26th November 2020 Leadership and Management Level 5 Improving Management and Leadership Performance ASSESMENT #3 1. Short questions: i. What is a team? Word ‘team’ is commonly taken for a group of people who are just working together.Yes, of course, all the members of the group need to be fully aware that the only way to achieve the goal is to work together. But in reality it is much more than that. If you want to make sure that your team will be performing with better results you need to make sure that all of the members of the team share the same vision, have the same goal , who can challenge others and discuss any issues. For the best explanation of the term ‘team’ with help comes Glen Parker in his book ‘Team Players and Teamwork’ . He says that a team is ‘a group of people with a high degree of interdependence geared toward the achievement of a goal or a completion of a task’. ii. Outline some common types of teams. iii. What are norms? How do norms help teams in their effective organisation? iv. Discuss some advantages of teams. How do teams help employees to grow? There are many advantages and disadvantages of teams. I personally believe that is up to the work that we do that decides if we will do better working in a team or by ourselves. However, if we are working with people and if we are in a leadership or management position it is highly advised to work in a teams. One of the main reasons is the fact that employees happen to be often dissatisfied with the decisions that have been made by management. However, if they will be included in the decision making process they will be less likely to complain and they will realise how hard this is and they will feel more appreciative for anyone who has to do it every day. Participating in the process of making the decision not only will help employees to feel more trustworthy but also will make them better decision makers in the future, because this process will require them to think differently, step out of the comfort zone and see the bigger picture. Other advantages of teams are that they help employees to think more individually. They will not be requiring as much supervision and can be more independent which will make them feel also more appreciated. They will also are much more likely to hold more responsibility for their actions. To sum up - teams will definitely increase employee autonomy One of the biggest advantages of teams is the fact that we can get to know biases of all the team members. They can be based on previous experience or on the assumptions. It is very beneficial for a leader to find out what are the biases of his team so we can hear them out, explain or discuss other options rather than having them to disrupt our plan. Teams are also a great way to increase employee trust for management decisions. Involving them in the decision making process will prove to them that it is much harder than it seems and they are more likely to become more accepting if the decision will be made by someone else’s . Effect of teams is helping not only employees or leaders, but also decisions made by teams are usually better quality, because it is based on the experience and knowledge of the whole team rather than one person. v. What are the five stages of team development? Bruce Tuckman came up with the idea of five stages of team development in 1965 while he was studying on teams and on group dynamics. According to him, every team has to go through every stage, however Mr. Tuckman highlights that not all of the team members will go through those stages together. First stage is called forming and it is compared to teams childhood. Usually on this stage team members have been just introduced to each other and they are very likely to be quiet and easy to influence. Team leader has to come out strong and the initiative, make sure that everyone is comfortable and start to familiarize roles and responsibilities. Most likely all of the participants will be looking at the leader as the role model, so if we will be in that position we need to make sure that we do our best. ‘Storming’ is the second stage of team development. It is also called a team adolesance. At this point everyone is fully aware of their responsibilities. As team members started to feel more comfortable with each other, they might reveal more of their personalities that may clash. They will openly show their disagreement. Team leader needs to keep the control of the group and deal with any issues in an honest and open way. It is important to remind the team members their goals. In the third stage, which is called ‘norming’, we can compare team members to young adults. With the support of a team leader, the team members will notice and respect the differences between then, but also they will see all of the similarities and use each other's strengths. At this point they will feel the most comfortable and team leader need to make sure that they will not forget about their goal and they will stay on track with their job. To make sure that happens team leader should delegate tasks. Fourth stage is called ‘performing’ and at this point the team is starting to mature. Everyone should have know their position and be familiar with the project and the whole group to this point that they should feel comfortable to be working without supervision of a leader. However, he needs to stay around and make sure that all of the team members are feeling appreciated and be able to help if needed. Last stage is called ‘adjouring’ but some people prefer to use the term ‘mourning’. As the project has finished now and team disbands, most of the team members became so close and had such a great experience that they do not want to be separated. A good leader should celebrate success with his team, or in case of a failure they should evaluate what went wrong and use this experience in the future. 2. Outline the characteristics of a good team leader. In every team there should be a good leader. A team leader can be chosen by team members, may be appointed or he can volunteer. Number of characteristics makes a good leader to stand out of the crowd. Firstly, leader have to encourage participation and communication. If he will be afraid to speak up or he will be declining to take part in any activities, it is very likely that team members won’t be willing to do it either. Second important thing is that the leader is in charge of stimulating enthusiasm. Team very probably became bored and lethargic if the team leader does not express any emotions. In case of any conflict team leader needs to act as negotiator and make sure that all of them are resolved so anyone in the team does not hold a grudge. I find that the most important characteristic of a good leader is ability to keep meetings in control. It is a very hard job, especially when we have good relations with team members, but we need to make sure that team is making progress. A good team leader is open minded, honest and considerate.
