Managing People - Team Effectiveness - Article Example

Managing People - Team Effectiveness Table of Contents Managing People - Team Effectiveness The mostproductive organization is typically one in which all of the various teams involved in the organization's daily business can work together effectively and efficiently. This is true both on the macro level, in which all teams must work effectively and efficiently with other teams within the organization, as well as on the micro level, in which it is important for each team to have internal cooperation for maximum benefit. Within the team itself, many factors come into play, including the type of work being performed, the individuals assigned to perform it, the time frame in which the work is expected to be completed and the ability of the team leader to ensure any problems are dealt with quickly and effectively for positive results among other things. To determine a team's effectiveness, it is necessary to take a look at a variety of factors as well. These include the type of organization, type of employee (volunteer or compensated), the objectives of the stakeholders and the personalities that are involved at all levels. Evaluating the team's effectiveness at XYZ Newspapers, Inc., it is possible to identify several key management theories at work even as the team represents several positive and some negative aspects of effective team operation. XYZ Newspapers XYZ Newspapers is a small newspaper chain specializing in small town, local news coverage. As a result, teams are primarily independent of each other, only finding it necessary to coordinate efforts on sporadic larger advertising campaigns or weekly print operations. Occasionally, it becomes necessary for one team member from one office to assist in another office when another team member is ill or on holiday or when several significant events are occurring in one town, such as a heavy sports weekend. Although most team members are compensated to some degree, some are compensated on a contributor basis while others are considered actual employees, paid at a part-time or full-time rate. Because of the unique service these newspapers provide, they are also often considered to be community service to some extent although they are for profit businesses. Frequently, because of budgeting concerns, members of the communities in which the papers operate are recruited to provide voluntary services as well. Team Organization Each team is similar to the others in that they are comprised of typically two 'news' writers, one 'sports' writer, one photographer, two advertising sales representatives and one copy setter. In this particular team, one of the 'news' writers is also the newspaper's editor while the other serves as community representative. This enables the team to work along a loose universal management approach in that many of the job functions are decided based upon the individual's specific position within the team with a built in chain of command that flows from the copy setter at the bottom of the rank to the editor at the top. However, the hierarchy among the other workers becomes somewhat blurred as each works to complete their assignments for the week. Work is divided by job description within this team. For example, while the editor and the community representative are both classified as 'news' writers, the editor is primarily responsible for covering any business or civil news occurring in the town that week, such as city meetings or regional legislation. The community representative, on the other hand, is often most responsible for ensuring news involving various community groups, outstanding individuals or major community events is covered. The copy setter typically works primarily for these two writers as news releases, calendars and police and fire reports come across her desk first. The sports writer typically has no other responsibility than ensuring all sports events are covered, yet must also ensure adequate coverage is given to all sports and pages are filled during off seasons. Through this organization, there is little need of a chain of command, although the editor is ultimately responsible for ensuring all pages are filled and sent to the printer by deadline. The photographer and the two sales representatives are nearly independent team members as well. Because the photographer must work with all members of the team, he is effectively, if not actually, the one most in control of the weekly schedule. Writers of all types must submit photo request forms to him during the weekly staff meetings or plan to obtain photography through some other means as the photographer schedule is typically full. In addition, the photographer is frequently required to fulfill advertising needs by shooting new business openings, homes for sale and other items throughout the week. Sales representatives in this team often work completely separated from the rest of the team other than in the weekly meeting and often complain about this break in their schedule. However, the benefit of having sales representatives in the weekly meetings remains the possibility for news/advertising cooperation regarding significant events, such as a new store coming to town with a unique twist or product or a news story regarding an individual who might be in the market for some advertising. Benefits to Team Organization The near autonomy of each member of the team provides for highly flexible schedules among all members, with the possible exception of the copy setter, who must also be available to answer phones throughout the business day. As events occurring in a given town do not always happen during the normal working shift, it is possible for members of the team to take time off during normal working hours to compensate for time spent in the field during normal leisure hours. In this sense, the operational approach can be traced through the organization as an emphasis is placed upon achieving the most efficient means of operating while