Teamwork results in Employee Motivation

 Teamwork results in Employee Motivation

Introduction
Most of the organisations today have realised the importance of team and groups for the business. The approach from an individual has now shifted to team management. Research shows that the work is accomplished in a much efficient way when the teams are involved. Usage of teams and groups is continuously expanding, and a lot of organisations are using it with a hope of enhanced performance with better productivity. A team is a small number of people who have different skills and abilities and who work together for a common goal. Today being a competitive world, every organisation is working to attain the best position in the market with the concept of team and group work (Salas et al., 2015). Individual work and decision-making have now become a traditional method which has taken back stage and has made way for teams and groups to take over and prove productive for the organisations. This teamwork strategy not only benefits the organisation but also every member of the team, because of which it's being adopted rapidly by most of the organisations. Teams and groups take the origination success to the next level by enhanced performance, innovation, and motivation. Also with the help of team and groups, the organisations can achieve competitive advantage (Saxena, 2015).

Benefits of team and group work
Team and group Responsiveness to Customers
  For any organisation, it is a priority to be flexible and elastic as per the change in consumer needs & demands. This analysis requires different levels of hierarchy with different skills, knowledge, and abilities. For example, the lower hierarchy individuals or the salesmen are the closest to the consumers who are aware of the taste and needs of the consumer. But these employees cannot design the product accordingly, so they need higher hierarchy employees for making changes as per the research (Dietz, et al., 2014). Thus to make changes, an organisation requires different specialisation and skills to work as a team and enhance the products & services offered to the consumers. It is the responsibility of the managers to understand the appropriate skills and expertise required for their business. Cross-functional strategy helps the business to improve its efficiency and satisfy customers rapidly. A satisfied consumer will inevitably become an asset for the company (Fidalgo-Blanco et al., 2015).

Teamwork results in Employee Motivation
To increase the efficiency and productivity of an organisation, team and group work is vital. To initiate teamwork employee motivation and satisfying them is also essential to achieve the strategic goals. Motivation helps the employees to stick together and work as a team. The teams are given freedom and flexibility while working without much interference so that they can be more creative and efficient. The training and development are looked after the managers. Therefore it's essential to have team members who are skilled and specialised. A specialisation helps the team to be more innovative and efficient (Akhilesh, 2014).

Better Quality Outcomes
 Teamwork initiates the better use of resources and ideas. Since there is combined effort there is higher efficiency, the work is finished at a faster pace, there are innovative ideas which help to accomplish the task in a better way.

Problems that teams and groups encounter
1)    In teamwork, there is difficulty in making decisions 

2)    There is the lack of proper communication between members. If some of the members are not clear about the team goals, then confusion can be created which leads to inefficiency in working because of which the task is not completed properly (Gonzalez et al., 2015)

3)    Difficulty in solving conflicts. Conflicts can hurt the productivity level and may demotivate the workers to work inefficiently. It’s the responsibility of the team leader to delegate the work as per their strength and weakness.

4)    At times there may be the lack of participation due to poor attendance or low energy level.

5)    There is different thinking process as the members are of different beliefs, experiences, training and skills (Akhilesh, 2014).

6)    Strong leadership is essential for the teams to work properly. If the team leader fails to command or achieve the respect of the members, then the whole team and the work suffer.

Factors for effective team and group building
To maximise the strength of an individual teamwork is essential. Effective team building helps the team workers to attain the goals quickly and successfully. Some of the factors for effective team and group building are: -

1)    Each member of the team should be aware of the aims and objectives of the organisation. Goals help the members to make progress towards their task. Therefore it's essential to choose one person as a leader and make him responsible for all the teamwork (Gonzalez et al., 2015).

2)    To be successful, it's essential that the members of the team participate with total enthusiasm and commitment. Personal work should be kept aside while working on a team or in a group for better productivity (White, 2014).

3)    Team or group effort requires effective communication. The team members must be aware of the objectives, goals, target dates to finish the work and their progress report. The team leader should convey this information during the meetings. Usage of modern technology to for communication is the best option.

4)    Rewards are necessary to keep the team motivated. The team members are influenced to participate in various group projects because of the attractive rewards. These rewards also encourage them to take part in the upcoming group projects.

Johari Window
With the help of Johari window, the employees can build trust and create an effective team or group. 

The team members have, to be honest with each other to achieve success and complete the task efficiently. Joseph Luft and Harry developed this tool to help people to communicate, open up and trust each other. Once the employees understand each other, it becomes easier to build trust because they communicate and open up. Also, this tool helps them to strengthen their relationship. There are two principles of Johari window.

1)    Communicate, open up, build trust and strengthen the relationship.

2)    The feedback helps the team to learn new things about themselves and improvise on them to be more efficient.

With the idea of Johari window, the members of the team can build better relationships and solve all the issues related to work. 

