outcome from a team through the promotion of self-development, effective interactions, and creative collaboration.
Traditional Versus Team Working Environments
In the traditional work settings, managers define and strategize the nature of work to be accomplished by the staff as opposed to the team environment where team members jointly determine and achieve work goals. Activities are narrowly planned, and cross-training is observed as unproductive in the traditional concept whereas, in the team environment, cross-training is considered a norm for the success of a business. Most of the informative materials in the traditional model are considered as a management asset while in the team environment information is made available across all levels of the organization (Snell, Bateman, & Konopaske, 2015). Jobs are done distinctively in the traditional environment; however, the team method facilitates group operations. For instance, in the new team environment which is a concept where employees work together, individuals jointly develop strategies that can be used to enhance a company’s performance.
How to Effectively Build and Successfully Implement Self-Managed Teams
In order to transition from a single-manager traditional leadership style, the first step would be to establish a self-managed team (SMT) plan. The successful application of SMT depends on vital factors such as, group task design, team characteristics, and a model that encourages employee involvement. The nature of assigned team duties significantly determines the success of the SMT based on its impact on the members’ motivations and effect on self-regulation. Promoting supervisory personalities help to build self-leadership skills that enable the self-goal creation, self-reinforcement, and self-deprecation, which are also important aspects in establishing the SMTs (Vregelaar, 2017). Consequently, forming an organizational setting that enhances employee involvement through moving the syndicate’s features to the lower levels aid in the efficient implementation of the SMT. This facilitates ownership and encourages the firm’s personnel to be accountable for their obligations thereby, stimulating performance. Group elements like size, composition, expertise, and beliefs assist in developing SMTs that are easy to manage and ones that comprises different skills. Team building is a collection of activities that can be used to create an efficient team working environment. This can be achieved in the business through processes such as workshops in which members are grouped to attain a certain organizational objective.
How Self-Managed Teams Contribute to Overall Effectiveness of the Business
SMTs play an important role in the overall effectiveness of the business by encouraging efficient decision making, which is a critical aspect in providing solutions to organizational challenges. Through this approach, the group members own and are responsible for their actions thereby, acting as a motivation to the business performance. Consequently, SMTs promote healthy communication between the management and the consumer, which help in building the company’s brand (Vregelaar, 2017). The delegation of numerous management duties and authority to the group members enable individuals to develop their leadership skills and encourage relationships within the team.
Conclusion
A team-based working environment allows free exchange of information across all levels of the organization as opposed to the traditional approach. Additionally, the concept promotes group work whereas the traditional one encourages individual performance. Creating a group task that enables the employees to own and be responsible for their actions assists in the successful implementation of the SMTs. Team features such as size, composition, and beliefs are vital in creating and applying the SMT concept in a firm. Delegation of managerial duties and effective decision making by the team members help to facilitate the success of the business, freeing up the top-management to focus on business expansion strategies.
References
Fapohunda, T. M. (2013). Towards effective team building in the workplace. International Journal of Education and Research, 1(4), 1-12. Retrieved from: www.academia.edu/download/31961297/TOWARDS_EFFECTIVE_TEAMBUILDING_IN_THE_WORKPLACE.pdf
Snell, S., Bateman, T., & Konopaske, R. (2015). M: Management. Retrieved from: https://kwap17ytd06.storage.googleapis.com/QjAwVkY2MjJITQ==06.pdf
Vregelaar, R. M. (2017). Identifying factors for successful self-managing teams: An evidence-based literature review. Retrieved from: essay.utwente.nl/72758/1/Vregelaar_ten_BA_BMS.pdf