Q1) Before talking about the elements, in my opinion, Professor Richard Hackman view on this case included all the four types of teams, which are problem-solving teams, self-managed work teams, cross-functional teams and virtual teams. In general, Hackman believes that most of the time teamwork does not provide more effective performance than individual work does. The is true due to the fact that tasks will be divided in a certain way, however this is enough for the team to be able to deliver its top performance because there must be certain elements that is needed to improve the efficiency of teamwork. Under Hackman’s point of view, the main element of successful team work is the Leadership and Structure element under the Context section of the effectiveness model.
Further, he believes that successful organizations must have a good groundwork established by the leader to perform the best performance the group could do. In my personal opinion, this element should be the first thing to do before starting the project the team are going to do because without a well done groundwork the job will not be accomplished at all, or it will not reach the goals the team has set previously. He also mentioned the idea of dividing the tasks between team members. Personally, I agree with him in this point because giving the right task to the right person will give the highest quality and efficiency to the performed job.
Also, Hackman suggests that an effective team must composed of the right number of employees, which is an important element that is called Size of Team, this element falls under the Composition section of the effectiveness model. Issues arise when some leaders make smaller or larger work teams than acceptable for the type of job they are trying to perform, which may cause a drop in the efficiency level considerably. Smaller teams will make the members work more than they should, and larger teams will make it difficult to members to work together. Pursing the issue furthermore, The Specific Goals plus The Conflict Levels elements that fall under the Process section in the effectiveness model are also important in Hackman’s view about the successful team. In this matter I agree with Hackman’s opinion because the leader should inform his/her team members about everything clearly and explicitly to make them know what to do and how to finish their tasks in the best way possible, and in a timely fashion.
By doing this, the conflict level between the team members should drop significantly. Moreover, he also pointed out other elements that should exist in a team leader which are the ability to make Assertive decisions and Courageous choices. These characteristics are vital and every leader should possess to be able guide the team in the best way possible. Q2) There are several more elements, which may help the team to achieve effective teamwork, but were not mentioned by Hackman in this case. One of these elements is the Adequate Resources of information and data of the tasks that must be done. This will enable the team to have confidence in the required information and rely on them entirely without hesitation or second speculations that may hold of the job from being completed properly.
Another element that should be mentioned in this context is Trust, which should exist between the team members to make the work environment more effective and comfortable, which in turn will enable them to produce decent work. An additional element that I believe is the most important element to exist in a team is the Performance Evaluation and Reward System. This system should be developed and used properly to enable the team to give feedback, both positive and negative, which will enable the team recognize their weaknesses and correct, and identify their strengths and keep them. Additionally, The Common Purpose element is an essential thing to exist in a team. For example, if two people from the team had two different goals that they were trying to achieve worked together, they will disrupt the job process for the other members and delay the whole project. Other elements that were not mentioned in the Team Effectiveness Model, but I believe them to be critical: the perpetration by members before attending team meeting, the leader of a teamwork should be able to plane the teamwork in general before he/she makes up any team to finish a specific task, and don’t forget to focus on the final result.
Q3) If I am going to deal with a task that needed teamwork system to be established, I’ll make it by going through certain steps. First of all, I will make my groundwork according to the situation of the job, then I will choose the team members according to the tasks that need to be accomplished, so I’ll diverse my members according to their background, and I’ll study their abilities to deal with the situation. After I am done with my research, I will explain the situation for them and make my goals clear to them. Then, I will try to divide the work and assign each member a task that is suitable for his/her abilities and background. To avoid the problems Hackman discussed, I’ll do what I just mentioned plus the following; I’ll stick with the company’s strategy and their vision of how things must be done so I’ll not change any of my members believes about the organization. Also I will work as a leader not as boss, so my members will trust me and believe in my decision, which I will do by keeping in mind the qualities of the leader that were mentioned in the effectiveness model and try to fully maintain them through out the course of the work.
Additionally, I will try to do my best to make my subordinates have the believe and the spirit that they are doing this for their own benefit before the organization benefit so every member will do his/her best for the probability to get a bonus or to be hired. This will also be accompanied by a documenting system that highlights the individual contributions that each member has contributed to the team to give them sense of satisfaction, in addition to be able to assign individual accountability for any inadequacies. I think this might be done by setting a virtual forum that record every single submission by any team member through the course of the project. A popular example of such programs is SharePoint by Microsoft, which saves every single version of the documents and identify who made the changes and submissions. Finally, I will try to provide a suitable environment that will encourage the team members to give negative feedback comfortably to address the shortcomings that may arise during the process of doing the project.
