Almost all organizations have teams. There are many types of teams in most modern organizations. Formal teams are created by management for specific purposes. Informal teams evolve naturally, especially in organizations that have participative and empowering management programs for their employees. Teams are best classified according to their purposes. Quality circles, work teams, management teams, and problem solving teams are the most popular types of teams in modern organizations (Moorhead and Griffin). Teams have various benefits to the organization. They also have various disadvantages to the organization, making the statement “Teams are the Ferraris of work design. They’re high performance but high maintenance and expensive” very agreeable. This essay explores the reasons that make the above statement agreeable.
Starting with the benefits of teams, they enhance the performance of organizations. Teamwork involves many different players pulling their efforts and resources together in new ways for the achievement of a common goal (Moorhead and Griffin). It helps workers to improve their performance on their job because of learning from their peers. Teamwork helps avoid wasted efforts, which ensures that all the effort of the different employees is channelled towards the achievement of the common goal. Errors are also eliminated in team work, as is the reaction of employees to the customers. As such, the output per every unit of employees increases.
Teams also lead to organizational enhancements. They help eliminate the redundant and useless layers of bureaucracy, especially in large organizations, thereby flattening such organizations (Van Fleet and Griffin). Employees in flat organizations feel closer to and more connected and in touch with top management, which motivates them to contribute more towards the goals and objectives of the organization. Teams also help organizations face their daily challenges. Working in teams motivates employees to develop creative and innovative ways of solving the challenges facing the organization. In addition, creativity and innovation helps organizations adapt and react quickly to the ever changing business environment.
Teams help organizations reduce their costs. They reduce wastage, errors, compensation claims by employees, absenteeism and turnover, thereby reducing expenditure on such items (Van Fleet and Griffin). Identification with their work, one of the many benefits of teams to the employees, makes them feel responsible for the outcome of their teams and they strive to make the teams more efficient for better outcome. Other benefits of teams to employees are self-control, human dignity, self-worth, and self-fulfilment, which all lead to better work life for employees.
There are some disadvantages, however, that accrue to the organization from the use of teams. To start with, it is very difficult to develop and maintain proper working teams. The team development process is very long and involving for managers. The slow process of team development may see impatient managers disband the teams before their maturity and revert back to more hierarchical organizations (Moorhead and Griffin). The organization, its managers, and employees incur a lot of losses if teams are disbanded. In addition, employees may lose faith in the management of their organizations if teams are disbanded before maturity, and such a loss of faith may last for long, having many negative impacts on the organization. Productivity and efficiency of the organization may also be affected if teams are disbanded before maturity (Moorhead and Griffin).
The change from a hierarchical to a team based organization requires managers to train their employees on teamwork. Managers, especially those who developed their skills based on hierarchical organizational structures, may feel confused in their new roles as trainers and coaches in teamwork (Moorhead and Griffin). In addition, effective and efficient teams require less supervision and management, which lenders managers almost jobless (Moorhead and Griffin). As such, managers may show reluctance towards teams and may work against their development.
Teams play important roles in the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. They enhance the performance the organization by increasing productivity, improving the quality of products, and improving customer service. Teams provide employees with benefits such as self-control, identification with work, and human dignity, which lead to an improved quality of their work life. Teams also help organizations reduce their costs by reducing wastage, errors, and employee compensation demands. They reduce or eliminate redundant layers of the organizational hierarchy, which lead to organizational enhancement. On the negative side, however, teams are very expensive to develop and maintain. It takes a lot of time for teams to mature. Managers may feel confused in their new roles as coached and trainers of teamwork, in addition to feeling threatened in their work as they lose their duties and powers to the teams.
