Collaborative assignments at a workplace - Essay Example

Teamwork has become an integral part of the work environment of the 21st century. The work assignment in the corporate world has shifted away from individualistic efforts and instead focuses on teamwork and collaborative assignments as the most common way to get things done. A group is a collection of two or more people work with one another regularly to achieve a common goal (Schermerhorn & Osborn & Hunt, 2003). The purpose of this paper is to study the theory that workplace managers promote collaborative assignments to increase employee morale, but employee morale actually decreases if the teams are mismanaged.

Working with others can be very satisfying experience which takes off the pressure from individual to deliver solutions by themselves. In order for a team to work in an environment that boosts the morale of the members, synergy among the players must be established. Synergy is a state in which the creation of a whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Schermerhorn, et al. 2003). The people working in a collaborative assignment commit to the project and leave their egos and individualistic agendas home.

They are fully committed to the team and their work efforts are based on mutual respect, good communication and common goals. It is important to create a corporate culture that promotes teamwork, collaboration, openness and friendship (Nohria & Groysberg & Lee, 2008). There are different scenarios that can hinder the ability of a team to work effective which ends up lowering employee morale and forming teams that are ineffective. One important consideration is group size. The optimal size of a team is one that is between five and seven members.

If a team is too small the members have to take too many responsibilities and can not truly perform team exercises such as brainstorming sessions. Teams that are too large are hard to manage and are susceptible to having many members who slack off and let others do the work. Another important consideration is the way leadership is managed within the team setting. It is not good to foster a work environment in which team member and leaders only interchanged ideas and work tasks based on the assumption that they are doing something in exchange of getting some sort of consideration or specific reward back in exchange for the information (Collaborative Teams, 2008).

It is better for the leaders of team to become mentors that are there to help out the other members of team without expecting anything in return.Under no circumstance should a team leader or any other member of team should engage in work relationships in which intimidation tactics or authoritarian styles are used as part of the every routine (Graham, 1995). This hinders the ability of a team bonding since the people in such a working environment can not build bonds of trust with other co-workers.

Inter group dynamics have to be managed carefully to prevent hostile working environment to manifest themselves. As far as decision making with a group the most desirable strategic choice is to make decision based on consensus among the members. In many cases it is imperative that the project manager of group leader have the final say, but this person is suppose to obtain feedback from the rest of the team member in prior to making critical decision that have the work of the team. The ultimate goal is to form an effective group which is able to achieve high levels of performance while at the same time ensuring the personal satisfaction of all the members of a team.

ReferencesCollaborative Teams (2008). Bulletpoint. Retrieved September 1, 2008 from Business Source Complete Database.Graham, J. (1995). Leadership, Moral Development and Citizenship Behavior. Business Ethics Quarterly, 5(1). Retrieved September 1, 2008 from Business Source Complete Database.Nohria, N., Groysberg, B., Lee, L. (2008). Employee Motivation. Harvard Business Review, 86(7/8). Retrieved September 1, 2008 from Business Source Complete Database.Schermerhorn, J., Hunt, J., Osborn, R. (2003).

Organizational Behavior (8th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.