The strategy of teamwork

The schema of group featINTRODUCTIONFor many years now, the strategy of squadwork has been widely apply in many organizations. One of its motives is to translate organisational values into specific rules of conduct created by police squad members, at that placeby, allowing the creation of self-managed appellation with organisational goals (Webb, 2006). Many modern-day theorists be falsehoodve that working in teams runs to crystalise most if non all challenges faced by organizations. It tends to end the bureaucratic underframe of control, improving efficiency and productivity while providing employees an avenue for socialization, self-actualization and participative guidance (Johnson and Johnson 1987).It is important to organize work around teams in several(prenominal) cases. For instance, in other to ensure the successful outcome of the National Health aid (NHS) project in the UK, general practitioners, IT experts, project managers and other professionals would need to meet and work together. However, behind this seemly pleasant style of work lie certain undesirable traits and characteristics.The essay begins by presenting popular understanding of teams and well-nigh positive ideologies that support the use of teamwork. It then goes further by unfavorablely analyzing these ideologies and identifying round unproductive characteristics exhibited by teams. The premise of this essay is not laborious to be cynical about the benefits that teamwork offers exactly rather expose some traits which reveals that it does not constantly benefit organizations, and particularly, its members. This would profit us by having a b courseer understanding about its strengths, shortcomings and implication about its use.WHAT ARE TEAMS? team upwork as an cuddle to how work is organized is not new but rather diachronic probably older than the phenomenon formal organization (Benders and train Hootegem, 1999). focus lit began sensing its benefits in the 1920s (Wil son, 2004). Studies reveal many companies using teamwork as a way of organizing work (Cully et al. 1998 Cohen et al., 1996). Today, team player skills usually need to shown be potential employers to stand a chance of employment.A team is a small number of people with complementary skills, committed to a common purpose, having located of mental process goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually responsible (Katzenbach and metalworker, 1993, p113). team ups argon thought to be special form of groups because members have a to a greater extent shargond focus in all regards as argue to seeking individual goals. Teams develop direction, commitment, and momentum by working to signifier a meaningful purpose (Wilson, 2004, p206). There be some teams regarded as self-managing teams because they have more authority to self-regulate throughout the task (Cohen et al., 1996).Teamwork has been popularized to be a remedy for solving inflexible structures to work and alleged inefficient bureaucratic control, and enhancing employee higher-order growth and relatedness needs by commercial enterprise enrichment and empowerment (Bratton el at., 2007, p313). Socialtechnical theorists take on that teamwork mitigates employee discretion, thereby lead story to commitment, motivation and satisfaction (Wilson, 2004). Teams enhance organizational dimensions by providing flexibility, motivation and learning (Knights and Willmott, 2007).Effective teams has also been framed as constantly task-oriented with confluence, having participative and shared form of leadinghip and tending to all overcome the subversive forces of power, battle and emotion (Sinclair, 1992).CRITICAL ANALYSIS ABOUT TEAMWORKIn substantiality, teams are not eer composed of the cl earlyish perfect picture that ideologists and focusing gurus learn it to be. Team members are still humans and could exhibit their sense of indistinguishability and purpose, which at certain times could be co nflicting. Some views about teamwork are unitary (Burrell and Morgan, 1979 Storey, 1995) which only assumes cohesion not conflicts between members thereby composition off teams that actually exhibits tension and strife as not real teams. In addition, the focus is centrally on achieving greater productivity with unforesightful emphasis to feelings, personal reflections or experience of team members (Metcalf and Linstead, 2003 Wilsons, 2004).To claim that teamwork is always beneficiary to the organization and its members, certain measures are required to ascertain its effectiveness. Does teamwork always produce remarkable results? Are team members always satisfied with the environment set for them to operate in and create themselves? Are they always will to continue contributing? Do organizations always have control in channeling team outcomes? It appears that from the enjoyable and seemly pleasant surface of teamwork lie a murky side.Rhetoric of exploitation by working harderTeamw ork is a sleeker form of oppressing childbed to suck out optimal performance. It allows employees work harder and smarter (Parker and Slaughter, 1988), intensifying crunch from workers (Knights and Willmott, 2007 Wilson, 2004). Teamworks goal is to cultivate organizational values into members by making them more participative and giving them a bit of autonomy, thereby instilling in them heating dodge to thrive and work further withal outside their contracted job schedule without world paid. Moreover, team members in addition to their tasks have to carry off other colleagues ensuring they do their work. Teams have huge responsibility in ensuring rescue of tasks scorn varying situations such(prenominal) as absenteeism, slackness or even change of members. These places profound burden on the rest of the team (not the organization) as supernumerary efforts is required to nullify them as seen in the NUMMI case (Parker and Slaughter, 1988 Knights and Willmott 2007). Team members embrace self-dignity by striving harder to ensure the teams success work not minding additional labour.While this benefits organizations who are obviously looking for maximum labour at minimum cost, it does not for team members because emphasise levels, tension and pressure are heightened as work is intensified and could lead to negative set up on employees well-being (Wilson, 2004).Concertive control and surveillanceThe strategy of teamwork is an effort to improve the traditional bureaucratic control. However, a tighter form of control, concertive control tends to exists within team-based work (Barker, 1993). Similar ethnographic film by Kunda (1992) showed similar control used to gain unstinting commitment from employees.Traditionally, management was responsible for setting rules and regulations for employees. With teamwork, members set their own rules possibly forming stricter punishment for defaulters (as seen in Barkers case at ISE). Team members monitor actions ensuring t otal