ASSIGNMENT TASKS
Task 1: P1 Describe ways in which the use of teams in a selected organisation may help achieve strategic aims and objectives
To complete this task you will need to explain the following:
- How does a team monitor progress and performance? E.g., identifying team objectives, monitoring performance to objectives?
- How does the organisational structure and functions affect and support a team’s achievement?
- How does the role of a supervisor and manager contribute to the achievement of a team’s objectives?
Task 1
Monitoring progress and performance
Monitoring the progress and the performance of a team is very important. As a team may be off track and heading for the wrong direction, a team under close monitoring would make sure this is not happening,
It’s the supervisor’s responsibility to monitor and assure that the team’s performance is up to the best standards. Supervisors tend on passing on that responsibility to Team leaders as they are constantly working with the team members.
Team leaders monitor the progress and performance by using appraisals. This helps to identify each member of the team’s progress. Another way a team is monitored is by using Gantt charts. Team leaders and supervisors can look back to a Gantt chart to make sure they are on track and not falling behind as well as making sure all the tasks are complete. Without the constant monitoring of a team, it is very unlikely that a team would be successful at achieving their objectives and can very quickly head off rails.
Organizational structure and functions
The way organisational are organised creates an organisational structure; the type of structure depends a lot on the individual team.
Companies that tend to have flat structures are generally quite small. They operate informally, in that everyone will know everyone else and there will be few formal procedures the staff will have to follow.
When companies are relatively large they need to have a more complex structure than that of a flat structure; hierarchical organisations or pyramid structures are often what flat structure grow into being. They are taller than flat structures, with the senior employees at the top, and the lowest level of employee at the bottom, it is often that there are more employees at the bottom than at the top, hence the name ‘pyramid structure’.
The final type of structure is the matrix structure; they are neither flat, nor hierarchical. They are generally found in ‘one off’ projects, such as building a bridge or constructing a motorway. A matrix structure allows the project managers to have direct contact and support from the main functions of the business, such as finance, production and human resources. The project teams will work on the project until completion, when the team will be disbanded and a new team will form to work on the next project.
Supervisors and managers
A supervisors and a team leader is a strong pillar in to the success of a team. Without them would be like playing football with no ball, “it just wouldn’t work”. They need to be role models of good working practice and show commitment and enthusiasm towards team objectives.
They contribute to the achievement of a team’s objective by:
- Planning: - This involves managers setting objectives, targets, and planning on how to achieve them.
- Monitoring: - Supervisors monitor and measure the level of work being inputted by the team members in order ...
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Supervisors and managers
A supervisors and a team leader is a strong pillar in to the success of a team. Without them would be like playing football with no ball, “it just wouldn’t work”. They need to be role models of good working practice and show commitment and enthusiasm towards team objectives.
They contribute to the achievement of a team’s objective by:
- Planning: - This involves managers setting objectives, targets, and planning on how to achieve them.
- Monitoring: - Supervisors monitor and measure the level of work being inputted by the team members in order to ensure that the team is running smoothly.
- Organizing: - Managers need to ensure that all their team members are equipped with necessary tools and equipment needed to carry out the tasks
- Commanding or directing: - It is the team leaders responsibility to command and direct their team members by communicating instructions and delegating tasks.
The business being used for this section is Thomas Cook air travel service.
Thomas Cook Group plc is a leading international leisure travel group, created by the merger of My Travel Group plc and Thomas Cook AG in June 2007. It is a successful enterprise with a portfolio of market leading travel brands across Europe and North America. The companies business aims and objectives are stated within its mission statement.
All businesses have aims and objectives these are its purpose this tells us why the business exists and what it wants to achieve, these will change over time as some will be achieved and others will not, this is how a business develops.
Aim-A goal a business wants to achieve in the future for example increase market share and to become the world leaders.
Objectives-steps the business needs to achieve in order to meet its stated aims for example make a profit this will help the business to develop and expand which could lead to them increasing their overall market share then gradually becoming the world leaders.
These can also be found in the businesses mission statement that describes the businesses goals in a shorter and simpler way, so other people can understand them like the public.
Thomas Cook PLC Mission Statement
The strategy of Thomas Cook Group plc is to continue to deliver benefits from existing cost saving and margin improvement plans already adopted by MyTravel and Thomas Cook; to grow revenues in existing and new market segments; and to deliver efficiencies from being part of a larger group.
Thomas Cook has a range of air travel teams to help them operate effectively. They help provide a pleasant, safe travel service to its customers. The teams consist of small groups with a number of individuals, put together to deliver and carry out different roles. There are two types of teams:
Formal teams, these are created for a specific purpose. For example a marketing team is put together to research and obtain specific information for a business e.g. competitive behaviour. They will have set goals with a specific purpose to achieve.
Informal teams, these are less structured and are developed instead of made for a specific purpose. For example, a group of friends decide to do something together, so they are known as a group as they are sharing the workload etc.
