business

THE 4 STAGES OF EFFECTIVE TEAM BUILDING

The importance of effective teams in the modern organization

In the old days of sailing ships, it was impossible for many of the larger ships to be sailed by one person. They needed a team. If that was true of relatively simple ships made of wood and canvas, how much more true is it likely to be of the complex organizations that create the wealth of the world we live in?

Teamwork is not an option for a successful organization, it is a necessity. It can lead to achievement, creativity and energy levels that someone working alone, or perhaps with one other person, could hardly imagine. But building great teams does not happen by accident. It often needs to be spurred by a concerted, goal-orientated intervention that encourages self-awareness.

Generally, organizational leaders accept that simply gathering a group of people together and telling them to work better as a team is unlikely to be effective.

One approach that many organizations use is to arrange an out-of-office team-building event and send the group of people on it. Firms supplying such event opportunities to organizations use considerable ingenuity in devising the events, and it is unquestionable that many such days out are great fun. After all, if your normal experience of working life is sitting in an office with a group of people you do not especially trust or even do not much like, and you are then suddenly allowed to go on an adventure with these people during paid work-time, it is a fair bet that you are going to enjoy that more than sitting in the office.

You might even find that during the event you will get on with the people (and, who knows, even end up trusting them) more than you ever imagined. It is a bit like going to the office Christmas party: you suddenly see attractiveness in people you did not imagine was there before. And the consequences can be a great deal of fun.

But Christmas parties, like team-building away days, or even away weeks, do not last forever. The day will come when you return to the office and encounter sombre reality.

And that is the problem. Too many team-building events indeed most of them are really just a great day out, or however many days have been allocated to them. Back in the office, the old problems of communication, trust and collaboration almost inevitably resurface. You and your colleagues will doubtless retain happy memories of the event, and even have a certain nostalgia for it, but it probably will not have changed the conditions of your corporate life sufficiently for a team to be galvanized into existence when merely a group existed before.

What is needed is an approach that will integrate the external teambuilding event with the precise needs of the team and feature really effective follow-ups to ensure that the team-building event, and the lessons it teaches, creates a permanent change in how a particular group of people work together.

Four stages in a good team-buiiding event

Ideally there will be four stages in a good team-building intervention. These depend significantly on one another for the overall effectiveness of the event.

First, a meeting between the organizers of the team-building event and the prospective team in question is essential.

All truly constructive interventions involving an organization's people are those that happen because there is a strong perceived need for change, with the intervention seeking to address this need. A meeting between the people behind the team-building event and the team can identify, as far as possible, the team's precise needs from the intervention.

This initial meeting will allow the setting of objectives and preparing the ground for the actual team-building event. These preparations will range from discussions of what the team wants from the event and how it can make best use of it, to practical advice such as (for example), that toes can be prevented from chafing during a long walking expedition by putting petroleum jelly between them!

More seriously, this initial discussion may also be a good time for the trainer to suggest advice about how best to approach what may be a highly complex and demanding team-building challenge.

For example, it is often good advice to manage one's involvement in the challenge in psychological stages that is, stages that one creates for oneself rather than stages in the actual challenge itself. Some longdistance walkers, for example, reward themselves with a treat (a sweet, for example), once they have completed, say, five miles of an arduous challenge. Such creation of stages, and even small rewards once stages have been completed is, in fact, good life advice generally: a major task is more manageable if broken into psychological stages in this way. This is just one of many examples of how the team-building challenge relates directly to the challenges of life.

The second stage of the process, which should ideally happen no more than about a month after the initial meeting has taken place, is the teambuilding challenge itself. The entire aim of the process is that this challenge will shed significant light on the team's (or group's) issues that were discussed in the initial stage of the process.

Once the team-building challenge has happened, that is it, at least as far as too many team-building interventions go. The majority of teambuilding challenge organizers seem to assume that, once the challenge has taken place, it is up to the team to learn what lessons it can from the challenge and implement them in the real world of the office or production line.

But this philosophy is seriously flawed. Where there is no follow-up, or where the follow-up is inadequate, it is difficult to believe that the teambuilding challenge can possibly be as productive as it could be.

What is needed is a proper and concerted debriefing that enables the team as a unit, and the individuals who comprise it, to address themselves to vital and pertinent questions relating to the experience of undertaking the challenge. These questions should, of course, be tailored by the trainer to relate to the precise needs of the team and the individual; indeed, some of the questions will very likely have already been identified during the initial discussion with the team.

The questions will be likely to include although will not be limited to all of the following:

(1) What did you learn about yourself?

(2) What factors tended to promote good teamwork?

(3) What factors tended to prevent good teamwork?

(4) What was relevant to the working environment?

(5) How can I best apply what I have learned in the working environment?

(6) What is my overall plan from now on?

(7) What outcomes do I expect as a result of putting my plan into action?

This third stage a comprehensive debriefing should take place within no more than about a month of the event being held, so that the issues remain in people's minds.

The debriefing should ideally be followed, about two months later, by a fourth stage: a further discussion that looks at progress that has been made since the first debriefing, and identifies what further progress can be made.

Overall, the entire purpose of the four stages of the process is to ensure that, far from being only a fun day out (though it should be that as well), the team-building intervention, incorporated within the right goal-setting and debriefing framework directed at resolving vital issues uncovered during the challenge itself, will enable the individual members of the team to work together better than ever.