conformity with norms, meting out punishment to defaulters (Sewell, 1998). Employees feel additional pressure sleep togethering that they are under surveillance from other team members, which may pose unhygienic to working environments.It appears that the freedom that teamwork promises seems contradictory to its reality. As Barker (1993, p435) honorablefully argues that hefty combination of peer pressure and sage rules forms tighter form of cage ins as opposed to contemporary claims. It is worthy to note that teams are not truly effective if they get the job done but self-destructs or burns everyone out (Roberts and Corbett, 2009, p150).Conflicts of power and leadership traitsMany contemporary theorists believe that groups that do not have conflicts over power or authority and have good interpersonal relations pass as real or working teams. However, studies show that groups do experience various forms power (French and Raven, 1959) which is not pertainly distributed (Fio relli, 1988).The most influential or regnant individuals could maneuver the team efforts to possibly suit their own interests rather than the teams. Janis (1985) notes that governmental factors due to autocratic leaders cause high decision-making errors. Less powerful members have no choice but to concede to the opinions of these elite members despite the fact of their convictions about its misfortune. Decisions readily accepted unanimously without contests, weakens the efficiency of teams (Sinclair, 1992). Groupthink (Janis, 1972) universe is likely in teams that try to reduce conflicts by cohesiveness and consensus without critical analysis and evaluation. The output of work in this case is not positive and lacks excellence since further evaluation and alternatives may not be considered. An metaphor is the famous NASA Shuttle Challenger case in 1986 where the engineers had to concede to send the shuttle despite their concerns about its safety resulting into tragedy.It is di fficult to eradicate the conception of leadership in teams, as they are important to their efficiency (Sinclair, 1992 Roberts and Corbett, 2009). Wilson (2004) argues that there difficulties in recruiting team leaders because the perception about their qualities varies. Bad leaders not being able to steer the team in its right course often lead to counterproductive results.Emotional conflicts and ResistanceTeams are prone in displaying certain emotions during tasks that deters its efficiency (Ashkanasy el at., 2000). In the decisions by Alan (2005), emotions are positive at the start of the project but tend to be negative as the project grows affecting the overall team process. McKinlay and Taylor (1996), Ezzamel and Wilmott (1998) shows emotional conflicts arise from unfairness and inequalities of peer evaluation system such as attaching benefits to individuals and variations in pay. Others causes include the need for belonging or frustrations having to conform, social loafing or too much dominance by some members. All these negative emotions can produce actions that restrain team members towards displace in their best thereby impeding teamwork results.In the pyramid case, the system of peer review was a disciplinary mechanism by management to encourage individual performance and prevent free riding in the team but employees opinion that all team members should get equal benefits since the overall output was a team effort disrupted managements strategy. unregenerate to hegemony theory that management always exercises dominant influence over teams, it does not always appear so. In some teamwork cases, elements of conflicts and contention causes member to petition more control over their work process than what is available to them leading to renegotiation of managerial authority boundaries (Vallas, 2003). His study shows evidences of organizational tensions, contradictions and solidarity among workers restricted managements hegemonic control over their cult ure. This baron frustrate managements strategy of imbibing their agenda into teams.Present managers aptitude also frustrate organizations plight for teams because it might render them no extended necessary. Teamwork draws employees to micro-management of tasks (Milkman, 1998) and Peters (1987, p296) argues that because teams become self-managing, they tend to eliminate first-line supervisory jobs. This means that their services might become redundant or hinder their chances of promotion as seen in the traditional era of management (Sims, 1995).Time efficiency issuesMeetings are places where teams omit lot of work time discussing issues and arriving at decisions (Briggs, 1997). In a seek conducted by Olson and Olson (1999) on educators in the U.S., team members indicated weaknesses in effectiveness of meetings and timelines. From experience, being in team meetings could take a huge amount of time giving little time for the actual task. Covey et al. (1994) highlights the importan ce for strategies to helper groups maximize time indicating the possibility of getting too engrossed in fruitless meetings.CONCLUSIONThere are some instances whereby individual performance is preferred to teamwork. Teamwork at times lead to frustration and ultimate failure when there are senses of hidden agendas, lack of understanding, poor leadership, wrong swagger of team members and unhealthy team environment such as stress and unrealistic expectations (Yeung and Bailey, 1999).There is no single experience of teamwork as Knights and McCabe (2000) finding shows three classes of peoples experience as throw, bothered or bewitched. It is therefore wrong to claim teamwork is always beneficial to its members. In addition, team systems may founder up possibilities beyond those which management intends (Derber and Schwartz, 1983).It is clear as some seek suggests (e.g. Wall et al., 1986) that teamwork increases productivity. However, we need to understand when the concept of teamwo rk holds true. By just applying the theoretical account of teams without properly exploiting those grey areas, it might tend to hamper rather than nurse organizational performance as some cases also show that teamwork do not necessarily lead to organizational performance (Bratton, 2007).As Katzenbach and Smith (1993), rightly points that it is important for organizations, in other to make better decisions, know when teams can be encouraged and used. To add further, they must also be aware of those negative traits found in teamwork so as not feel disappointed in unanticipated outcomes.REFERENCESAshkanasy, N. M., Hrtel, C.E. J. and Zerbe, W. J. (2000). Emotions in the workplace research, theory, and practice. Westport Greenwood Publishing group, Inc.Alan, P.R. (2005). Emotions and team projects and processes. Team Performance Management, 11(7-8), pp. 251-262.Barker, J. (1993). Tightening the iron cage Concertive control in self managing teams. 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