TEAM WORK AND TEAM BUILDING
A team is a group of individuals working together under a common interest and a common goal. The quality of their collaborative work is fundamental for the success of the project or the organization. To obtain a quality team work is important to choose the members wisely and to know how to build the team and make it work.
HANDLING CONFLICT IN TEAMS
. Plan and work to establish a culture where individuality and dissent are in balance with teamwork and cooperation.
. Establish clear criteria for deciding when decisions will be made by individuals and when they will be made by teams. . Don't allow individuals to build personal empires or to use the organization to advance personal agendas. . Encourage and recognize individual risk-taking behavior that breaks the organization to advance personal agendas. . Encourage healthy, productive competition, and discourage unhealthy, counterproductive competition. . Recognize how difficult it can be to ensure effective cooperation, and spend the energy necessary to get just the right amount of it. |
. Value constructive dissent, and encourage it.
. Assign people of widely differing perspective to every team or problem. . Reward and recognize both dissent and teamwork when they solve problems. . Reevaluate the project, problem, or idea when no dissent or doubt is expressed. . Avoid hiring people who think they don't need help, who don't value cooperation, or who are driven by the desire to be accepted. . Ingrain into new employees the need for balance between the concepts of cooperation and constructive dissent. . Provide ways for employees to say what no one wants to hear. |
. Realistically and regularly assess the ability and willingness of employees to cooperate effectively.
. Understand that some employees are going to clash, so determine where this is happening and remix rather than wasting precious organizational energy trying to get people to like each other. . Ensure the organization's value system and reward/recognition systems are geared towards cooperation with constructive dissent rather than a dog-eat-dog competition or cooperation at all costs. . Teach employees how to manage both dissent (not let it get out of hand) and agreement. . Quickly assess whether conflict is healthy or destructive, and take immediate steps to encourage the former and resolve or eliminate the latter. |
REWARDING TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE
It can be through monetary and non-monetary incentives.
HOW TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY
“Communication is the transfer of a message (information, idea, emotion, intent, feeling, or something else) that is both received and understood.”
Effective communication is very important in a quality environment because it means that the transfer of a message is both received and understood. In other words, it means that a message has been received, understood, and being acted on the desired manner. Effective communication may require persuasion, motivation, monitoring, and leadership on the part of managers. The communication of ideas can be written or verbal; the important thing however, is that we make sure the receiver fully understands it so that whatever message we are trying to transfer can be accomplished.
Effective communication is very important in a quality environment because it means that the transfer of a message is both received and understood. In other words, it means that a message has been received, understood, and being acted on the desired manner. Effective communication may require persuasion, motivation, monitoring, and leadership on the part of managers. The communication of ideas can be written or verbal; the important thing however, is that we make sure the receiver fully understands it so that whatever message we are trying to transfer can be accomplished.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING SKILLS
Listening is one of the most important communication skills. Being a good listener means that we are receiving the message correctly, decoding it, and accurately perceiving what it means. By listening with attention, desire to listen and asking the right questions we are participating and contributing to quality communication.
MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR QUALITY-FOCUSED INTERPERSONAL NEED
PRINCIPLES OF OVERCOMING NEGATIVITY AND CONFLICTS IN THE WORKING PLACE
To overcome negativity, organizations should:
. Communicate . Establish clear expectations. . Provide opportunities for anxiety venting. . Build trust. . Involve employees. . Avoid territorial behavior: . Avoid jumping to conclusions. . Attribute the behavior to instinct rather than people. . Ensure that employees do not feel attack. . Avoid generalizations. . Understand irrational fears. . Respect each individual's perspective . Consider the employee's point of view. |
Managers have two responsibilities regarding conflict in the workplace:
. Conflict Resolution . Conflict Stimulation Occasionally, managers will have to stimulate conflict when team members agree too easily with new ideas or when the organization has become stagnant. This, which is known as "positive conflict," is an attempt to reestablish free thinking, innovation and creativity. The techniques for stimulating conflict are: . Improving Communication to ensure a free flow of ideas at all level. . Altering organizational structure in ways that involve employees in making decisions that affect them will help prevent stagnation. . Changing behavior: . Identify the types of behaviors you want employees to exhibit. . Communicate with employees so that they understand what is expected. . Reinforce the desired behavior. . Handle conflict. |
HOW TO MANAGE CONFLICT IN THE WORKPLACE
To deal with conflict effectively, managers need to understand how people react to conflict. The way people react to conflict can be: competing, accommodating, compromising, collaborating, and avoiding. Managers need to understand what is and what is not a appropriate reaction to conflict. It is also important to follow the guidelines mentioned above.