Leadership and Teamwork: Two Sides of the Same Coin

The symbiotic relationship between leadership and teamwork can hardly be overemphasized. In an increasingly knowledge-intensive world, the most competent leader could be staring at the face of failure if the team that is led fails to measure up to the leader's objectives and get derailed. Indeed, teams can be rudderless without effective and wise leadership. There has been significant debate as to the styles and characteristics of leadership that engender optimal team performance. Similarly, the constituents of teams that are remarkably effective have been studied and emulated. Obviously, leadership and teamwork cannot exist without each other. They have to be balanced, coordinated, and synergized for optimal organizational performance towards successful outcomes. This paper will therefore explore and propose the best practices that would enable an optimal balancing of leadership and teamwork towards successful outcomes in a competitive environment.

Keywords: Leadership; Teamwork; Best Practices

Introduction

Leadership and teamwork are the warp and woof of the dynamic fabric of organizations. One cannot exist without the other in an organizational environment activated by a constellation of teams. These teams are essentially temporary organizations with specific objectives, resources, and timeframes. This is because both the tactical objectives and strategic goals of the organization are accomplished largely through team effort-and this cannot happen by accident. Both leadership and teamwork are driven by critical soft skills that need to be exercised prudently, and in a balanced manner. This balance between leadership and teamwork is imperative to ensure that both are executed not only in tandem-as two sides of the same coin-but with symbiosis as they draw inspiration for success from each other. Poor leadership cannot pull a motivated team to success; similarly, strong leadership cannot hope to achieve success with an incompetent and unmotivated team. In this conceptual paper, a concise analysis is made of both leadership and teamwork-vast subjects in themselves-as a balanced endeavor. A framework is made for best practices to accomplish the two complementary phenomena with synergy, sagacity, and success.

Organizational Leadership

Organisational leadership is a composite of skills and behaviors enabling a person to exercise an interpersonal influence on a group of people. The leader's vision and purpose are thus achieved by directing and motivating the team to accomplish the desired set of goals envisioned by the leader. Indeed, leadership itself is a focused exercise in influencing and empowering people-individually and in teams-and having clear expectations of these followers. Invested with their innate and acquired skills and empowered by the leader with delegated authority and responsibility, the team facilitates the translation of the leader's vision into reality. The ultimate accomplishment of a leader is to persuade followers to do seemingly impossible feats. Indeed, the best leaders motivate their followers to accomplish tasks and goals well beyond their own expectations (Bass, 1990).

The concept of leadership carries many different connotations and is often viewed as synonymous with other, equally complex concepts-such as power, authority, management, administration, and supervision (Lim, 2001). It is regretted by researchers that neither scholars nor practitioners have been able to define leadership with adequate precision, accuracy, and conciseness (Javidan, et al., 2006; Rost, 1993). This need not be surprising, because where definitions differ is in their connotation, particularly in terms of their implications for the leader-follower relationship (Maak & Pless, 2006). Indeed, the mode of definition of leadership incorporates normative assumptions of a relationship between leaders and followers (Ciulla, 2004).

Definitions of Leadership and Teamwork

Definitions of leadership seem to vary according to the underlying ontological assumptions used to examine the phenomenon. For example, trait theorists define leadership as a set of traits, while behavioral theorists identify it as a set of skills; and, researchers from a social constructivist perspective tend to define leadership as a process and relationship (Kezar, 2004). The main approaches to leadership research may be crystallised into groups as: theories of trait, behavior, power, and influence (reciprocal leadership theories); these reciprocal models of leadership view leadership subjectively as a dynamic process with reciprocal relationships with followers (Barker, 2002). Other leadership theories incorporate contingent, cultural, social constructivist, critical, and post-modern approaches (Grint, 1997). The most widely recognised leadership theories today incorporate visionary, charismatic, laissez-faire, transactional, and transformational leadership (Bass, 1990).

Considering the wide-ranging definitions of leadership (Gardner, 1995), its operational definition will depend to a great extent on the purpose of the researcher (Yukl, 1994; Bass, 1990). To align with the aim of this paper with essential symbiosis between leader and followers, Yukl's (1994, p. 5) definition of leadership has been adopted for this study:

Leadership comprises influence processes affecting the interpretation of events for followers; the choice of objectives for the group or organization; the organization of work activities to accomplish the objectives; the motivation of followers to achieve the objectives; the maintenance of cooperative relationships and teamwork; and, the enlistment of support and cooperation from people outside the group or organization.

The term "influence processes" reflects the idea that the expected effectiveness is primarily dependent on the leader's influence upon followers as underscored extensively in the literature (Northouse, 2004; Buchanan & Huczynski, 1997). Undoubtedly, leadership is a role, mindset, and a set of behaviors- and it takes all these aspects to build, maintain, and nurture a culture that will embody a vision while representing the best interests of stakeholders. This approach is to be focused on performance toward successful tactical and strategic outcomes. The ideal role of both leader and team is to ensure quality, integrity, accountability, fairness, and balance to satisfy the stakeholders.

A team can be defined simply as a group of individuals united in pursuit of a common mission or goal, often sacrificing personal agendas for the sake of team accomplishment. Thus, teams have several characteristics: diverse individuals, a common goal, a sense of community, knowledge- sharing, and, concerted effort. The best teams are those composed of individuals who are keen opportunity-seekers, indefatigable problem-solvers, and incorrigible optimists. Such teams develop high team dynamics and a strong track record, while enhancing their own professional development. Effective leadership is needed to accomplish these laudable goals.

