Teams of the 21st Century Essay
Abstract Whether in physical or virtual organizational environments, teams are expected to bring in a new sense of decision-making and a new vision of issues and conflicts that exist within limited workplace groups. Despite the growing globalization trends and the pressure of technologically-driven organizational patterns, teams remain the central, and at times, the critical components of smooth and efficient organizational performance. Certainly, the relationships between team members are not always as positive as one would wish them to be, but nevertheless, effective team building and excellent team skills currently determine the relevance, cost-effectiveness, and profitability of all organizational initiatives at workplace.Teams of the 21st Century Introduction Whether in physical or virtual organizational environments, teams are expected to bring in a new sense of decision-making and a new vision of issues and conflicts that exist within limited workplace groups.
Despite the growing globalization trends and the pressure of technologically-driven organizational patterns, teams remain the central, and at times, the critical components of smooth and efficient organizational performance. Certainly, the relationships between team members are not always as positive as one would wish them to be, but nevertheless, effective team building and excellent team skills currently determine the relevance, cost-effectiveness, and profitability of all organizational initiatives at workplace. My teamwork experience differs from the one the majority of my peers might have had. For the past 8 years, I have learnt what it means to be a member of a successful navy team. I was stationed on a Nuclear Submarine for 5 years, and those five years were colored with my constant desire to find the reasonable balance between one’s individual ambitions and the needs of a team. My teamwork experiences were not always positive, and very often I failed to position my personal tasks over the tactical and strategic goals of my team, but what I have learnt is that in any kind of a team, decision-making and information exchange are the two central components of effective teamwork. “Decision-making is an integrated sequence of activities that includes gathering, interpreting, and exchanging information; creating and identifying alternative course of action; choosing among alternatives by integrating the often differing perspectives and opinions of team members” (Thompson, 2004). Conventional organizations frequently neglect the role and relevance of teamwork, but teams on a Nuclear Submarine represent one of the biggest strategic challenges, for the effectiveness and collaboration of separate teams determines the safety and organizational stability of the whole crew.
Whether we are able to protect our lives and the lives of those who need our military assistance and protection will depend on our ability to coordinate our team efforts and to maintain cohesive team atmosphere. In education, sports, or at workplace – teams are the effective drivers that speed up (or inhibit) all decision-making processes, and redirect them in ways that help organizations achieve their strategic objectives. In sports, countries unite their prominent athletes into Olympic Games teams. In education, teamwork is used to unite students and teachers according to their interests, and to improve the information flow across different teams in class. Regardless the purpose, teams are always advantageous in a sense that they lead to the emergence of the so-called “team cognition”, which improves the quality of organizational relationships in stressful operational conditions (Salas, Cooke & Rosen, 2008). Despite the growing number of “group thinking pressures”, teams inevitably reinforce team members’ individual capabilities, foster participation, encourage involvement, and create diversity of opinions, ideas, and attitudes. In a situation, when a single and the most relevant solution needs to be found, a team of professional navies, rather than a single (even extremely) professional individual will be likely to produce the most effective resolution to the most problematic issue, due to the fact that teams are better prepared and are more capable of reviewing one and the same problem from different perspectives.
Objectively, team skills will help me better understand group tasks and develop cooperative relationships with all team members. The need for excellent team skills is particularly relevant for the navy, where multicultural organizational contexts prevail, and where hundreds of human lives depend on our ability to find consensual agreement with each other. Salas, Cooke & Rosen (2008) suggest that “team training promotes teamwork and enhances team performance. […] For example, simulation-based training has proven to be a powerful training methodology for team performance because it allows teams to engage in the dynamic social, cognitive, and behavioral processes of teamwork and receive feedback”.
I will use team skills as the strategic decision-making and analytical instrument, to bring together useful opinions and ideas of my team members into one integral decision-making framework – to be confident that I am moving in the needed direction. Conclusion Whether in athletics, in education, or in navy – teamwork is the critical component of all decision-making processes. The effectiveness and smoothness of all organizational initiatives will depend on the teams’ ability to integrate their efforts into one strategic framework, and to use it as the source of relevant ideas and solutions.
In this context, excellent team skills will enhance the quality of team interrelationships at workplace, making teams flexible, collaborative, and adjustable to stressful operational conditions.ReferencesSalas, E., Cooke, N.J. & Rosen, M.A. (2008).
On teams, teamwork, and team performance:discoveries and developments. Human Factors, June, 540-547.Thomspson, L.L. (2004). Making the team: a guide for managers, 2nd edition. Prentice Hall,2004.
