Team Processes

TEAM PROCESSES

The basic premise of working in a team is that the individual has to work with other people , thus the concept of collaboration . But when employees are socialized into the individualist culture , some managers may find it difficult to steer them into working as a team or as teams However , this is where the function of training comes in . The business world ahs become increasingly convinced that some degree of training for teamwork is essential for a successful team to occur (John , 2000 Training of this nature should be geared

toward equipping management and employees with the skills , tools and techniques necessary for them to perform their respective team roles effectively

After all , collaboration skills , tools and techniques which are essential aspects of teamwork are extremely unlike the skills , tools and techniques in the individualist culture where employees are commonly socialized into . Training in teamwork is also required since individuals have to learn to work as a team rather than function in splendid isolation . The questions of how does a manager prepare the employees to be good team members and how does a manager train employees so that they can best apply their individual skills to the team effort should be answered in the following section

TRAINING FOR TEAMWORK

First , employees need to be familiar with a team-oriented culture . As is imperative for any change to occur in the organization , the first stage of Lewin 's three-phase model , which is unfreezing , should take place Educating the employees about the need to transform into a team-oriented culture from an individualist one , how embracing such change is a far more effective business and personal strategy than staying where they are or resisting , and understanding the whole process of change and what it could do for the employees , would sufficiently unfreeze them , making way for the second phase of the change process , which is transition

With the inculcation of a team-oriented culture to the employees subsequent development of team values and goal-setting would follow Here , the focus is on understanding personal as opposed to team values and how they affect team cohesion , as well as drawing up explicit and implicit goals to help the team reach maximum (though usually not complete ) consensus . Employees most of the times view team-building activities that have such focus as a waste of time , but such activities are important for getting acquainted , building trust , clarifying goals and understanding appropriate group behavior (Kraiger , 2002 . An open effort would likewise be made in team sessions that will follow to focus on both goal-setting and clarification of values , as well as on strategies to facilitate the attainment of the team values . Only with the employees having been provided with proper orientation and positioned with a correct mindset should the actual training for teamwork be initiated

Strategies during the actual training like presenting training in conflict resolution as well as allowing the team to work things out while not tolerating personal attacks would be carried out Additionally , allowing ample time...