Indeed, strong leaders build strong teams: groups of people who work together in cooperative, goal-oriented effort. In the knowledge-intensive world of today, leaders influence and motivate teams. They do not coerce. They achieve results by developing a shared vision and communicating it to the team whilst influencing with passion. We can say that leaders discover challenges, and teams help to resolve them. Building teams, managing conflict, leading positive change, empowering and delegating, and creative problem-solving-all these are critical concurrent activities for effective team dynamics. Astute leaders adapt their style to suit any given situation and create an environment wherein the team flourishes. They also know their own strengths and weaknesses, and those of their teams. Effective leaders play to their team's strengths, and neutralise weaknesses. Indeed, teamwork requires collaborative problem-solving and action- oriented decision-making to meet objectives.

Teams consist of different people who bring diverse attributes to the project. Kelchner (2013) points out that maximizing the diversity within a team is important to allow for different skill-sets to come together and to share ideas for the best solution possible. If we suppress the natural dynamic flow of a team-with possible conflicts-self-induced barriers are created within that team. Therefore, the leader should strive to understand the culture of each team and find ways to strengthen the natural dynamics of that team and each of its members. A creative approach needs to be taken to drive the strategic vision of the organization through effective leadership.

For a team to have wholesome success there is no substitute for effective leadership. In the military, the difference between a good unit and a bad unit is leadership. In sports, the difference between a successful team and an unsuccessful team is leadership. By this token, organizational leadership is essentially the wise exercise of leadership behaviors with a view to accomplishing organizational goals by motivating competent teams. The balancing of effective leadership with a competent, motivated, and synergised team is doubtless imperative for successful outcomes.

The Five-Dimensional Leadership Competence Model

Globalization has increased the need for leaders with a multidimensional background to handle the variety of actions needed to drive the strategic plan to completion. Environmental complexity has greatly increased stakeholder expectations beyond the obvious. Indeed, today's leaders are expected to be fully competent and ready to handle both known and unknown risks. From a host of possible leadership competencies, a few can be extracted that are most pragmatic for application to a global environment. The capabilities that can prepare a well-rounded leader can be distilled into a composite, Five-Dimensional Leadership Competency Model consisting of the following (Cameron & Whetten, 2011): (1) Transformational; (2) Transactional; (3) Organic; (4) Contemporary; and, (5) Ethical.

(1) Transformational leaders are charismatic individuals who have the ability to influence a team to meet the organization's strategic goals. These leaders encourage and enable the development of an organization that is characterized by a culture based on integrity, transparency, and genuine respect for others. Such leaders inspire followers to perform beyond their expectations. They also foster healthy working relationships. The net result is a continual empowering of motivated team members to accomplish goals with visible enthusiasm.

(2) Transactional leaders transact work with team members in exchange for tangible and intangible rewards for delivering the assigned tasks. Under transactional leadership, followers are impelled by rewards made by the leader rather than from fear of consequences (Patterson, 2011, p. 75). Transactional leaders set the stage for positive results that are achieved by communicating the strategic goals, which are equally matched with the team's talents and capabilities. The project leader reinforces to the team that "high performance is linked to valued rewards, which leads to satisfaction." (Whetten & Cameron, 2011, p. 332). The ability to manage a high-performing, unified team is evidence of the effectiveness of "an engaging style of leadership." (Alban-Metcalfe & Alimo-Metcalfe, 2009, p. 14).

(3) Organic leadership enables greater interaction among team members, and greatly strengthens the working relationships among the team members. Individuals collaborating or working in an organic structure are thus bonded together by a shared vision and values (Patterson, 2010, p. 75). A leader using this style empowers and mentors motivated team members to cultivate their own leadership skills.

(4) Contemporary leaders are essentially democratic inn their approach, and use influence and persuasion rather than fear to lead the team. To ensure successful outcomes, contemporary leaders manage ambiguity and paradox: spearhead change and manage stability; establish vision and accomplish objectives; break traditional, outmoded rules, and, monitor conformance (Whetten & Cameron, 2011, p. 17). The contemporary leader utilizes structure to guide the team effectively to meet the organisation's strategic objectives and stakeholder expectations. Contemporary leaders also view existing difficulties as an opportunity for development is most needed; they utilize the opportunity to nurture and retain talent in order to gain competitive advantage in the longer term (Graham, 2012).

(5) Ethical leaders inspire respect by setting a fine example of integrity for team members and stakeholders. Ethical leadership focuses on how leaders responsibly use their social power in the decisions they make, actions they engage in, and in the ways they influence others (Resick, Hanges, Dickson, & Mitchelson, 2006, p. 346). This form of value-based leadership can indeed be contagious if it is a standard practice of the organization as a whole. A leader modeling integrity at all times is an invaluable role-model, both for the parent organisation, and for their teams.

It should be noted that the Five-dimensional Leadership Competency Model incorporates a complex of complementary leadership styles that can be used individually as the situation demands, as well as simultaneously because they do not conflict with each other. As a result, these styles balance the personalities, capabilities, and needs of the project leader and the team members. This composite model implies that in today's complex world, a cookie-cutter approach of 'one size fits all' will not work: a balanced and 'many-hatted' approach to leadership and teamwork is needed. This is especially poignant in the often high-intensity environment of the team as a temporary organization-riddled as it is with complex communication lines and diverse personalities!

