Essay on Principles Of Management Teamwork

Submitted By courtneylin
Words: 1914
Pages: 8

In Principles of Management, the teams are considered as project teams based on the fact that they were formed for one specific task and given a deadline in which to complete it and selfmanaging teams since they have control over everything except the team members and the project itself. An ideal team member for this course would be one with superior interpersonal skills since they will be working with many different people who all have different ideas and personalities. They would also possess significant amounts of flexibility since they will be switching teams and team members with each project. However, not everyone will fit these criteria and conflict is inevitable. This conflict should be handled with a cognitive conflict approach by embracing and utilizing each team member’s differences instead of allowing the differences to divide the team. The biggest challenge teams are likely to face in this course is the social loafing of one or some of its team members. The most effective solution for social loafing is professors requiring peer evaluations to be submitted by students for each team member and professors assigning projects to smaller groups as to prevent social loafers from blending into the background. 1

Given the ideal team members, working in teams can be very advantageous. However, multiple personalities and opinions can also cause conflict.
When a team has autonomy they tend to perform better than when they do not. Autonomy
“is the degree to which workers have the discretion, freedom, and independence to decide how and when to accomplish their jobs” (Williams 203). Luckily, a group that is self-managing has significantly more autonomy than most. The teams in this course could be defined as a selfmanaging team because they are “a team that manages and controls all of the major tasks of producing a product or service” (Williams 204). For this course, all teams have the responsibility of finishing the project efficiently and punctually. From the start, the teams discuss how the project will be done. They are not required to have the professor’s approval on how they do it or what they do in order to get it done. So, from the start of the project to the finish, the team decides on the best way to get the project done. The only things self-managing teams do not have complete control of is creating the team, the task or project that they are assigned, and the membership of the team. All of the teams in the course have the qualities of a self-managing team. Teams could also be considered a project team because they “are created to complete specific, one-time projects or tasks within a limited time” (Williams 205). They are assigned a task and it must be completed within the given time frame. The person in the group with the most leadership skills could be considered the project manager because they help delegate tasks, are the first to communicate things and keep everything rolling smoothly. Each one of the group members has a different functional area where they are strongest which is considered to be an

2 advantage. For instance, in a group there could be a really good writer, someone who is good with time management, another who is great at research, and so forth. When there are multiple people with different strengths, it can be quite useful in helping teams finish their project.
Whenever teams have free communication and the ability to discuss what they think, it can help the project speed along. Teams also have flexibility because when they get done with this project, they return to lecture and then eventually begin a new project with new team members.
Creating teams requires attentive detail to a person’s characteristics and skills. Unless teams have people “who are suited for teamwork” (Williams 214) they will face many problems.
An ideal team member will have superior interpersonal skills. These skills include listening, questioning, communicating, and providing feedback. Collaborating with other team