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TEAM EFFECTIVENESS AND CONCLICT MANAGEMENT
OBNotes.HTM by WILF H. RATZBURG
| The team environment prompts employees to spend more time considering their role in relation to the organization's goals. | As an organizational tool, teams can expand the role of the employee beyond the level of "tasks to be performed." Instead of having only responsibility for specific duties, the team member becomes involved in the larger operations of the organization. Teams, therefore, may be seen as a means of focusing employees' attention beyond narrow duties to the broader role of meeting external needs, such as the needs of the customer. |
| Team interaction helps to build the consensus that is so essential to the execution of a decision. | Teams can be useful in improving the quality of decision making, helping to build consensus and support for action, and helping to build a cooperative, goal-oriented culture. In theory, by having everyone participate in a decision, a better decision should result--one that everyone will accept and work toward. Teams are especially beneficial when creative solutions are needed, because their diverse members can evaluate new and different ideas. |
| Groupthink occurs when teams choose to "get along" rather than challenge their assumptions and perspectives | On the other hand, teams have also been known to slow the decision-making process. Occasionally, decisions over important issues can breed a win/lose mentality, with "political gamesmanship" overpowering a view of what is best for the organization. "Compromised" decisions which sacrifice good business judgment for the sake of "total agreement," may fuel frustration among team members. This phenomenon is known as "groupthink," and it infects groups that fail to critically evaluate their own ideas. |
| Conflict is central to team effectiveness because conflict is a natural part of the process that makes team decision making so effective in the first place. | The management of conflict is an important dimension of team effectiveness. Conflict is a natural part of the team environment. But to be effective, teams must be able to manage that conflict--and how they do so brings out the best or the worst of employee involvement. Successful teams use conflict to arouse discussion and stimulate creative thinking. Less successful teams do a poor job of managing differences. These teams tend to avoid conflict. |
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This site last updated 99/11/29
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