Successful Leadership and Teamwork

Teams are an essential component of successful organizations today-and building and motivating teams are necessary pursuits to attain that success. Teams require continuous nurturing and interaction to maintain high performance throughout their temporary lives. Leadership must now concentrate on motivating and supporting teams using tools that were not previously considered, but have become crucial in a globalizing environment. In order for a team to be attuned to success, a combination of attributes are required that include: clear objectives; shared leadership; clear roles and responsibilities; interdependent members; mutual encouragement; and, trust between the leader and the team. Additionally, Whetton & Cameron (2011) point out a few factors that contribute toward effective team performance. These are: a heterogeneous team composition; increasing familiarity among project team members; team motivation which sharpens competence; team goals and overall feedback; cohesion among team members; and, decision-making processes within the team.

Two main skills associated with a successful team are: playing advantageous roles, and providing feedback to others. Advantageous roles such as that of task-facilitating enhance performance of a team through direction-giving, urging, and summarizing; and, they influence the behaviors of team members to facilitate task accomplishment and group cohesion. By providing feedback on the other hand, a team can move forward with accomplishing tasks while building relationships with each other. Focusing feedback on the behavior-rather than on the person-is one way team members provide effective feedback to build positive relationships, rather than destroy team unity. This balance is both constructive and remedial. Successful team development comes through a progression of stages: forming, norming, storming, and, performing (Manteklow, 2011; Tuckman, 1965). Teams must progress systematically through the first three stages in order to effectively advance to the fourth stage of performing. However, there are bound to be some overlaps between successive stages-and the time taken by each team to transcend each stage will vary.

Developing a successful team requires great diligence and awareness on the part of the leader- because it is as much an art as it is a science. In this context, each team will be different with diverse stressors and barriers for leaders to overcome and adapt to-indeed, even to neutralize and balance. A strong team recognizes that team members are dependent on each other for success, and that they have to work in unison to overcome adversity. With that in mind, a strong, resilient team will develop with great potential to complete its stated objectives. However, a high- performing team with the right capabilities but the wrong leadership can jeopardize success. Therefore the successful leader who engenders success needs to consistently lead a team with sensitivity, competence, and wisdom towards successful outcomes.

Best Practices in Balancing Leadership and Teamwork

Contemporary leadership requires more awareness of the human element in execution. Indeed, it calls for a balance between the technical and the behavioural, the hard and the soft, and leadership and teamwork. Team members are motivated differently from each another. Team leaders need to recognize that for some, the prestige of being in a productive team may be sufficient motivation. Team members may simply be self-motivated and seeking new challenges. For others, motivation may come from money, self-interest, exposure, or from the learning experience itself. Leaders must also be willing to provide growth opportunities to team members by placing them on teams that can enhance and expand their leadership skills. It takes an effective communicator with charisma to motivate, mentor, inspire, and build a cohesive team, while being aware of the individuality and unique aspirations of each team member. For pragmatic leaders to actualize the need for this balance, a conceptual framework can be constructed to balance leadership and teamwork-incorporating a keen understanding of human behaviour and motivation. Drawing from the above discussion on effective leadership and team dynamics, this basic framework of best practices in balancing the two integral phenomena is mooted. It takes effective communication for the leader to motivate, inspire, and build a cohesive team, while respecting the unique skills, drivers, and aspirations of each team member. This preliminary framework is made up of eight tenets comprising essential soft skills that bond leadership and teamwork in a symbiotic balance.

Vision: The visionary leader sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible. The leader's vision of a successful team needs to be shared with the team from the outset. A clear vision also enables team members to act without close supervision by providing direction for action while encouraging creativity and resourcefulness. The vision should underscore the organizational culture and dictate the roles of individual team players. An effective leader is often described as having a vision of where to go-and the ability to articulate it. Visionaries thrive on change and being able to draw new boundaries. A visionary leader is someone who lifts up, gives a reason for being, and provides the vision and spirit to change. Visionary leaders enable team members to feel that they have a real stake in the project. They empower people to experience their vision as their own. Involving team members in the creation of the team's vision statement can help to achieve buy-in and benefits from the perspective and experience of the team members who will be charged with accomplishing the tasks necessary for success. Ultimately, the leader's role in participative vision development is to ensure consistent alignment of team goals with organizational objectives, consistent with organizational policies.

Integrity: Integrity is the irreducible minimum of leadership and followership. It breeds trust, respect, and credibility. The leader's actions set an example for the team members. Integrity is indeed the ultimate best practice in balancing leadership and teamwork. A high reputation for integrity needs to be consistently maintained throughout-with the leader setting the example for high ethical standards for the organization, and for the team.

Communication: Leadership calls for clear communication about goals, responsibilities, performance, expectations, and feedback. The leader is also the team's link to the larger organization. Transparent communication in all directions enhances credibility, trust, and efficiency. Differences are bound to appear-but dialogue and discussions should be a basis for solutions. The leader must have the ability to effectively negotiate and persuade when necessary to ensure the success of the team. Team members have four major communication needs: responsibility parameters; co-ordinating with each other and the leader; awareness of project status; and, synchronization of decisions by various stakeholders (Verzuh, 1999, p. 222). Communication is therefore vital, not only in ensuring team progress, functionality and cohesion, but also in effective leadership. Communication plays such a critical role in the development of a team that it is important to nurture it from the very inception of team formation. It is very easy for a miscue to set back team formation in the very first meeting of team members. The leader needs to mediate those early meetings to ensure that team members are effectively communicating during team formation. Expectations and objectives need to be clearly, concisely, and correctly communicated to all team members with the backing of the leader.

