team building

Contribution to Organisational Productivity

My chosen organisations goals are to win as many games in the season as they can, to win silverware each year and to beat all rivals. The way that this becomes possible each year is by the team working together to achieve these goals. Each of my chosen teams within the organisation has to do their specified jobs otherwise the goals aren’t achieved. Because the teams have been together for such a long time, they have developed a familiarity with the roles of each other and so often they are able to stand in for each other. Because the employees know each other well enough they have learnt to trust each other and know what will happen in certain situations on the football field.

Reducing Alienation

Within every team, every member of the team has a certain part to play and this helps motivate each member because they can feel as if without them the team isn’t complete and so they can feel proud of their contributions as they feel part of a team. This reduces alienation. Team members can learn from one another which would lead to increased respect for each other because they are able to see the skills that they have and realise how difficult it is to do what they do.

We can relate this to Belbin’s theory which indentified nine team members within the team. According to Belbin's theory of nine team roles, building working teams would be advised to ensure that each of the roles can be performed by a team member. Some roles are compatible and can be more easily fulfilled by the same person; some are less compatible and are likely to be done well by people with different behavioural clusters. This means that a team need not be as many as nine people, but perhaps should be at least three or four including the main team member’s who are the leader, plant, implementer and the co-ordinator .

While comparisons can be drawn between Belbin's behavioural team roles and personality types, the roles represent tasks and functions in the self-management of the team's activities.

Here is a table showing the role of each member and their characteristics.

Sharing Expertise

If a team had too many of one particular role than the effect and impact of this on the overall performance would be awful because you would have a lot of team members who could do a similar job to one another and so the level of productivity would decrease as they would have similar ideas to one another. Another problem with this could be that the team members would lose respect for one another because, as I mentioned earlier, each member of the team gains respect for one another because they have the skills to do something that they themselves cannot do. So if they all have similar skills than they would lose respect for one another which would mean that the team would perform as well as they should.

Another problem with this is that if, for example, you had a lot of members who Belbin described as ‘plants’ and no-one who was an ‘implementer’ than there would be no reason for the team to exist as the aims of the team wouldn’t be achieved because of the lack of the ‘implementer’, who turns the ‘plants’ creative ideas into practical actions.

Opportunities to Identify Talent

One of the great things about Arsenal Football Club is that they allow the team members to freely express their talents. One great example of this would be the fact that The Manager, Arsene Wenger, has a fabulous scouting network which goes all around the world looking for the best talents. Once they recruit player into the youth team then they have them train with other player who they feel are of similar level as one another, this gives them a feeling that they are all equal which rises their confidence. They constantly put youth players, who have developed enough, into the first team and turn them into world-class players. A few examples of this would be:

• Cesc Fabregas, bought in from Barcelona youth academy at the age of 16 and is now a regular at Arsenal Football Club as well as being the youngest ever scorer for the club.
• Thierry Henry, bought from Juventus at the age of 21 when he wasn’t being given enough playing time, moved him to the striker position and is now the club’s all-time top scorer.
• Theo Walcott, bought from Southampton at the age of 16 for £5 million, and is now in the full England international team.

The way the club explore a players talents is mainly though training sessions. Another way they explore talent is by using the team members in positions that they aren’t used to, for example using Theo Walcott who is a striker as a right winger to see what his attacking attributes are like.

Implementing change

There are many problems in trying to force change within a team. In doing this some of the team members might feel less values as they might have less or more to do, than the other members, than they had before. A team can influence change in both a positive way and a negative way.

The positives could be that:

• The team end product wasn’t efficient enough so the change helps increase efficiency
• Members of the team might fell more valued as they have more responsibility on their shoulders
• Could boost morale
• Would increase personal development

The negatives could be that:

• Stop personal development
• Decrease performance
• Lose respect for fellow team members
• Member’s lose focus
• Poor organisational structure
• Decrease efficiency

Fostering Innovation

A team is much more creative than individuals because a team takes the skills from each member of the team and puts it together to increase the efficiency. The good thing about having a team is that the different roles can help certain members focus because of an authority figure giving them orders.

