Myths and Realities of Teamwork PDF

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Myths and Realities of Teamwork

Anonymous Business School, University of the People BUS5113: Organizational Behavior Darryl Frazier Oct.13.2020

2 Myths and Realities of Teamwork Teamwork is an effort to achieve a common goal efficiently and effectively. In organizations, teamwork plays a crucial role as teams don't work well without teamwork. Teamwork can bring new ideas, can help solve problems, can build morale, can enhance unity in the workplace, can provide improved efficiency and productivity, can provide team learning opportunities, and can provide work synergy. According to David Wright, there are commonly six myths related to teamwork. The paper briefly discusses these myths, along with a detailed analysis of one of these myths. Myth 1 – It states that teams are harmonious people who compromise their needs for the sake of the team. Companies think that a team would sacrifice their beliefs to maintain peace in the team. Maybe some team members would do that, but this is not true for everyone. Good teams are made up of diverse people with their specific skills. Having a team of the same profile is often a barrier to future success (Wright, 2013). I believe that every person has his perception towards other people or tasks. Sacrificing those perceptions will only lead to employee's frustration and inefficiency in work. Myth 2 – It states that team conflict is unhealthy. If the team members see conflict as a fight with each other and not towards the common goal, then the team conflict could be unhealthy. However, a healthy team conflict will have functional outcomes. According to Wright (2013), choosing the right goal is important to success. Also, the goal should be challenging so that the team recognizes that it will only be achieved with the engagement of the full team. I have always believed that communication in the right tone can solve any team conflict. A healthy team conflict will only bring the best solutions when handled properly.

3 Myth 3 – It states that most people like teamwork. About one-third of the working population enjoy teamwork, one third is neutral, and one third prefers to work solo (Wright, 2013). Many people give their best results when working solo, and many others when working in a team. A company needs to analyze the employee's best working situation, and this could be done with a simple team profile model. I believe every worker has his personal space that he would not like to share, irrespective of his working style choice. The employees should be open to bending a little with their work style to achieve the common goal. Myth 4 – It states that teamwork is essential to business success. Teamwork is not essential to all businesses. Teams thrive on complexity. However, if a task or process is simple, an organization can cope without teamwork and continue to be successful working in silos or a task environment (Wright, 2013). I believe in simple processes a company doesn’t need teamwork, and an employee can complete tasks individually. Myth 5 – It states that teams are easy to influence and manage. The teams are diverse in nature, and it's not easy to manipulate or influence them. To manage a team, team leaders should seek talent, creates a mission, and be more receptive. On many occasions, "managers and supervisors frustrate teams by failing to share relevant information with the team and directing the solution without engaging the team members" (Wright, 2013). I believe a team leader should think of coping up with his team member's perceptions than to reinforce his ideas or solutions. Myth 6 – It states that senior managers encourage teamwork. In industries, senior managers can block the productivity of the employees if he doesn't give credit to their team members. The members will eventually lose motivation to do the work. "In teamwork, there must be transparency, and there is nowhere for senior managers to hide their weaknesses when leading teams" (Wright, 2013). I believe a senior manager plays a vital role in deciding the success of

4 teamwork. A weak senior manager will not be able to resolve team-conflicts or will not be able to keep his team motivated. Research Analysis on Myth 6- Senior managers encourage teamwork A team leader or a senior manager can be the reason for a team's success or downfall. The myth states that senior managers encourage teamwork, which is not necessarily true. First, let's discuss how senior managers fail to lead teamwork, and then let us discuss possible solutions to improve it. The following are some of the reasons why a senior manager fails to encourage teamwork, 1. A leader fails because he refuses to ask questions that invite an employee input and encourage engagement (Allen, 2020). A leader must listen to understand and not just for the sake of listening. 2. A leadership fails because a leader neglects to advance a culture where employees can safely tell the truth (Allen, 2020). If the senior manager is authoritative, then it is most likely that the team members won't express their ideas or problems. 3. Another reason a team leader fails is due to undermining an employee's ability to do their best work (Allen, 2020). Just because a person is a senior manager, that doesn't mean that all his team members lack skills. Failure to recognize this can lead to discouragement in teamwork. 4. Some managers think that their team members can take care of themselves as an individual than a team. They miss understanding that projects need teamwork for several reasons, such as creativity, productivity, etc. 5. Managers forget that different divisions and teams have their language and making his members nervous or anxious won't do anything good to the teamwork (Clark, 2012). This will just demotivate employees to do their work.

5 Some of the different ways in which senior managers can change myth into reality are, 1. The first and foremost solution to encourage teamwork is effective communication. Effective communication can not only resolve team-conflicts but can also encourage motivation. 2. Team members should be receiving accurate, well-thought-out feedback from their managers regularly (Brady, n.d). This way, employees would feel heard and motivated. 3. A manager can involve the whole team in planning its development for the future and help staff to realize how much they can learn from one another (McBride, 2012). 4. By encouraging an open-door policy, managers can create a safe and trustable environment for his team members where they can freely and honestly share exchange information in their teams. 5. A manager should also give clear objectives and job duties to all individuals to avoid team-conflicts. Along with it, a manager should also reward the good performance of the team. This will help employees feel motivated to work and will set an example for other teams (Trivett, n.d.). Conclusion A myth is nothing but an individual perception against reality. As humans, it is easy to believe myths and get influenced by it. Corporates now encourage efficient teamwork, and as a consumer, we only see the end products and not how or what processes it went through. And because the people didn't see what team or how the teamwork was responsible for the end product, people easily believe that there would be a great senior manager who encourages and motivates his team. When people see or go through the same teamwork process, then only it will not be easy to influence people against reality.

6 References Allen, T. (2020, June 13). Leadership Fail: Why Your Employees Think That You Are Failing to Lead. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/terinaallen/2020/06/13/leadership-fail-whyyour-employees-think-you-are-failing-to-lead/#26cfd4d61898 Brady, D. (n.d.). How Can Leadership Create and Encourage Teamwork? Total Team Building. https://www.totalteambuilding.com.au/how-can-leadership-create-and-encourageteamwork/ Clark, D. (2012, April 11). Why Managers Fail Their Teams- And What to Do About It. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2012/04/11/why-managers-fail-their-teams-andwhat-to-do-about-it/#58d47e5f7514 McBride, S. (2012, September 15). How a Manager can Encourage Teamwork. The Manager’s Guide. http://www.themanagersguide.co.uk/how-manager-can-encourage-teamwork.html Trivett, C. (n.d.). 8 Ways to Encourage Teamwork in the Office. Coburg Banks. https://www.coburgbanks.co.uk/blog/staff-retention/ways-to-encourage-teamwork/ Wright, D. (2013). The myths and realities of teamwork, 1st ed. Retrieved from https://bookboon.com/en/the-myths-and-realities-of-teamwork-ebook...