Human Resource Management : February 2010

Give an example of a time when you have worked in a team and you were successful. Identify why you feel this team worked so successfully using relevant theory bases.

Few years ago I was employed in a large company as a Sales Director. I had a team of seven people working with me. All of us were from different part of my country and our main office was placed in the capital around five hours away from our homes. Every month we had a target to achieve and without a team work we would not be able to finish given tasks. To get best results of our team after our weekly meetings at the office, we had an opportunity to get to know each other trough socilising and entertainments organised by the company. We were working together for five years and we were feeling like a big family. One of the reasons why our team was successful is because we knew each other very well and we were constantly supported by our company.

According to Belbin (1993) we had different team players which Belbin described in nine roles. We matched very well and that was the biggest part of our success.

Coordinator (Chairperson) that is someone who always wants to achieve goals and pushing team members to do so. Coordinator controls everything and wants to get best out of people for example use people’s skills to choose right person for the task.

Shaper – that person have always more to say and very often is nervous or frustrated especially when task is moving slowly then Shaper wont hide his or hers opinions. If there is more than one Shaper in a team it is more possibility to conflicts.

Plant not being involved in leading team but is very good with bringing new ideas and problem solving. That person is very creative but is not much active and is not communicating with others much.

Team worker do not like to being involved into conflicts, when is working in a team is working hard and smooth, very often those people are not noticed until they are absent for a moment and then team is recognising that someone important is missing , especially when they argue . They are very diplomatic people and good listeners but not decisive.

Implementer is strict and follows given tasks. That person job is always done at time and in order. Good ideas are turned to positive actions. Implementer is a good team member but not flexible with its mind apart that he or she is willing to take part of job which some do not like or wants to avoid.

Resource investigator (Company worker) is an excellence worker on beginning of the team work but later on can lose interest to follow the plan. That person will connect very well with outside world for example will collect information or make contact with others outside the team. (Wikipedia, 2010)

Monitor-evaluator those people are logical, like to observe things and judges of what is going on. They like to have everything under control. By analysing all levels of progress they are able to see all available options and almost always coming to the right decisions. The problem with Monitor-evaluator is that, they having a nature to become over critical and they are not good with inspiring others. (Srds website, 2010)

Completer tries always to complete the tasks with perfection. They have ability the meet deadlines and paying attention to small details. They are very important to push the team to finish and complete tasks.

Specialists are people who have specialized knowledge that is needed to get the job done. They are satisfied with themselves on their skills and abilities. They are professional in work they do. Their job within the team is to be an expert in the area. (Wikipedia, 2010)

· Using Tuckman’s theory on group development, review the group you worked with for your first assignment for People and Orgs. Did your group progress through all of the key stages? Relate this to the success, or otherwise, of the group.

For the Assignment 1 for People &Organisation subject we needed to get into groups of 4 and work together as a team. There was two stages of Primary and secondary research. Primary research was about to find ten sources of information in books or elsewhere and Secondary to find companies and information about their motivation or culture at work place from their website or we needed to visit them. We supposed to describe and explain one of chosen topics. Before writing the assignment we needed to do presentation in PowerPoint and on feedback write a report.

When we get into group we had a quick discussion about what should be done first, all the tasks where divided and next meeting was set it up. According to Tuckman’s theory and forming stage we did get to know each other and we were nice and polite. All of us knew the deadline and what should be done and by then.

On second storming stage we faced problems with attendance and keeping in contact, we started to pick on each other and I was worried that we may not do our jobs at time, the presentation date was closer and we was not ready yet. I decided to organise the presentation and I was constantly calling to my colleges to get any information.

At the norming stage we sat and discussed everything again, tasks, plan to achieve our goals and also we received feedback from the lecturer on our presentation. Everything seemed to be clear and solved. We were talking about problems and how we could help each other.

At the performing stage we started to argue and we had problems with communication. Nobody seemed to have done the tasks and I was frustrated that we may get back to the storming stage and our group work will not succeed. Finally I said to everyone about the bad note under their names on the group dairy because all of us want to pass but nobody is taking that seriously. After that everything came back to normal and we could carry on working.

At the adjourning stage we finished our task but unfortunately we did not pass the assignment. We received feedback and we were not happy about it. All of us decided to move on and do not work together anymore.

· Using the link below to “The Times Top 100 companies to work for”, review 2 companies where teamwork has been identified as a major contributory factor to their success.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/

Two companies that I have chosen are No1 Beaverbrooks and No2 Edward Jones.

For Beaverbrooks their employees are very important. That company is kind to look at the personal development and that is why workers are happy there and strongly connected with the company .They have their recognition in the firm which gives them feel secure. They are involving people in the process of helping others by giving 20% of tax profits each year to charity. The Sunday Times reported that 86% employees said that they love to work for Beaverbrooks,84% agreed the senior management team lived the values of the organisation, 90% stated that was run on strong principles.(Sunday Times, 2009).

At Edward Jones workers are excited about were organisation is going, winning the firm a top 87% positive score. They believe they can make a valuable contribution to its success (88%) and are inspired by UK head, Tim Kirley (86%), who wins our special Leadership award.(Sunday Times,2009).

· SRDS-Seafield Research and Development Services-online source (2010)

Available from

www.srds.co.uk/cedtraining/handouts/hand40.htm

(Accessed 16 February 2010)