Teamworking

A work group is a group that is formed by a number of people who are in contact with each other, are conscious of each other and consider themselves to be a group and can be formal, informal, permanent or temporary. A team is where they share a common sense of purpose and identity and support each other to achieve the goals, going well beyond a group. People often enjoy working in groups as it gives them a sense of belonging which meets their social needs, it makes them feel secure and safe, it also satisfies their need for status and affiliation, meeting Maslow’s security and esteem needs. It also gives them a sense of power.

 Theorists involved in teamworking include Belbin, Tuckman and Gersick. Belbin being the most widely used theorist. He said that a team amde of of similar people with similar personalities and characteristics would not work well and a team with a wide range of personalities and skills is more likely to succeed. He made a list of 9 roles to help determine which kind of worker each person is in order to achieve a good balance in a group. Tuckman looks at Forming, Norming, Storming and Performing and will be discussed further down in more detail. Gersick came up with the Punctuated Equilibrium model and is a timeline showing the stages when most work is completed. Stating that there will be a lot of work completed in the mid point and a rush at the end, whilst not much is completed at the beginning (as seen in the diagram on the right).


A time when I worked in a successful team was when I was at school was when I took part in the Duke of Edinburgh expedition. This required a lot of co-operation and team work. We were in a group of 4 and had to navigate across the countryside in Wales and pitch tents at different locations. We were given a map and compass to help us. We also had to carry all the camping gear, food for the weekend, cooking instruments, and other essential items. This team worked successfully as we all had different skills and were able to rely on another person to do their part right. One person in the group with the most experience was made the leader so that we had some direction, but everyone had equal say and were able to get their ideas across. The leader was good at reading maps so was essential to our trip and would be a Plant in Belbin's model as he was creative in solving problems. Other tasks were putting up a tent which required good team work and one person could not do it on their own. We also had a set cook, who made all the meals, this person would be a Specialist as this was their particular strength and did not contribute too much else. The rest of us were Teamworkers and contributed in lots of different areas. Being that we all had different strengths, and put them to good use, we were able to complete the task and pass the course.


Tuckman's theory related to Assignment 2
The stages of Tuckman's theory are forming, storming, norming and performing. These are:

• Forming: this is the bringing together of the group and assigning roles and responsibilities and considering the hierarchy of the group. In our group we decided upon a leader and assigned who would do which part of the essay. It was difficult at first with people not turning up to group meetings as we needed to seek out each person's strengths and weaknesses.
• Storming: now everyone is more comfortable with each other more ideas are put forward. Could result in conflict. However, there was not much conflict in our group as everyone was happy to get on with the work they had been assigned. The only conflict occured when members didn't show up to group meetings and progress check couldn't be evaluated.
• Norming: conflict is controlled and group member set out how each other want to behave and everyone establishes the need to co-operate to achieve the goals. Once members started coming to group meetings progress was made and everyone set about to do what they had to do.
• Performing: everyone concentrates on completing the task. It was finished and looked over by the whole group to make sure everyone was happy with the work that had been produced. Doing the work in this order meant that we were a success as a group and achieved a respectable mark.

Times Top 100 Companies to work for 2010

 Office Angels - Recruitment Consultancy
 This company gets the best results in the "My Team" category with an overall positive factor of 85%. Teamwork is encouraged by teams competing for holidays to Dubai, New York and Barbados. The article says "Employees feel a strong sense of family within their teams, giving 86%, the top positive score nationally, for this statement. They believe colleagues care about each other (87%), say working together gives them a buzz (82%) and that team-mates are fun (89%). " This means that they have retained most of their staff as they are happy in their job and the staff feel they can make a difference to the company. 

 Beaverbrooks - Jewellery retailer

They have teams across the 66 stores which employers visit regularly. Top performing teams get celebration nights and last year the company put forward £100 for each member to spend on celebration nights. "Beaverbooks people say they have fun with their colleagues (86%) and feel a strong sense of family in their team (80%). These are all good to motivate employees and keep them happy in their job and so the employees feel accepted and rewarded rightly. This will encourage them to work well as a team.

Conclusion

In conclusion, good teamwork is needed for a team or group to succeed. A group differs from a team as a team has a common sense on purpose and goals. Companies try to promote good teamwork to keep staff happy and motivated and meet their social needs. This will also help the company have a good output and ethic. There are many different theorists, but the easiest one to use is Belbin's model of team characteristics.

Bibliography

•   Mullins, L.J. (2010), Management & Organisational Behaviour, 9th edition, Essex, FT 
• Tuckman, Bruce W. (1965) 'Developmental sequence in small groups',  Psychological Bulletin

• Gersick, C. J. G. (1988). Time and transition in work teams: Toward a new model of group development. The Academy of Management Journal

• Smith, M. K, (2005). Bruce W. Tuckman - forming, storming norming and performing in groups. Available: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/tuckman.htm. 2011
• http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/
• http://www.office-angels.com/Pages/default.aspx