The teams within the Thomas Cook air travel service include the following: ground floor staff, cabin crew, pilot and other flight crew (stewards). The role of the ground floor staff is to greet passengers once they are landing at the destination; they are there to guide passengers to and from the aeroplane in a safe and orderly manor and to help where needed. In addition, they provide information such as travel, exchange rates, currency etc and other relevant information they may be required to know. They help Thomas Cook achieve its strategic aims and objectives by providing excellent customer service as they are constantly dealing with the businesses customers and their issues and problems. In addition if customers find their staff approachable and useful then they will want to use their air line service again as they had a good experience with their staff, this would also help the business gain a good and positive reputation as customers will share their experiences with family or friends etc. There is a lot of inter-dependency within this team as they all have mutual responsibilities and share a common set of principles with other.
The internal teams within the air travel service such as the cabin crew and pilot have different roles to ensure a safe and pleasant journey. The cabin crews have different roles for each individual. There is a front of house and back of house cabin crew. Front of house show passengers the safety equipment and how to use them in case of an emergency, make sure passengers are strapped in securely and guide them through health and safety procedures/positions for landing and departing. However the back of house team deal with the customer orders for food and drink, throughout the journey. They all have important roles to help achieve the aims and objective of the business. For example if the back of house got the food orders wrong or the front of house team did not cater for the passengers needs, then Thomas Cook would have a lot of unhappy customers due to having a bad flight because of their staff. This may result in customers going to their competitors for a better service and gain a bad reputation etc. The cabin crews are the main employees that deal with the customers directly for hours on flights to different locations, they need to support each other and respect one another in order to have an effective team, if the members of the group get on and feel involved then this will show through the companies performance overall. Effective teams mean an effective business which will overall help achieve the businesses goals. All of the different teams within the air travel service of Thomas Cook PLC all have a lot of inter-dependence. Because even though each individual have there own responsibilities they all work together as a group to help overall achieve the best outcome.
Overall all the teams play a big part in making the business successful by helping achieve the businesses strategic aims and objectives, as they provide a safe, pleasant travel service to its customers so they enjoy their stay on the Thomas Cook airplanes, so they want to use their services again.
Task 2: M1 Analyse the contribution of a high achieving team to the accomplishment of strategic aims and objectives
- Discuss the characteristics of a high achieving team.
- How important are these characteristics to the achievement of strategic aims and objectives?
- How does the performance review cycle help with this?
In each case try and relate your answers to teams that you are familiar with.
Task 2
In order to develop a good team an organisation must consider personal attributes when selecting individuals. If an organisation is to exceed they must select individuals with high technical skills which meets the skills of other members. Also in order to have a high achieving ream, you must have clear objectives and the right combination of people “BELBIN”. Belbin’s identified eight major roles, and argued that teams work more effectively when they consists of members who are able to play all of these roles.
High achieving teams do not result from spontaneous combustion. They are grown, nurtured and exercised. Yes it takes a lot of hard work and skill to blend the different personalities, abilities, and agendas into a cohesive unit willing to work for a common goal. Behind every great team is a strong leader. A leader whose job is not to control, but to teach, encourage, and organize when necessary.
Tuckman identified four stages in developing a high performance team, which I have spoken about in detail in the first assignment; these are:
Forming
↓
Storming
↓
Norming
↓
Performing
Each one of these four stages is vital to building an effective team; the stages must also be done in the order above. If one stage is not complete, it would be impossible to continue to the next. The idea of this is just like a chain, if one link is broken or not present, the chain would fall apart. That is exactly what it is like when building a team, if any of Tuckman’s four stages “links” would not be carried out correctly, the team would fall apart or known otherwise as an under performing team.
Teams play a big part in the effective running of an organisation. As a whole an organisations workforce needs to work together in order for information to be passed across and so there is a steady stream of communication through the business. This will help spot problems before they arise and will help each department to interlink with one another. However most large organisations are broken down into different functions (departments), so each aspect of an organisation can be handled and operated more effectively. Within each department, there are teams that work together to complete tasks and assignments to help meet their overall goals, which are normally set by the team leader or department manager. These aims and objectives will be different for each department but will overall help achieve the businesses strategic aims and objectives.
High achieving teams will have all the key features required to perform at a high level and will be able to motivate one another to achieve their targets, one time and to a high standard. A well-established team leader is essential for a group to move forward and progress to the next level. As this person will be responsible for leading there team in the right direction.
Establishing teams help an organisations workforce to share ideas and build relationships amongst one another. It takes less pressure off individuals as teams work together by putting forward knowledge to get the best possible outcome. On the one hand, high achieving teams are very effective in reaching their goals and working together to complete tasks. They help to motivate each other so that each member feels they are part of something so they contribute even more, so the final out come is at a high level. They will be able to smoothly move through the Tuckmans forming, storming, norming and performing stages, so they are effective and efficient in how they interact and communicate with one another. However on the other hand not all the teams within every department will be well established and be highly achieving, but on balance with more work and with an effective team leader an organisation will be able to form its workforce, so they are all trained and managed so every department have high achieving teams with all the key features and attributes required to perform well. This will overall lead to every team meeting their targets, so will result in the businesses departments meeting there set goals. The greatest effect this will have on an organisation is helping to effectively meet the strategic aims and objectives of the organisation. Simply because an effective team, means an effective workforce so means an effective business overall.