Accountability

Team Building

My chosen organisation has to make a lot of considerations when recruiting new team members. The main consideration would be are they worth their value; because Arsenal Football Club is part of the Football Association, they have to abide to rules which are set out to make the game as fair as possible. So when Arsenal Football Club needs to recruit team members from other organisations, they have to either pay a compensation fee or a transfer fee (which can be rejected).

Another consideration they have to take is will the new team member be able to give the team something which they don’t already have. This is very important because if they have enough strikers, for example, then there is no need to go out and buy another one because it would just be a waste of money. The only reason that doing this could be justified is the age factor, this is when Arsenal Football Club buys new team members because they will be challenging the current team members in a few years or the fact that they will be put into the reserves or youth academies.

The most important factor that they must see is whether the new team member will have the correct characteristics. This has been shown in the past as Arsenal Football Club have released very good players with a lot of potential because they did not have the correct attitude; a good example of this is David Bentley’s transfer to Blackburn F.C. and of course Ashley Cole’s transfer to bitter rivals Chelsea F.C.

 One of the most important facts about Arsenal Football Club is that they always build towards the future. Currently Arsenal Football Club have 27 ‘first team’ players and 29 ‘reserve team’ players, so this shows the hard work that Arsenal Football Club have put in to ensure the long term future of the club.

Tuckman’s Theory

Bruce Tuckman published a five stage theory in which it explains team development and behaviour. His theory explains that as the team develops maturity and ability, relationships establish, and the leader changes leadership style. It begins with a directing style, moving through coaching, then participating and finishing delegating and almost detached. At this stage the team will name a successor to the previous leader, who will now go on and develop a new team. The final stage is the breakup of the group, usually when the task is completed successfully.

Tuckman’s Theory Diagram Reference: www.businessballs.com

Progression of Tuckman’s Theory

• Forming – high dependence on leader for guidance and direction
• Storming – team members attempt to establish themselves in relations to other team members and the leader
• Norming – agreement and consensus is formed among team, who respond well to facilitation by leader
• Performing – team is more strategically aware; they know why they do what they do
• Adjourning – breaks up of the group, hopefully when the task is completed successfully

Induction

This only applies to when Arsenal Football Club buy players for the team. The induction usually happens just after the transfer where the player is shown around the clubs facilities, training ground and stadium. Once that is complete the player is usually drafted into the first team for pre-season. Here the player can get to know the other team members and communicating with them will help the new team member realise what the team’s goals are so that he can participate in helping the team achieve these goals.

Motivation

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs –

1. Concept of hierarchy of needs - Abraham Maslow

2. Need = personal requirement

3. Maslow assumed people are beings who seek to fulfil needs in their order of importance.

Maslow suggests we move up the ladder of needs and are motivated by the lower needs first; do not need to completely satisfy needs on a lower level in order to start work on needs of higher level, Maslow's hierarchy provides useful way to view employee motivation and as a guide for management.

Herzberg’s Motivators and Hygiene Factors –

Frederick Herzberg's studies of job attitudes and their connection with industrial mental health are related to Maslow's theory of motivation. His findings have had a considerable influence on attitudes toward administration. According to Herzberg, the employee is not content with the satisfaction of lower-order needs at work, for example, those associated with minimum salary levels or safe and pleasant working conditions. He instead looks for the gratification of higher-level psychological needs having to do with achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, and the nature of the work itself.

Herzberg added a new dimension to this theory by proposing a two-factor model of motivation, based on the notion that the presence of one set of job characteristics or incentives lead to worker satisfaction at work, while another and separate set of job characteristics lead to dissatisfaction at work. Thus, satisfaction and dissatisfaction are independent factors.