The figure shows the hidden area which means what the person does not know about him. The second block is the hidden area which shows what the person knows about himself. The third block shows the blind area which depicts what is unknown by the person but is known to others, and the last block shows the open area which shows what the person knows about himself is also known by others too. The primary goal is to expand the open area so that the employees can learn things about themselves. This step will help to build trust & relationship and be more productive & efficient (Lehmann-Willenbrock, et al., 2016).

Belbin Team Roles
If a team wants to be successful, they have to use the 9 Belbin team roles.

1)    Resource investigators are the ones who are always curious to find new ideas and use them for the team. These people are full of enthusiasm, make contacts with everyone, and try to explore new opportunities. These people may lose interest soon and forget to follow up on lead (Fay et al, 2015).

2)    Team workers are versatile in nature, and they try to complete the work with full responsibility. These people are cooperative in nature but can also be indecisive.

3)    Coordinators are the ones who focus on the objectives of the team. These people are confident and goal oriented but can be manipulative at times (White, 2014).

4)    Plants are the ones who are creative and solve problems with creativity and imagination. Their weakness is that they are quite absent-minded at times.

5)    Monitor evaluator is the one who makes unbiased judgments, there are sober in their working pattern, but they also lack the ability to motivate others.

6)    Specialist is the ones who have in-depth knowledge of the team; they are very dedicated towards work because of which they might overload the team members (Sandoff et al., 2016).

7)    Shapers are the ones who make sure that the team is moving, they are challenging and devoted. The problem with them is that they can get aggressive at times.

8)    Implementer work in a strategic and efficient way, they are reliable, practical but can be inflexible and slow at times (Ruch et al., 2016).

9)    The last one is the complete finisher who finishes the tasks with no room for errors; they are perfect when at work but when at the extreme when can be accused of their perfectionis.

Thomas Kilmaan teamwork model
Teamwork or working in groups is one of the major business skills today. By using the Thomas Kilmaan model, we will be able to derive a personality tool from making the members of the team effective. Thomas Kilmaan model will help to strengthen the team by assisting them to improvise on their skills and abilities. The teams will be capable of handling customers in difficult situations too and run the business smoothly (Ruch et al., 2016). The model helps to: -

1)     Make the team understand the working style of other members of the team

2)    The preferences can be known which reduces the chance of conflict.

3)    Interpersonal skills and leadership qualities are developed

4)    Helps in building healthy relationship with the customers

5)    The increase in overall productivity (Salas et al., 2013)

Areas of improvement

Team efforts are always better than individual effort. But in groups, there are possibilities of various fights or conflicts and disagreements about some project. Improvising teamwork is essential, and it can be achieved in various ways (Lehmann-Willenbrock, et al., 2016).

1)    There should be various recognition reward program implemented for better performance. Giving incentives to the team, or some appreciation token would boost their performance and would be beneficial (Sandoff, et al., 2016).

2)    The outline of the work should be clear, the skills, requirements, and the deadline should all be communicated properly. This will help to divide the responsibilities amongst the team members as per their experience and expertise which will enhance productivity.

3)    To resolve disputes is essential for the team as it helps in increasing productivity and efficiency of the members. The team members should be instructed to communicate with other members of the team so that all the confusion and misunderstanding is cleared out (Salas et al., 2015).

Conclusion

The organisations today have shifted from individual work to team work who works for a common objective hierarchies system no longer separates them. Organisations involve employees from all the level in their team(Fay et al., 2015). It has now become a common thing that the senior managers, mid-level manager, and executive work together in a team for better productivity and growth. It helps the company to improve the stability and competitive advantage. Working as a team helps different skills and creativity together which is beneficial for the company.  Also, it encourages job satisfaction, higher motivation level, and learning new things. Efficient can transform the organisation and make it a better place by keeping the morale high. Work groups and teams are formed to share information and take an effective decision so that achieving the goals become easier. Every member of the team shares responsibility as well as information. The idea is to work with synergy so that more can be accomplished together as a team. Effective teams can open channels of communication, enhance the productivity level and keep the consumers satisfied and happy.

 References 

1)      Salas, E., Shuffler, M.L., Thayer, A.L., Bedwell, W.L. and Lazzara, E.H., 2015. Understanding and improving teamwork in organisations: A scientifically based practical guide. Human Resource Management, 54(4), pp.599-622.

2)      Salas, E., Tannenbaum, S., Cohen, D. and Latham, G. eds., 2013. Developing and enhancing teamwork in organisations: Evidence-based best practices and guidelines (Vol. 33). John Wiley & Sons.

3)      Sandoff, M., Sandoff, M., Nilsson, K. and Nilsson, K., 2016. How staff experience teamwork challenges in a new organisational structure. Team Performance Management, 22(7/8), pp.415-427.

4)      Fay, D., Shipton, H., West, M.A. and Patterson, M., 2015. Teamwork and organisational innovation: The moderating role of the HRM context. Creativity and Innovation Management, 24(2), pp.261-277.

5)      Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Beck, S.J. and Kauffeld, S., 2016. Emergent team roles in organisational meetings: identifying communication patterns via cluster analysis. Communication Studies, 67(1), pp.37-57.