A team is a group of individuals that has come together for a common purpose. A team is the basis of any institution. One organization may have several teams drawn from its departments. There are several phases that a team goes through on its way to success. They include formation, storming, conflict resolution, performing and transforming.
Before a team is formed the team members should first seek to familiarize themselves with the objective of their organization. At this level members rely on their leader on what to do and what not to. The leader should be prepared to answer questions concerning the team’s objective. This is important because an organization has several departments and the team members have specific duties assigned to them.
Regardless of their duties, members must put their differences aside and focus on achieving organizational goals. Team members should take some time to learn how to cope with their fellow members without interfering with the processes of their organization.
This will help to avoid cases of sabotage from within the organization hence bring positive results. Teams are termed as X-teams if they are externally oriented and thus flexible in formation (Ancona & Bresman, 2007).
The next thing is to select a leader of the team. The team leader should ensure his or her team members are devoted to meet the organizational goals. The leader should find out whether the members of his team value what they do for the organization and whether they are willing to go an extra mile for the purpose of achieving organization’s mission.
There exists conflict of interest after the team has been formed. This could be due to the differences with regard to recognition and pay. Divisions may arise due to struggle for leadership. Some team members may not be comfortable with their leader due to their individual differences with him.
Members need to focus on the goals of their team instead of arguing over small issues because when members are in conflict they can never speak in one voice. For instance, in politics, there are normally several political parties contesting for the same position.
Success here will favor the party with limited struggle for power. Failure may arise where each member feels he or she is capable of becoming a leader and this will shift the focus of that political party. Teams need to be explore their needs, exploit the organization’s requirements, and export ideas to other teams.
Successful teams ensure flexibility in exploration, exploitation, and exportation Thus, team members should agree on a common ground and accept their leader for what he is supposed to be doing rather than what he fails to do. Team members should respect him and usually consult him before making major decisions. Minor decisions should made by individuals even in the absence of the leader.
The team should meet regularly to discuss the strategies that they can use to achieve organizational goals. The divisions are merged for the purpose of success (Ancona & Bresman, 2007).
After realizing the team’s potential, members should engage in performing their required task. Performing is referred by many as the beginning of the end. Here, the team’s bond is very strong and each team member knows what to do. If there are any changes to be made, the team sits down together and makes amendments appropriately.
The desire for top results is very high and team members are quick to solve any differences that arise. Owing to their common goal, they feel like they are one family and each member is keen to observe what is happening to his fellow team mate. The leader of the team is required to provide guidance where necessary. Interacting with the environment enables an X-team to respond to the changing environment thus innovation.
In other cases, when the team achieves its objectives, it is dissolved. This is common in project teams. At this stage, team members are very happy for their contributions towards the team’s success.
This is because they know the success of the organization will bring about a positive impact to their lives and career. The team is there fore dismantled and members go back to their respective duties. Initially they fear to do things alone but as time moves they catch up with their former duties
There are times when organizations have been failed by their teams. This is verified by the decline in an organization’s productivity. The leaders in this case are perceived to be incompetent.
To such cases, team leaders should inform team members at the initial stage why they are in the team. This will help team members draw a line between team building actions and holidays. This is because most team building activities takes place in a different environment away from work.
Therefore, Team members should wipe out their personal differences because divisions in a team are the major causes of failure. The team leader should explain to team members how crucial their unity is to the success of their mission and failure of the team means failure by all. Team leaders should set adaptive strategies with extreme execution and flexible phases, thus X-teams (Ancona & Bresman, 2007).
Reference
Ancona, D. & Bresman, H. (2007). X-teams: How to build teams that lead, innovate, and succeed. USA: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation.