Team Performance in an Organization Report

Introduction

Effective teamwork is always essential for an organization to achieve high performance and effectively meet its goals. According to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (2017), good teamwork is even more critical in voluntary organizations and charities since it signifies people working towards common goals and also sharing their varied skills in complementary roles and cooperation with each other. Working in teams enhances excellent performance in an organization because it creates a synergy where the sum of individual effort is much lower than the combined effect of the team. Working as a team enhances an individual's experience, skills and perspective to solve problems, to offer new ideas and to create new solutions that may be beyond the scope of a single individual.

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This report seeks to outline some of the advantages and disadvantages of teams; how teams are used to achieve organizational goals, and what can be done to improve teamwork in an organization such as Bill Wilson Center.

Discussion

Advantages of Using Teams in an Organization

The benefits of groups cut across all the industries since some jobs just cannot be done by one individual and others can be enhanced by the efforts of many people. Every individual has their skill, strength, and ideas and thus when put together, something more powerful is created (CIF Training, 2018). The following are some of the advantages of teams in an organization (Quora, 2013: Marquis, 2019).

Increased work-flow speed and productivity boost. Sharing of workload equally among members of a team and equal allocation of a task according to strength and skills of each team member enhances faster completion of tasks and thus increased productivity. The cohesion of team members as a result of increased chemistry and trust facilitates work-flow speed since team members readily accept each other's decision and thus increased productivity and speed.

Promotion of problem-solving. The synergy gained from many minds and every team member in solving organization's problem is an advantage to the achievement of organizations goals. When one individual work on an organizations problem, he or she has only personal experience and knowledge unlike when the same problem is solved as a team.

Improves morale. Sharing of workload as a team makes it easy for a specific goal to be achieved. When the task is completed, each member feels a great sense of achievement and feels the recognition that improves their self-esteem. As a result, the team members feel the pride of job satisfaction and joy that comes as a result of a sense of belonging.

Improves communication skills and ideas. In a team, people have different personalities as far as communication is concerned. When people work as a team, communication skill is enhanced and consequently facilitation of conflict resolution since the team needs to work collectively towards a given goal. When individuals work independently, they might not share knowledge and new information on the project at hand. However, when people work as a team, the conversation is promoted amongst team members and thus preventing members from working in opposite directions.

Establishment of a healthy relationship. When strong relationships are developed by team members, communication becomes free and more effective. Members would encourage each other to work harder with their talents and possibly develop new abilities and innovations. Trust and strong bonds are also built within the team, and this makes a working environment more comfortable where every member can ask for help where necessary.

Disadvantages of Using Teams in an Organization

Creating teams within an organization may at time cause division and hinder achievement of organization's goals According to Bass (n.d.), some disadvantages of teams in an organization that might hinder achieving of organization's goals include:

Conflict Among the Team Members

This might be as a result of problems related to differences of opinions which are brought about by the different experiences each team member has. Conflict may also arise when team members have personal differences.

Delays in the Completion of Projects

This is as a result of creating teams and taking the time to discuss new ideas generated by each team member in some meetings. The organization should ensure meetings have purposes and goals to minimize time wastage.

Delay in Decision-Making Process

Decision-making process that involves a team will require an input of each member as opposed to decision making by an individual. This complicates the process and causes delay. Organizations should train teams and their leaders on ways to make timely decisions

Reduced Productivity During Team Implementation

This might be as a result of slow adjustments after formation of new teams. The change at times requires training and as a result, slows down productivity.

Uses of Teams in an Organization

According to Smith (n.d.), different organizations use teamwork to complete various tasks such as adaptability, strategic development, and leadership. For instance in the case of Bill Wilson Center, where the management led by the CEO has established a performance and quality improvement committee that is charged with the mandate of overseeing the full process of performance and quality improvement operation plan. It takes a team of staff and the entire organization to achieve their goal of helping the youth and families in the community to get back to their feet and make a difference in their lives. All these involve a concerted effort of the whole team to achieve the organization's goals.

Ways to Improve Teamwork in an Organization

According to Foundersgrid (2014), it is essential for organizations to enhance teamwork through the following methods; building up trust and respect amongst team members, encouraging socializing of team members to ensure they know each other better, establish open communication across all aspects to provide new ideas and share the same with every member, outline clear roles and responsibilities of team members, setting of clearly defined goals so that each member knows what they are working towards, recognizing of good work done by team members and quick and efficient mediation of conflicts.

Conclusion

In summary, organizations that adopt teamwork are more likely to achieve their desired goals as opposed to those that embrace individual efforts. This is attributed to the fact that generally, a group of people has various skills, ideas and knowledge that when put together solves a problem more efficiently as opposed to one individual who has personal experience and expertise.

References

Bass, B. (n.d.). The Disadvantages of Teams in a Organization. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-teams-organization-20531.html

CIF Training. (2018). The Benefits of Teamwork in the Work Place. Retrieved from https://ciftraining.ie/2018/03/the-benefits-of-teamwork-in-the-workplace/

Foundersgrid. (2014). 20 Strategies Startups can Implement Today to Improve Teamwork. Retrieved from https://foundersgrid.com/teamwork/

Marquis, A. (2019). Importance of Teamwork in Organizations. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-teamwork-organizations-14209.html

National Council for Voluntary Organisations. (2017). The Importance of Teams. Retrieved from https://knowhow.ncvo.org.uk/your-team/people-management-skills/teams/about-teams-and-types-of-team/importance#

Quora, E.L. (2013). Why and Where id Teamwork Important. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/01/23/why-and-where-is-teamwork-important/#22393ace287a

Smith, C. (n.d.). What Is the Role of Teams & Teamwork in Organizations Today? Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/role-teams-teamwork-organizations-today-31096.html