PROJECT- TEAM DEVELOPMENT
A Team is a group of people who work together and are collectively responsible and accountable for a defined task/s. Teams normally have members with complementary skills which, when appropriately harnessed, allow each team member to maximise their strengths and minimise their weaknesses, thus generating synergy through a co ordinate effort. As the new team member and leader at the jewellers firm my first task would be discovering the already established team roles an dynamics and determining where I can fit into it all as well as what and whose roles may need to be altered. For teams to work well together they need to have; high levels of trust between members, they need to work together to achieve greater results than any individual, have string shared leadership within the group, demonstrate support for other team members and individuals within the organisation, and regularly monitor, evaluate and review performance as an aid to improvement. These skills will need to be introduced to the team at an early stage so team dynamics can be established. It is clear that the senior management has noticed the team struggling with their day to day tasks and communication is strained. In order for the team to move forward and progress team development will need to occur. In this stage the team will go through 4 development stages; Forming- Teams are undeveloped and need to create an identity. Storming- As members come to know each other they question and experiment. Norming- The team is consolidating and settling into new ways of working. Performing- The team is mature, confident and can perform well, consensus has been reached. During team development it is important to encourage team members to come together and shape a shared purpose so they can develop clear direction, motivation and momentum. This stage allows for questioning of roles and everyone will gain a clear understanding as to what their goals in the team will be. The team roles can be recorded in many forms, including: a charter, mission/vision statement, memorandum of agreement, constitution, and role and responsibility statement. It is important for the team to acknowledge that they understand the shared vision and will all be working toward the same goal. In this situation I would encourage everyone to work together and agree upon a role and responsibility statement. This would allow for clarity amongst the group as they are agreeing to a contract that they cohesively put together themselves. They would be agreeing on roles and responsibilities that they have the skills to achieve, so those that are new to the department are not left with tasks they would struggle to accomplish.
In developing this team it’s important they set the goal of becoming a high performing team in order to start to meet standards and develop themselves to continue to set them up for success. The next phase would be developing organisational goals, KPI’s and individual performance measures, as it gives everyone targets to meet and avoids confusion on tasks needing to be done. It is known that currently the organisations are not being met in the department of productivity. Previously this may have happened due to lack of communication and not setting clear goals in the development stages. For any team to be successful, they must develop clear, achievable and agreed goals. We would develop goals using the analogy SMART.
Specific- Clear and precise defined outcomes.
Measurable- progress by measuring eg .using Kpi’s to track targets.
Achievable- Goals should be a stretch but no unachievable.
Realistic- Goals are realistic and relevant to the issue/needs and client.
Timely- Decide on a timeframe eg. Set small goals and when the target needs to be reached by in order to get the larger tasks done in time.