Monday, March 22, 2010

Effective Work Teams

In order for a work team to be effective, then it must follow 2 criteria, performance and viability. performance is simple. Either the team got the work they needed to do done or they didn't. Viability is team members satisfaction and continued willingness to contribute. A team is not truly effective it performs well but is slowly self destructing as well. In addition to performing and team viability, a team must have a team friendly organization. Work teams need some sort of support system. The chance of succeeding increase tremendously if they are nurtured and facilitated by the organization. The teams purpose and the organizations strategy need to run parallel.In order for this to be, the organizational culture needs to value team participation and autonomy. Linda Hunt, resident of St. Josephs Hospital and Medical Center, also said that team members need technological tools, reasonable schedules, training, and rewarded by the organizational rewards system. I went online and found a website that listed characteristics of an effective work team, they are the following

clear purpose
informality
participation
listening
civilized disagreements
group consensus
open communication
shared leadership

Sparks, Ricki. Characteristics of an Effective Team. http://www.missouribusiness.net/sbtdc/docs/characteristics_effective_team.asp

3 comments:

  1. I like that you mentioned that teams need a support system. This fact is very true because if members within each team don't cooperate or support each other, it would create more work and more efforts to complete a task. when team members support each other, they can help each other to complete a task if someone is unable to or is slacking in an area. Support is a big component of team building and shouldn't be left out when creating teams.

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  2. An other thing is really important to consider when creating teams is for me the fact to go with with people you don't know in your private life. As a matter of fact when going with people you really know (like friends, siblings or relatives) it's really difficult to produce good work because you are reluctant to say when something is not going in the right way. If you want to produce good work you've to be with people you know (or not) in a professional way. so your meeting will be focused on the work to do and not to the last time you spend together.

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  3. I have had problem with both performance and viability in a group. Often when performance by all members is lacking it can cause others to feel unmotivated and helpless about the task ahead of them. Each member of the team must put forth a similar amount of work so that it is fair to all members and all receive a grade that is deserved.

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