The Waratah Engineering Team - Essay Example

To function effectively the Production Planner requires clear guidance in the dynamic and comprehensive procedures and processes that make up the role. At present within Waratah Engineering training of recruits takes a long amount of time, production is inconsistent, there has been no evaluation of existing risks, hazards and other on-the-job knowledge, high error rates, a lack of suitable documentation, and overall ineffective training and retention of new information. It is suggested in this paper that a team-centred approach will enhance the effectiveness and efficiency in the Production Department. The values and behaviors of the Team compiling the procedural manual will be reviewed. Strengths and weaknesses of the Team's strategies will be evaluated, and recommendations made to amend weaknesses. A set of strategies perceived to be suited to rectifying the Team's collaboration and sense of belongingness will be presented. Finally, a conclusion shall synthesise the main points of this paper, and reiterate the support for a team-centred culture, represented by the procedural manual, as a solution to the current Team environment. A review of the information presented in Assignment 1, identified two important values and three significant behaviors that represent the Team culture: 1) Value: Having the ability to work independently - this is a value inherent in the role of an 'independent worker'. The employee is able to organize themselves, set goals, manage time, maintain their progress and evaluate their outcomes. Being able to rely on their skills and knowledge to achieve a task, the independent worker is self-reliant and often takes the initiative. Furthermore, when entering into a group assignment, the independent worker brings a wealth of knowledge, skills and competencies that contribute to the development of the group. Such diversity cultivates empathy, tolerance for differences, and appreciation for another's point of view. 2) Value: Distributed Responsibility and Leadership - each member of the Team acknowledges their accountability for their decisions and actions, and accepts that a combination of leadership styles must be available to guide and monitor group development. This value includes the consensus that a Team member needs to act in a professional manner, and that this requires a commitment to the group assignment. 3) Value: Communication - to consider others in our interactions, by being open and sincere in or contributions and conferencing. Each member of the group is expected to support the group and interact with other members to plan, problem solve and discuss Team issues. Each person will be listened to and provided with the opportunity to speak freely of their issue or suggestion. Members are encouraged to express their reservations with the current procedures and processes, as this will enhance the accuracy and relevance of the manual, as well as encourage group members to form bonds of trust, support, consideration and overall coherence. 4) Behavior - Democratic Vote - A decision will be made by the majority. As such, all members will have the opportunity to voice their points of view, while at the same time being required to justify their position. Issues which require a vote must have all Team members present. However, if the decision made is later evaluated and found to be lacking in effectiveness it will be revised and modified. 5) Behavior: Motivation - The Team aims to encourage and support each member, as when asking them about their job and issues at work. As a group, solutions will be brainstormed so that it is not the independent worker with the sole responsibility for progressing toward set goals. The Operations Manager will also review Team Development and comment on goals and progress. At meetings, praise is given for achievements, both as a group, and as individuals contributing to the group. Now to turn to the identified strengths and weaknesses of the Team's culture. Firstly, it is a strength that the Team decided upon a set of core values and behaviors to guide its group planning, goal setting, evaluation and implementation of results. Secondly, it was also of benefit to the group that particular members stepped forward to initiate tasks, such as the development of a procedural manual. Thirdly, two of the members are described as being quite open minded and creative in their contributions to the group. Fourthly, the newest member was invaluable in that she had limited experience with the present procedures and processes and was able to provide a novice's perspective, which enabled a more comprehensive investigation. There were several limitations for this group with their present practices of Team culture. For instance, although there was delegation of duties, it appeared to be partly involuntary as to who took the most responsibility for particular tasks, such as dong the 'leg work'. There also appeared to be a lack of leadership sharing, especially as one member could be referred to as 'bossy. The Team appeared to have one social loafer, who made minimal contributions and so can be presumed to be unmotivated by her role. It seems that members were not building on the ideas suggested by some of the others. It is recommended that the values and behaviors determined to represent the Team's culture be further extended to include how the group perceives itself of being able to uphold them. For example, members could establish the leadership strategies that best suited to situations that have occurred, and then match member's leadership skills and characteristics to the situation. The Team should review its Communication Value, as members do not appear to feel comfortable in stating when they feel overworked, or left out of the decision-making process. The unmotivated member could be encouraged to identify areas of her role that she may be bored or confused by, and to suggest ways to re-engage her with her role. It may be that the