Collaboration: Strong leaders build strong teams composed of groups of people who work together in cooperative effort. They adapt their style(s) to suit any given situation and create an environment where the team flourishes. Team members may come from a single source and produce a highly specialised output, or may come from diverse backgrounds and approach a result from a holistic viewpoint. The leader's role is to understand what views are held by individual members of the team and refine them into common categories of value. These values reflect deeply held personal beliefs and provide strong motivation for the group as a whole, as well as serve as an impetus for collaboration and commitment (Martinelli, 2010). This commitment can help ensure that team members embrace challenges with enthusiasm, weather difficulties with resolve, and exhibit spirited effort. Indeed, the definition of a high-performing team seems to embrace the value of collective individual strengths toward successful collaboration. Every member of a team has skills to bring to the table, and a great deal of them surface through conflict. Conflict is a naturally occurring process that is displayed within healthy teams and is necessary for the dynamics of team success. This is especially true in cross-cultural situations with more complex communication issues. In general, collaboration is the key to resolving conflicts amicably and creatively.

Creativity: Creativity can be an advantage if employed constructively; it provides flexibility, innovation, and competitive muscle. On the other hand, it could be a possible hindrance if the leader allows the project team to digress and lose focus of the project goals. By promoting a healthy and inclusive project environment that fosters creativity, the spirit of innovation can flourish (Abgor, 2008). Creativity and innovation are an organization's primary source of competitive advantage in the 21st century; yet, it takes an understanding leader who is interested in bringing innovation to the organization, to implement this strategy (Abgor, 2008). Creativity in teams needs to be encouraged, as it is a way of generating ideas that could enhance or transform an organization's bottom line. Nevertheless, creativity is not limited to generating ideas but can also be an effective tool in problem-solving-especially in a competitive environment. Therefore it is important to encourage value-added, creative output to tap into the tacit knowledge of the team members.

Goal-orientation: The goals of the organization should constantly be kept in view by both the leader and the team. Also, the overall organizational goals need to be balanced with the team members' personal goals for the project. The team should take ownership for goal achievement, which in turn leads to personal accomplishment and advancement. Goal-orientation is especially important during planned and unplanned changes in the organization. The leader and team should anticipate and embrace changes while incorporating pre-emptive plans for risk management towards successful realization of the goals. When the goal and milestones are shared and constantly focused on, teammates are concertedly working with, and for, each other.

Empowerment: Empowerment means helping to develop in others a sense of self-efficacy, self- determinism, personal control, meaning, and trust (Whetten & Cameron, 2011, p. 472). The leader should be able to communicate effectively with the team members to establish trust and to build relationships. When individuals are able to build relationships that are positive and that create energy, important physiological, emotional, intellectual, and social consequences result (Whetten & Cameron, 2011, p. 238). This exercise is aided by mentorship, and is constructive as most people have little trouble communicating effectively in positive situations. Strong leaders who empower and mentor team members know their own strengths and weaknesses, and also those of the team members. In this context, delegation is also part of empowerment. The project manager should be able to delegate, recognizing the skills and expertise of the team members and assign tasks accordingly. This enhances trust, which also is an essential element in a positive and balanced relationship of a leader with team members. Empowerment shows that the leader has confidence in the team to get out of their comfort zones, to be creative, and to find new ways to accomplish tasks.

Team-building: The leader needs to be a good team-builder. A team-builder can best be defined as a strong person who provides the substance that holds the team together in common veal towards the right objectives. The team starts as a group of strangers and needs to be synergized into a high- performing team. Keeping the sense of team-spirit alive despite the many problems in execution is another crucial quality a leader should have. The leader has to play a significant part in defining a positive work tone and ethic for the team from the very outset. The team should be nurtured in a way that evokes a positive, team-building culture.

To understand the process of forming solid relationships to accomplish team-building, it is essential to track the process that teams go through while metamorphosing-generally understood by the four stages of forming, storming, norming and performing (Tuckman, 1965). During the initial 'forming' stage, team members are polite and team roles are less clear; during this stage, team members rely on leadership to establish boundaries and explain expectations. As roles and relationships become clearer, the group moves into the 'storming' stage. During this stage, established roles may be questioned and leadership may be called upon to explain the foundation set for the group. As the group moves forward, they encounter the 'norming' stage. During this stage, the organization has a comfortably established hierarchy, which facilitates work for the group. During this phase of group development, camaraderie develops and relationships become stronger as the group realizes they have a shared vision. Finally, in the 'performing' stage, the actualization of the group's overall goals occurs. Hierarchy and culture are established, and team members have the ability to join or leave the organization or team without impacting its culture. During all four of these stages, building solid relationships becomes imperative for success (Manteklow, 2011). A balance of well-developed team-building and astute leadership is obviously needed to construct strong, successful teams.

Conclusion

Balancing leadership and teamwork as two sides of the same coin has become necessary in an increasingly competitive environment, especially in the face of scarcity of valuable resources- most importantly, human resources. Tapping into the best that a team can yield toward a relentless pursuit of organizational success requires greater emphasis on the 'soft' skills of leadership than hitherto acknowledged. However, balancing the two intertwined phenomena is a worthwhile endeavor that is doable through persistent interpersonal effort by both leader and followers. The basic framework of eight soft skills spanning and balancing leadership and teamwork presented in this paper attempts to encompass best practices in this arena. It needs further expansion, categorization, and empirical testing, but will serve as a good starting point.