covering the most amount of news, sports, photography and advertising. By allowing team members to take time off during the day in order to work hours in the evenings or weekends, managers (editors) can avoid paying the extreme amount of overtime hours that would otherwise be required while still accomplishing the same goals. This is important because many of the stakeholders in the business are quite removed from the operations of the newspapers, often having backgrounds in such fields as banking or finance; fields in which many of the everyday business practices they're accustomed to do not apply. These executives have an innate inability to accept the need for such overtime hours and maintain the budget at a subsistence level at all times. It is quite clear from their approach that their primary (and only) concern is for profits rather than quality product. In addition to economizing the manpower hours, this system also allows the editor to adopt a behavioral approach in the management of his team. Realizing that one writer has a difficult time working within the noisy office space provided when daily business is being conducted, the editor is able to allow this individual to come in at night when things are quieter or work from a laptop computer in the field during the day. Understanding that the copy setter has a small child to care for, he is also able to arrange for one of the writers, including himself, to remain in the office at specific times of the day to answer phones when the copy setter must attend to her child. Sales representatives must also spend a great deal of their time in the field, which is possible with this type of organization. Cell phones and laptop computers equipped with email function as essential communication devices to ensure that all employees are able to work effectively while still maintaining maximum effectiveness, maximum quality of life and minimum impact on the weekly budget. This ability on the part of the editor to provide such flexibility to his staff enables him to keep them focused on providing a quality product for the communities they're involved with regardless of the opinions of the stakeholders. Issues with Team Organization Despite the many positive aspects of working with this team, there are also some areas in which it fails to live up to its promise. The lack of flexibility in the copy setter position as compared to that experienced by the other members of the team has that member feeling unduly prevailed upon. Because it is necessary for someone to be able to answer the phones and because the other team members' schedules necessitate their being available in the field at all hours, it is difficult to find a solution to this problem. While other members have volunteered to man the phones on occasion when the copy setter has other things she needs to do outside of the office, it is considered unjustified of her by the other team members to expect this service on a regular basis as this is the only position with guaranteed evening and weekend hours off to spend with her family. All of the other team members must sacrifice time with family and friends in order to perform their job functions. Despite patient explanations and discussions on the part of the editor, this problem continues to exist with no viable solution available. To expect other team members to fill in on a consistent basis means taking them out of the field while giving the copy setter additional time off, which is not the case when other team members take time off during the day in order to work additional hours in the evening. In addition, the lack of interest on the part of the stakeholders to provide a quality product consistently wears down the morale of the team. Adequate compensation for work performed is not forthcoming, nor are any other forms of compensation, such as additional holidays or other benefits. Wages earned are typically among the lowest in the field and work quality and quantity are expected to remain at very high levels per team member. Company accolades are often slow in coming and significantly lacking in importance when they are given. Team members often feel as if they are sacrificing their lives to offer a quality product to their communities with little to no benefit to themselves or their families. This is a constant problem the editor fights to overcome with in-office recognition and complimentary tickets to major events when he can obtain them. However, this is not enough to completely dissolve the problem. This problem will only be overcome when the stakeholders realize the value of their team members in true rewards such as higher pay, better equipment, more significant compensation efforts and greater recognition for efforts brought forth. Conclusion For a company to be truly successful, it is necessary to keep its teams working efficiently and effectively. Within each team, it is helpful for the team members to know their specific job functions and responsibilities, as is outlined in the universal process approach. However, it is also important that these team members understand the ultimate goal of the team and to do what is necessary to achieve that goal as efficiently as possible, as was discovered in the development of the operational approach to management. In addition, the ability of the manager to approach his team from a behavioral approach enables him to overcome some of the inherent shortcomings that may occur as a result of distant or uninvolved stakeholders begin to make some of the decisions for him. However, to achieve true effectiveness and efficiency, it is necessary for those holding the purse strings to also adopt some of these basic managerial approaches if they expect to keep their effective teams together and continue making the type of profit, with the quality of product, they have come to expect. References Kreitner, Robert. (2004). "The Evolution of Management Thought." Management. (9th Ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Read More