Teamwork & Groups

Teamwork is a make or break situation. Either you help make it or the lack of it will break you." - Kris A. Hiatt. High-performance teams are achievable. WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University defines a team as "a cooperative unit" . Therefore, the team members must realize that it is a team effort. Consequently, high-performance teams start with the realization that there are no "Loan Rangers." This is a cooperative effort and everyone must do his or her part to be successful.

Any team that has a diverse bent is likely to be highly successful. A team that is filled with the same skills, same ethnicity, same gender, etc. will not get the full benefit of teamwork. When a diversity of team members exists, a different dynamic occurs. There is a greater chance of creativity, skills, perspective, talents and innovation. When each member is allowed to contribute his or her own blend of convictions, beliefs, strengths and education to the mix, the total experience is positive and beneficial to all involved. It is advantageous when team members accept one other as they are and treat each other equally providing different opinions and approaches to problem solving.

While culturally diverse teams can be beneficial, there are negative outcomes. Stereotyping and discrimination can be detrimental to any team. When a team cannot work together because of racism or chauvinism, a team will not blend thus hindering productivity, harmony, and the strength of teamwork. Fighting against these differences will benefit the overall outcome.

Another aspect of highly effective teams is valuing personality differences. Traits such as, being organized, detail-oriented, outspoken, creative, energetic, quite, and shy are just a few. In order to be effective, these traits must be accepted and used for the betterment of the team. Misconstruing personality types as being negative can bring confusion and ultimate demise. The learning environment can be effective when each trait is embraced. When each member is applying his or her strengths, develops his or her weaknesses and gives timely feedback to one another, a highly effective team is created.

Dealing with conflict is another characteristic of highly effective teams. "Conflict is any situation in which there are incompatible goals, cognitions, or emotions within or between individuals or groups that lead to opposition or antagonistic interaction." Conflict arises from differences. When individuals come together in work teams their differences in terms of power, values and attitudes, and social factors all contribute to the creation of conflict. It is often difficult to expose the sources of conflict. Conflict can arise from numerous sources within a team setting and generally falls into three categories: communication factors, structural factors and personal factors.

Barriers to communication are among the most important factors and can be a major source of misunderstanding. Communication barriers include poor listening skills; insufficient sharing of information; differences in interpretation and perception; and nonverbal cues being ignored or missed. Structural disagreements include the size of the organization, turnover rate, levels of participation, reward systems, and levels of interdependence among employees. Personal factors include things such as an individual's self-esteem, their personal goals, values and needs. In order for conflict to be dealt with successfully, managers and team members must understand its unpredictability and its impact on individuals and the team as a whole.

Using effective communication will