Leaders need to be continually evaluating their: leadership styles and perceptions; understanding of different cultures; individual and team motivations; interpersonal skills; levels of creativity; ability to manage change; communication style; listening ability; decision-making skills; and, personal ethics. A leader must marshal appropriate skills and tasks to successfully build teams, accomplish goals, and avoid pitfalls. However, the achievement of all of these requires a leader to be flexible and capable of finding creative and effective solutions. The inevitability of organizational change requires a proactive, forward-looking approach. This means that the leader should be prepared to develop novel and effective methods of timely and complete communication, team-building, negotiation, and conflict resolution-in parallel with the technical aspects of schedules, risks, and resources.

Overall, being a successful leader is to be able to effectively communicate with the team members toward project success. Strong communication skills in the leader help foster and build relationships. The leader will thereby find the best routes of motivation, mentorship, and empowerment to energize each member of the team. In the final analysis, it is important for the leader to balance wise leadership with a unified, high-performing team that reaches its full potential-beyond all expectations.

Effective communication in virtual teams

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

New technologies have enabled the rise of virtual teams. Teammates no longer have to occupy the same physical space to work effectively. This ushers forth a new class of problems that managers must deal with, such as teammates on different continents who never have seen each other and whose culture is completely alien. Since trust is the underlying factor in any successful manager's relationship with her team, managers must adapt to the new challenges with new techniques.

Scholars have been researching virtual teams since the early 1980s. With the passage of time and the evolution of technologies, the definition of what constitutes a virtual team has changed. The first definitions of virtual teams involved any contact via telecommunications technology. With the ubiquitous use of telecommunications today, the old definition is no longer relevant, as entire teams might never be in the same room together, instead corresponding and working together through e-mail, instant messages and video conferencing.

Location, culture, nonverbal communication and trust are the four factors that most directly influence whether a team can communicate effectively and fulfill its objectives. The physical location of team members is important in determining the methods and times of contact between teammates. Coordination is important in establishing an effective relationship, as is each team member s culture, particularly in multinational companies. Telecommunication costs have dropped, facilitating virtual teams with operators from multiple countries. The type of technology can influence how team members view each other s messages, often elimi- nating the nonverbal cues that carry so much information in face-to-face communication. These factors affect the final component, trust, which is vital for members to open up and convey their intentions without fear of judgment from other members.

Location: Not so simple anymore

In the old days, location was simple: Teammates needed, in almost all cases, to be located near enough to meet with each other. Now, virtual teams can have members split all over the globe in different time zones, and members from the same physical location could work different shifts. This disparity can be split into two different dimensions, time and space. Time distance can be when members of the team are located in different time zones or if they're working on different shifts. Space distance is the physical distance between members. Technology can be used to eliminate some of the barriers created by the distance of time and space.

In "Geography Is Alive and Well in Virtual Teams," Jonathon Ν. Cummings found that the closer a team is in terms of spatial and temporal distance, the more effective it is. While technology helps connect teams, his research showed that greater distances increase coordination delays, although time is a greater barrier than physical distance.

The greatest communication occurs when team members can contact each other directly without a delay caused by time zone differences. Web-conferencing is more effective than passive modes of communications such as email or voice mail. Time zones become a major issue when trying to create an effective team, as managers must account for time zone and work shift differences when scheduling meetings.

As Billie Williamsons 2009 BusinessWeek article put it, "Don't simply assume that everyone should adapt to your time zone." Managers should not establish favoritism by choosing one time. A rotating schedule would show that a manager respects the different schedules of his or her teammates.

Email or face-to-face

Geography also factors into the method of communication. Many virtual teams will work through asynchronous communication, which lets members work at different times without having simultaneous contact. Asynchronous communication includes email and other Internet-based communications.

However, a case study by Gail Ludwig revealed flaws in asynchronous communication during a group project involving students. "Virtual Geographic Research Teams: A Case Study," from the Journal of Geography, discussed how solely communicating via email led to the free-rider problem. Ludwigs case study reported the experiences of a student who had what she called an "invisible partner," a common shared experience among the other students. The relative anonymity of email alienates team members and allows problems like this to fester. The method of communication chosen can create an additional temporal barrier. Managers should be cognizant of this and work to make team members feel a part of the organization.

Managers must choose the communication method that easily connects team members while accounting for the distance between them. Web conferences can reduce this distance by allowing team members to see and interact with each other. This is where scheduling conflicts involving multiple countries and multiple time zones crop up. On a blog for Psychology Today, Jennell Evans offered "8 Tips for Effective Virtual Teams." Evans suggested that managers should create initial team agreements that include the modes and schedule for meetings between members. By managing expectations from the outset, managers can create a framework that lets members communicate without creating resentment by forcing new methods onto them after the team has started.

Cultural diversity

Technology and globalization have led to a multicultural business environment with subsidiaries, departments and allied corporations in multiple countries. Cultural diversity has both positive and negative aspects, Sandy Staples and Lina Zhao wrote in "The Effects of Cultural Diversity in Virtual Teams Versus Face-to-Face Teams," from Group Decision and Negotiation.

"Value in diversity comes from increased creativity, innovation and flexibility," according to their report, while "negative aspects of team diversity include communication difficulties, misunderstandings, decreased cohesion and increased conflict."