        Examples of Hygiene factors (dissatisfaction)

• The organization
• Its policies and its administration
• The kind of supervision which people receive while on the job
• Working conditions
• Interpersonal relations
• Salary
• Status
• Job security

Examples of Motivator factors (satisfaction)

• Achievement
• Recognition
• Growth / advancement
• Interest in the job

Theory X

Theory X suggests that individual's have an instilled dislike for work and try to avoid it. Therefore all workers dislike work, try to avoid work, are born inherently lazy, must be constantly dominated into doing a honest day’s work and only turn up to work to collect their pay. This means that employees must be controlled by threat in order to perform. Such an employee prefers to be directed, avoids responsibility, is explicit, and prefers security above all else.

Theory Y

Theory Y assumes that employees basically like to work and view work as something rather natural; the worker views this as a potentially enjoyable and positive experience. It brings forward that there are ways to make individuals perform other than through control and punishment. If the employee is committed to the mission of the department he or she will become a self directed employee. Job satisfaction means commitment to the department and its objectives. Under the proper conditions, the employee will learn and lead in to acceptance of responsibility. Many employees can solve problems - no matter how big or small.

Team Cohesion

The definition of the word cohesive is ‘sticking together’. In cohesive teams some team members tend to concentrate on task functions while others focus on process maintaining roles.

Poor morale

The main reasons for poor morale are:

• Negative event, such as a firing
• Promotion of an employee when others are overlooked
• Arguments between staff and/or management
• Lack of the company's financial health
• Too much or too heavy of a workload
• Unappreciated or underappreciated work
• Working conditions
• Supervision that's too rigid, demanding, direct or involved in the work process
• Supervision that's not supportive or strong enough, and doesn't provide needed guidance or input

To increase morale you should:

• Show concern
• Provide appropriate feedback
• Create goals
• Offer recognition of the employee's efforts

After analysing each theory I have come to the conclusion that Herzberg’s motivators and hygiene factor are best related to Arsenal Football Club. This is due to the fact that the employee’s of Arsenal Football Club are motivated to achieve what’s best for them and the organisation yet they might be dissatisfied due to the pay that they are receiving or their status within the club or maybe even the way the organisation is run.

Staff turnover

High turnover often means that employees are unhappy with the work or compensation, but it can also indicate unsafe or unhealthy conditions, or that too few employees give satisfactory performance, due to unrealistic expectations or poor candidate screening. Low turnover indicates that none of the above is true: employees are satisfied, healthy and safe, and their performance is satisfactory to the employer.

Employee retention

To increase employee retention, the employer should:

• Integrate performance management including goal setting
• Give and receive feedback
• Recognize and value employees
• Coach employee performance
• Handle employee complaints and problems
• Provide a motivating work environment
• Hold career development discussions with employees

Stopping Team Conflict

The best way to stop team conflict is to set up clear roles and responsibilities, accountability and goals for each team member that accomplishes the team mission. Then hold each team member accountable to the established team standard. It is also advisable to document your work processes so each team member understands how they fit in the whole picture and how they impact each other. Finally punish the troublemakers by using team feedback and a conflict resolution process.

Leadership

Having the correct leader for any team is very important because this causes serious changes to the team. Having a disorganised leader for any team will cause the members of the team to lose respect for the leader and each other in the team. Whereas having someone who is punctual, organised, good communicator and who has an interest in the team will be beneficial to the team as this will motivate the team members to respect one another, work harder, and become more efficient as well as having a good organisational structure within the team.

Training/Coaching/Mentoring

The players of Arsenal Football Club are constantly trained, several times a week, to prepare them for the football games against other football teams. Within the training sessions they discuss tactics which are done accordingly to player’s skill levels. This helps them become more confident and their skills levels improve as well as their teamwork. The reason their teamwork increases is because they learn to play with the same team members every week so they get used to the way they play and they can adjust their playing style to suit that of the team so the efficiency increases.

The difference between training, coaching and mentoring is that:

• Training is teaching a team member a certain skill so they can use it to their advantage within the team and for the teams benefit, passing the ball for example
• Coaching is supporting, explaining, demonstrating, instructing and directing team members through encouragement and asking questions
• Mentoring is focusing on a certain aspect of a team member’s skill and working on that until it improves, speed for example. This is much more personal and takes longer for the team member to learn the skill because of the fact that you focus on this single skill until it is gained