Team Building: the Dynamics of a Successful Team
Team Building: The Dynamics of a Successful Team
Lynnecia Johnson
GEN/300
Precious Dennis
April 17, 2006
University of Phoenix The Dynamics of a Successful Team
Understanding the dynamics of a successful team will assist team members in comprehending their individual roles. A few aspects of team building include: leadership; communication; roles and responsibilities; behaviors and ethics; and collaboration. Throughout this paper, we will discuss each individual aspect of team building.
Leadership
Often when we think of a team, we think of a group of individuals working together to achieve a common goal. However, in order for a team to achieve success, relationships have to be established and nurtured from the beginning. The use of teams in the workplace, school and other settings are increasingly becoming the norm. “A team is a small group of people with complementary skills committed to a common purpose and working toward a specific set of performance goals” (Katzenbach, 1998).
When building a team, it is likely for one member to assume or be elected as the team leader. A leader can also be affectionately called the “doer”. “A doer is a person who perceives him/herself as “the” leader or “the” person with the answers” (Simon, 2000). There are two types of doers; the forceful doer and the cooperative doer. “A forceful doer is a leader that will create goals, objectives and rules to complete specific tasks. A cooperative doer is a leader that emerges initially then gives up leadership once everyone begins working together” (Simon, 2000). Cooperative leaders of a team will not micro-manage, but instead will assist in the completion of tasks. This strong type of leader may also begin to share leadership with the whole group. Team members then tend to understand that they play a big part in the structure of the team’s effectiveness and in turn help to build healthy work environments. The Office of Personnel Management lists 10 leadership competencies
Lynnecia Johnson
GEN/300
Precious Dennis
April 17, 2006
University of Phoenix The Dynamics of a Successful Team
Understanding the dynamics of a successful team will assist team members in comprehending their individual roles. A few aspects of team building include: leadership; communication; roles and responsibilities; behaviors and ethics; and collaboration. Throughout this paper, we will discuss each individual aspect of team building.
Leadership
Often when we think of a team, we think of a group of individuals working together to achieve a common goal. However, in order for a team to achieve success, relationships have to be established and nurtured from the beginning. The use of teams in the workplace, school and other settings are increasingly becoming the norm. “A team is a small group of people with complementary skills committed to a common purpose and working toward a specific set of performance goals” (Katzenbach, 1998).
When building a team, it is likely for one member to assume or be elected as the team leader. A leader can also be affectionately called the “doer”. “A doer is a person who perceives him/herself as “the” leader or “the” person with the answers” (Simon, 2000). There are two types of doers; the forceful doer and the cooperative doer. “A forceful doer is a leader that will create goals, objectives and rules to complete specific tasks. A cooperative doer is a leader that emerges initially then gives up leadership once everyone begins working together” (Simon, 2000). Cooperative leaders of a team will not micro-manage, but instead will assist in the completion of tasks. This strong type of leader may also begin to share leadership with the whole group. Team members then tend to understand that they play a big part in the structure of the team’s effectiveness and in turn help to build healthy work environments. The Office of Personnel Management lists 10 leadership competencies
References: Collaboration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 29, 2006, from www.en.wikipedia.or. Crow, Kenneth, Collaboration. Retrieved March 29, 2006, from www.npd-solutions.com. Katzenbach, Jon. (1998) The Wisdom of Teams, p.21. Retrieved March 31, 2006, from http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu. Kurtus, Ron. School of Champions [Special Types of Behaviors]. Britannica online. www.britannica.com. Office of Personnel Management. (2006). Team Building and Team Leadership. Retrieved March 31, 2006, from http://www.leadership.opm.gov. Palner, Ruth, The Effectiveness of Teams, Journal of Human Relations, vol.47, 13-43, 2002. Pollack, Irwin, Don’t let mistakes keep you from your job, Fort Worth Business Press, February 13-19, 2006, p46-47. Retrieved April 13, 2006, from Ebsco Host database. Schweizer, Karin; Paechter, Manuela; Weidenmann, Bernd., Blended Learning as a Strategy to Improve Collaborative Task Performance, Journal of Educational Media, Oct2003, Vol. 28 Issue 2/3, p211-224, 14p., Retrieved April 13, 2006, from Ebsco Host database. Simon, Neil. (2000, April). Team Development. Competitive Intelligence Magazine, 3 (2): 47-50. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from RDS Suite database. Squidoo: Team Collaboration. Retrieved March 29, 2006, from www.squidoo.com.