Team members are able to work together better if they are culturally sensitive. Cultural sensitivity training is an effective method for allowing two-way communication within the team. Once members are aware of their enculturation and how it affects their decision making, they are able to understand other cultures and communicate with their teammates more effectively, according to Tom Verghese in "Virtual Teams and Cultural Diversity." Members can put teammates at ease by respecting the conventions of that culture. An example would be to add -san or -sama when addressing Japanese teammates, much like Americans may address someone as sir or ma'am.

According to a survey on virtual team management from The Economist magazine, miscommunications due to language and cultural differences are the issue that arises most in teams that are positioned globally. Language is our most overt way of communicating. But in a global environment, not everyone speaks the same language or has the same degree of linguistic proficiency.

Sergio Bogazzi raised an interesting example wherein his project was delayed because some team members were forced to use English instead of their mother tongue. In the beginning, these individuals were proactive and engaged. When forced to switch to English, however, they were pulled outside of their comfort zone and became withdrawn and reticent, Bogazzi reported in "Challenges Facing Virtual Teams." The project suffered as the members affected chose to move to an asynchronous method of communication because they were uncomfortable expressing themselves orally in English.

Although English is the international language of business and many countries have adopted it as an unofficial second language, some people are reluctant to speak in or are not proficient in English. Managers should recognize this fact. Differing levels of proficiency in English, or whatever language is chosen, could cause communication delays. Managers should adjust the schedule and possibly hire translators to compensate.

Nonverbal communication

Many studies have claimed that 80 percent of all communication is nonverbal. In co-locational teams, nonverbal cues are an important part of communication.

"The lack of visual contact with virtual team members requires the manager to adapt his or her communication style and methods to fill the gap left by the absence of nonverbal communication such as body language and eye contact," Ann All wrote in IT Business Edge. There can be no misunderstandings about the projects goals, purposes and how to implement them.

Body language tells a person a lot of information not expressed explicidy in the verbal component of the message. A virtual team cannot depend on this, so emails and other nonverbal communications must be explicit. Virtual team members must communicate explicitly, clearly, concisely and quickly to avoid frustration.

Web conferences and teleconferences can help add nonverbal cues of posture and tone to team communication. Managers must decide whether these more expensive methods of communication are worth reducing the assumptions and barriers involved. Alternately, a manager can give clear guidelines about the type and depth of information required in written communications. Explicit instructions can help team members reduce mistakes and communicate more effectively.

Trust

Trust is the bedrock upon which all teams develop synergy and become effective. In a traditional, co-located team, members can see and get a feel for each others quirks and personalities. Virtual teams must overcome this extra hurdle, since they cannot develop trust daily through "shared social norms, repeated interactions and shared experiences," as Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa and Dorothy E. Leidner reported in their case study "Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams."

Their analysis separated teams into four groups depending on their initial and final levels of trust. Not surprisingly, the most effective teams shared high levels of initial and final trust. Effective teams displayed behaviors that included reliable and timely communication between members, international experience, a focus on the task rather than on a procedure, and had an involved leader. Trust was built when the team overcame the barriers to communicate in a manner that was oriented to the task, was clear, and was concise.

Timely communication involves a system that can overcome the time zone differences between team members. Exposure to international experiences allows members to acclimate themselves to different cultures and reduces the risk of cultural insensitivity that can become a barrier to understanding. Reliable and concise communication only exists when members have found a balance between what to express explicitly in the verbal communications and nonverbal communications. When all the issues are addressed, a team becomes an effective force that is greater than the sum of its parts.

What a manager should do

Teams do not form in a vacuum. Virtual teams often are distinguished from other teams by geographical and linguistic diversity, adding an extra layer of hardship to the development of a successful team.

But team leaders can overcome this hardship with systems that are fair and equitable, meeting schedules that account for different time zones, and training members in cultural sensitivity. Although not a replacement for international experience, training lets members interact without committing a faux pas. Solid guidelines for methods and the structure of communication will eliminate confusion.

All this will develop trust within the team and in management. Managers who control these issues and ameliorate problems can build virtual teams that will flourish.

CONFLICT IN WORK TEAMS: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

ABSTRACT

Conflict is almost certain to occur in work teams due to the fact that they are comprised of different people possessing different perceptions, personalities, and behaviors. Although incredibly effective, work teams may stumble upon barriers which must be overcome to allow for growth and continuation towards the common goals of the group. It is quite possible that a work team may perform without the presence of conflict, but oftentimes certain measures have been implemented to prevent such conflict from occurring. Occasional conflict, if managed appropriately, can lead to creativity, better decision-making, and improved results. However, too much conflict can lead to a decrease in performance and group cohesion. In global organizations there is an opportunity for cross-cultural differences that may increase conflict. Contained herein are both the positive and negative consequences of conflict, as well as courses of action to understand, prevent, and resolve conflict that occurs within work teams or groups.