Without high achieving teams an organisation will not be able to work together to achieve the individual aims and objectives as their will be no communication, so no co-operation. That will show in the failure to meet strategic goals of the company. An effective workforce is the key to an effective business.
Task 4: D1 Make recommendations to raise the achievement of an under-performing team
- What are the characteristics of an underperforming team?
- How can these weaknesses be addressed?
- What approaches and strategies can be used to raise achievement?
Task 4
Following the previous section, this task will evaluate dysfunctional teams and analyses all the different aspects that may effect an underperforming team and provide detailed recommendations as to how it could be improved and how they can be resolved to overall help achieve there goals. I will do this by weighing out whether it is the team that is dysfunctional or whether the other factors are genuinely amenable to help improve team activity and progress.
To have effective teams they need to have good interpersonal skills in order to grow and develop successfully, also these skills and qualities help teams to bond and build relationships so they all feel part of the group and co-operate together. However, it is not always teams interpersonal skill’s that help complete tasks or make a team dysfunctional. Other factors such as experience in carrying out certain tasks or knowledge in that field, do determine the extent of how successful a team will be or can be. The following is an analysis of different aspects of why a team may be dysfunctional and detailed recommendations as to how this can be resolved.
Analyses of why a team may be underperforming.
Task-relevant Experience: This has a big impact on whether a team may be able to carry out the task or to the best of their abilities. This is simply because a team with experience will be able to make a better contribution to the team were as a team with no experience will have to learn from the beginning so will need more time to learn and adjust to what is needed in order to be successful. This leads to the theory that most people feel more comfortable with what they already know than they do learning new skills or theory, especially in a group of individuals who may be still at the forming stage of their development. The extent of the impact depends upon how well developed interpersonally the team is, to stay focused on meeting their targets. On the one hand, this affects whether the team is able to do the task if they are new to it and what it requires. For example a team of engineers are asked to carry out research on the market in which they operate in, whether they are able to do this task effectively will depend on the knowledge they have in carrying research out and what methods are available to them. Without experience, they are more likely to produce a poor out come and co-operate less effectively and fluently as individually, they may be scared of getting it wrong. On the other hand if the group is at the norming stage, then the group will feel comfortable to accept criticism if they are wrong and may motivate each other to meet the challenge of doing something new and may enjoy learning new skills and knowledge to help meet their goals. So on balance there are two ways a team may accept the task if they have no experience and may be the cause to why a team may be underperforming. However if a team has excellent inter-personal skills they could overall overcome this problem and seek new opportunities from this task. In this scenario, I recommend that a team should look for solutions and better ways of completing their task to over come the problem. However having the right resource to carry out the task is equally important to be able to produce a high standard and to overall complete the work they are given.
In addition, the team may not have definitions of responsibility between members. For example they may not have a team leader to lead them and organise the group to get a tasks done and on time. This could lead to members being left out and a feeling of tension within the group, which will result in less co-operation and less team work being done. Without a team leader the group will have no one to manage the project so will not operate effectively as their will be no leader to define the objectives to help meet them in the most appropriate, simplest and logic lest order
The question to consider is whether a team is capable of achieving the task or whether they are able to for example may not have the resources needed to complete the assignment or may have a team leader with poor communication and interpersonal skills.
Recommendations
From the above information on the different aspect that can affect a team and make it dysfunctional the following are recommendations to help raise the achievement of an underperforming team.
I recommend team-building techniques are used to help improve the productivity and interaction of the team members to help the group bond and feel part of something. Successful team building has far-reaching communication skills in an organisation. Improve the way team members interact and you improve their ability to solve problems. Better problem solving means better efficiency in general. Increased efficiency tends to boost morale and productivity. It also helps to decrease stress, turnover and operating costs. In addition, all of these improvements bolster the organisations public image. Once established an effective team becomes self-perpetuating.
In addition, I recommend that a point scoring system that has prospects should be used to help motivate teams to achieve their targets so they have something to work towards, as they will want to get the highest score so they can be recognised for their hard work and rewarded. This will help the teams within an organisation become more competitive and work much harder to achieve their goals. This will encourage underperforming teams to be motivated to work together to get their tasks done so they can be recognised by the business for their contribution to their success. Also to scope for personal and professional development through training and international mobility. This will mean employees can continue to learn and gain new skills through their work. This will help motivate staff to do the most amount of work they are able to do to, to the best standard they can achieve. So they have a better chance of being promoted. This will help underacheiving teams to be motivated to do the work as they can learn how to do it if they done know how.
In addition to the above recommendations, my final recommendation is to overall increase employee motivation by concentrating on the environment they work in and what can be done to provide a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere so the productivity can be increase and stress levels can be decreased. Techniques such as bringing plants into the work place have proved to reduce stress and bring a more calmed environment to the workforce.
It is very important for any organisation/business to improve underperforming teams as they result in increasing levels of customer complaints, high staff turnover and incomplete tasks. So overall it leader to an under performing business as they will not be meeting their strategic aims and objectives. Overall action needs to be taken at the first signs of a dysfunctional team.
