Article on TEAM WORKPresented By

Eshant SharmaAmritpal BediSurbhi Jindal

TEAM WORKTeamwork is "work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole". Now if we want to understand the concept of team work we should first understand what basically a team is.A team comprises a group of people linked in a common purpose. Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate more skills through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses.

Types of teams

Teams can be classified according to their objective. The four most common forms of teams you are likely to find in an organisation are problem solving teams, self-managed teams, cross functional teams and virtual teams.

A. Problem Solving teams :They are typically composed of 5 to 12 employees from the same department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency and the work environment. Organisations are relying more and more on problem solving teams to help solve organisational problems. In problem solving teams members share ideas or offer suggestions on how work process and methods can be improved.

B. Self-managed teams :They are generally composed of 10 to 15 people who take on the responsibilities of their former supervisors. Typically these responsibilities include:

(1) Collective control over the pace of work.(2) Determining of work assignments.(3) Organisation of breaks.(4) Collective choice of inspection procedures used.

Fully self-managed teams select their own members and the members evaluate each other performance. As a result supervisory positions take on decreased importance and may even be eliminated.

C. Cross – Functional TeamsCross – functional teams are made of employees at about the same hierarchical level but from different work areas who come together to accomplish a task. Cross functional teams are an effective means of allowing people from diverse areas within an organisation to exchange information, develop new ideas, solve problems and coordinate complex projects. Cross functional teams bring people with different functional specialities to better invent design or deliver product or service. The general goals of using cross functional teams include some innovation, speed and quality that come from early coordination among the various specialities.

D. Virtual TeamsVirtual teams use computers technology to tie tighter physically disperse members in order to achieve a common goal. They allow people to collaborate online whether they

are only a room apart or separated by continents. The three primary factors that differentiate virtual teams from face to face teams are:

(1) The absence of verbal communication.(2) Limited social content.(3) The ability to overcome time and space constraints.

Teamwork VS Individual work

Working effectively as part of a team is incredibly important for output quality, morale, and retention- The reality is that there are a number of risks to working alone that affect output quality and morale:

Working alone makes it harder to get early and continual design feedback, thereby decreasing output quality. A tight feedback cycle is critical to achieving a productive state of flow and the earlier that you can get feedback, the less likely that you’ll waste time going down the wrong path and earlier you’ll know to correct your course. In practice, one place where this shows up in software development is that it’s significantly easier for someone to review your code and to give good feedback if they actually work on the same team as you and share the same project context as you; it’s much harder to for someone on a different project to give you code.

Working alone reduces learning. One part of this is related to the first point, where there are fewer people with a shared context to challenge your ideas. Another is that because the project takes much longer to complete, each individual working along works on fewer projects over time.

Working on a team increases accountability. Peer pressure is a powerful force. Particularly if you’re working with people whom you respect and don’t want to let down, the motivation to help your team succeed can override the dips in motivation that you encounter on days when you’re not at your best.

Slower project momentum from working alone reduces morale. Project estimation is hard, and projects tend to slip behind schedule. In single-person projects, a single stall can put the project to a halt, just like how in a grocery store with only one checkout line, one problematic customer or one item that needs a price check can put all sales to a temporary halt. With at least one additional person on the project, there can still at least be some forward momentum. A related point is that people tend to think about time spent on a project in terms of time elapsed and not time invested, so even if you’ve only been working part-time on a project for two months spread out over half a year, it’s hard for you and others within the organization to internalize that and not think the entire project proceeded slowly and took half a year to complete. This disappointment at the time elapsed to a finish a project can also reduce overall morale and excitement.

The lows of a project are more demoralizing when working alone. Sand traps that you struggle to get out of, monotonous work that you need to grind through, and bugs that seem to defy all understanding become less draining and more bearable when there’s someone else to share the pain with.

The highs of a project are more motivating when working as a team. Celebrating an achievement with teammates is a great way to boost morale. If you work alone, who are you going to high-five when you get something working

Benefits of Teamwork (a) Problems solving: A single brain can’t bounce different ideas off of each other. Each team member has a responsibility to contribute equally and offer their unique perspective on a problem to arrive at the best possible solution. Teamwork can lead to better decisions,

products, or services. The quality of teamwork may be measured by analysing the following six components of collaboration among team members: communication, coordination, balance of member contributions, mutual support, effort, and cohesion. In one study, teamwork quality as measured in this manner correlated with team performance in the areas of effectiveness (i.e., producing high quality work) and efficiency (i.e., meeting schedules and budgets).

(b) Healthy competition: A healthy competition in groups can be used to motivate individuals and help the team excel.

(c) Developing relationships: A team that continues to work together will eventually develop an increased level of bonding. This can help people avoid unnecessary conflicts since they have become well acquainted with each other through team work. Team members’ ratings of their satisfaction with a team is correlated with the level of teamwork processes present.

(d) Everyone has unique qualities: Every team member can offer their unique knowledge and ability to help improve other team members. Through teamwork the sharing of these qualities will allow team members to be more productive in the future.

(e) In healthcare: teamwork is associated with increased patient safety.

Team Effectiveness model

The model starts with a description of the Organizational and Team Environment, defined by contextual factors that influence a team’s design, processes, and outcomes at the start: Reward systems – how members are at least partly rewarded for participation; Communication systems – how the team communicated both internally and externally,

which is of special criticality for virtual teams; Physical space – the co-location and layout of physical space for the team; Organizational environment – the collection of resources, policies, procedures,

expectations, and regulations the surround the team; Organizational structure – the relationship between the team and key stakeholders, along

with the reporting structure; and Organizational leadership – the degree of buy-in and support the team can expect to

receive from key leaders outside the team.The next major area of the model is Team Design, consisting of the following elements: Task characteristics – a categorization of the work of the team in terms of degree of

interdependence: reciprocal, sequential, or pooled; Team size – the number of people on the team (theories abound as to the ideal number;

the best number is the amount necessary to do the work, and no more); and Team composition – the balance between homogeneity (to unify) and diversity (to

broaden possibilities).The third major area of the model is Team Processes, consisting of the following elements: Team development – this is the “forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning”

lifecycle of a team; Team norms – the list of behaviours that the team agrees to exhibit and discourage,

developed and agreed to by the team itself; Team roles – the functions and positions held by team members that permit the team to

perform work;

Team cohesiveness – the degree of attraction the members feel towards the team and their motivation to remain team members, driven by interactions, feedback, and team “maintenance” functions; and

Boundary management – addresses who is and is not on the team, and who the other critical “partners” are in other parts of the organization.

The final area of the model is Team Effectiveness, which addresses the elements that define team success.  These are as follows: Achieve organizational goals – obviously, did the team deliver meaningful results? Satisfy member needs – were the needs of individual team members met? Team growth/learning – did the team members learn something new from the

experience? Maintain team survival – for continuing teams, do they survive outside challenges and

threats? Satisfy outside stakeholder needs – obviously, did the work of the team meet

expectations?