member will need support in seeking outside professional help. Finally, the Team could brainstorm on ideas that they consider necessary to develop an innovative, effective, and collaborative Team culture. Five strategies have been identified to complement my Team Leadership approach: 1) Equal delegation of tasks - the Team will brainstorm tasks that are necessary for the group to meet goals and to cohere as a Team. Using the group-feedback from the evaluation sheets in Assignment 1, the leadership strengths of each member will be identified. Additionally, each member will start a reflective journal in which they will record personal evaluations of their own decisions and actions in light of the outcomes. From both these approaches each person will understand their personal leadership style, and their ability to optimally perform particular group tasks. Participants identified as the ideal person for a particular Team role will have the opportunity to decline. Deliberation of task assignment will continue until a consensus is reached. For example, perhaps assigning one person to do the 'leg work', whilst another is responsible for tying up documents, so as to distribute the workload equally. Limitations of this strategy may be that an inordinate amount of time is required to establish who will take responsibility for particular tasks, and to determine what is an 'equal distribution'. However, all members are adults, and time limits will be set to reach consensus. Should the strategy prove itself to be ineffective, then the Team will brainstorm an alternative approach to the issue, such as choosing tasks from a hat. 2) Re-engage the 'Social Loafer' - activities external to the work place will be incorporated into the Team culture to enhance bonds of trust, support, friendliness and cooperation. A more personal approach to Team member's aspirations, needs and expectations from their work role and colleagues will be fostered within, and external to, the work environment. It is anticipated that group cohesion will motivate the 'social loafer' to re-engage with the group by virtue of feelings of belongingness, trust, perception of support and companionship. A motivational workshop will also be organized for Team members to attend. However, the social loafer may have underlying issues that she does not wish to disclose to the other members and may never contribute as fully as she could. Alternatively, she may choose not to contribute to full participation in the Team culture. The team will vote on having the Operation Manager monitor their work progress over time to evaluate their performance as individual employees, and to discuss with the social loafer their possible transition to another department. 3) Utilize 'Whitespace' - at present, there is one member in particular who is quite open minded and creative. Her ability to 'think outside the square' or to work within whitespace provides an abundance of innovative problem-solving methods to the Team. Members will vote to set aside two hours per week to brainstorm, mind map and creatively engage in problem solving so as to foster entrepreneurial characteristics to explore and play with group assignment challenges. It will not be advised that only one member be responsible for this task, as a collaboration of view points would provide more flexibility in solution opportunities. However, it may occur that only one or two members continuously contribute in a creative manner. In this case the group will brainstorm on ways that would more fully engage the other members in the creative problem-solving process. 4) Learn Conflict Resolution Skills - the Team will vote to take part in an online training program in Conflict Resolutions Skills (free). It is anticipated that this course will require 1 hour participation each week, during work hours, from each member. The Operations Manager will be consulted to approve company time being invested in this way. These skills will build on the Team's existing Communication strategies, and cultivate more efficient interpersonal relationships, negotiation skills, ability to compromise, and to appreciate the differences of others. However, team members may not put the new knowledge into practice, and so the Operation Manager will be asked to incorporate 'conflict resolution ability' as part of employee evaluations. Furthermore, this assessment will be able to be included in the written reference of the employee if the employee wishes it to be mentioned. Also, the free online course will provide a Certificate of Achievement, which is anticipated to provide the employee with recognition of their training. 5) Team Building Workshops - the Team shall vote on taking part in team building workshops at least once every two months. The Operation Manager's permission will be sought to arrange weekends away for the group to take part in team building programs, such as those held at outdoor leadership camps. It is anticipated that skills and awareness that are cultivated with these programs can be transferred to the work place, and will enable the group to source and create team building exercises that can be used within the workplace. However, besides work, the personal lives of the Team may negate their ability to attend all events as a 'Team'. In such a case, the activity will be postponed to a date that allows each of the four members, and the Operations Manager to attend. This paper reviewed the development of the Waratah Engineering Team as they began their compilation of a procedures and processes manual for the Production Planner. It is of benefit to the Team that they have a set of core values and behaviours to encourage Team culture. However, some aspects of group coherence and collaboration are lacking, and solutions and strategies to rectify this have been suggested. Overall, my Team leadership approach is team-centred, seeking to engage and empower members through collaboration, democratic vote, and creative team building activities. Read More