THE VALUE OF WORK TEAMS

A work team is defined as an organized group, committed to the individuals within the group, whose members share the same intent of accomplishing a common goal. Managers have become more inclined to utilize work teams when presented with missions involving problem solving, solution development, and decision making. One advantage a team has over an individual is its diversity of resources, knowledge, and ideas (Townsley, 2009). Teams allow for greater creativity due to the eclectic styles of thinking that collaborate when groups are formed. Benefits derived from using teams include quality improvements and enhanced productivity gains obtained by bringing individuals with complementary skills together (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2005). Teams enable better outcomes since there is a combination of multiple experiences and knowledge bases joining together to resolve issues and make decisions. An example would be the development of a new car line by a major dealership. In order for the dealership to make the best decision possible, it should utilize members from all departments: marketing, finance, legal, production, engineering, etc., in order to develop the best overall plan for the company. This allows management to have knowledge obtained from every area within the organization that is potentially involved in determining the success or failure of the new product line. From the organized work team, all necessary information is provided and analyzed in order to effectively create the new line. As problems arise from a specific area, the team will be able to resolve issues more effectively by the input provided from the various departments. On the contrary, if the company were to choose a single individual to create the plan for the new line, he or she is unlikely to be capable of making such decisions alone. In most circumstances, work teams tend to be more successful at formulating these types of decisions because they use input from team members who may be experts in that field.

CAUSES OF CONFLICT IN WORK TEAMS

Despite the recognizable improvements in the proficiency of organizations through the use of teams, there is also an increase in the likelihood of conflict occurring due to the presence of overall differences among members of a team. When individuals come together in work teams there are differences in terms of power, values and attitudes, and social factors that all contribute to the creation of conflict. Conflicting factors such as these may cause deviation from the key goals of the group and may generally fall into three categories: communication factors, structural factors and personal factors" (Townsley, 2009). Communication factors are often the primary source of disagreement among individuals. Barriers to communication can result from misunderstanding of information, differences in interpretation and perception, cultural differences among the team, as well as poor listening. Different communication styles, if not interpreted correctly, might also prove to be problematic. For example, problems arise when value judgments are made on the basis of different communication styles. If team members disagree and one represents views and feelings forcefully with a raised voice, another more restrained team member may see that as arrogant and aggressive. The same 'arrogant' team member may conclude that the restrained team member is untrustworthy because eye contact is not maintained (Ford, 200 1 ). Such misinterpretation can easily trigger false opinions of the sender or receiver's intent. The second category, structural factors, can stem from elements such as the background of the team members, infrastructure issues, participation levels (within the team), or possibly the size of the team. Personal factors that could also promote the chance for conflict within a team include: individual values and goals, needs, self-esteem, or individual motives (Townsley, 2009). Furthermore, an individual's perception of the situation that is significantly different from that of another team member's may also bring about conflict.

With the increase in the globalization of organizations, a new source of conflict can come, not from just cross-functional team members, but cross-cultural members as well (Northouse, 20 1 0). here are two cultural factors to keep in mind when considering conflict-causing factors. The first is internal group culture. There will always be variation within a group. However, "the majority of a group culture will conform to a dominant set of beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. But, there will be members of the cultural group that differ in significant ways from the norm" (Ford, 2009). Despite the internal group culture established, there may be individual cultural factors affecting differences among the group. These cultural differences may result from individuals within the team who come from different nationality groups, religious groups, ethnic groups, and organizations. Although the team has an inherent culture that is formed, the team must be cognizant of external cultural factors that differ from the norm of the team, or else conflict may occur. For instance, "the dominant culture in the USA, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand is individualistic, while collectivism predominates the rest of the world" (Ford, 2009). Therefore, countries such as the USA, Canada, and Australia are going to place more emphasis on autonomy, creativity and authority in decision making. Meanwhile, other countries focus more on a collectivist culture where group conformity and commitment are preserved at the expense of personal interests. These types of cultural differences can greatly impact the dynamics of a work team and must be understood and respected in order for the team to function successfully.

CONSEQUENCES OF CONFLICT IN WORK TEAMS

Conflict can produce either positive or negative results within work teams. An effective team is one where members are capable of handling conflict and drawing out the knowledge gained from disagreements to arrive at a better decision. However, negative consequences occur whenever conflict is not resolved by the team members. If conflict is not properly managed, the effects can be damaging to the team, as well as the organization. Oftentimes a work team may consist of individuals or groups of individuals from different areas within an organization. Thus, those groups within the work team depend on one another for information to make the best possible decisions. Whenever there is conflict among these groups, it can either be classified as functional or dysfunctional. Positive functional conflict is a confrontation between groups that enhances and benefits the organization's performance (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2005). For instance, in the example mentioned previously about the dealership and its implementation of a new car line, individuals from the finance department may disagree with individuals from the marketing department on how to implement the marketing plan for the new line. As long as they are able to work through the conflict to derive the most optimum decision, then this can be considered functional conflict. Positive consequences of functional conflict include: awareness of problems, search for solutions, positive change and adaptation, as well as innovation. Thus, the absence of functional conflict in organizations might inhibit change from ever occurring and could cause a team to become stagnant and unproductive (Ivancevich, et al 2005).

Dysfunctional conflict is confrontation between groups that harms or hinders the goals of the organization (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2005). At this point functional conflict can lead to disruption of activities and extreme dissention among the team members when the conflict becomes dysfunctional. If the individuals within the team are not able to successfully resolve such conflict, it could prove damaging to the morale, relationships and goals of the group and the organization. Further consequences from a work team's inability to properly resolve conflict may include decreased group cohesiveness, damaged communication channels, a decline in innovation and idea creation, project cancellation, and possibly extreme profit loss. Hopefully, in order to prevent the occurrence of negative consequences from dysfunctional conflict, teams will practice good conflict resolution skills and will be well-prepared and properly trained on how to handle such disagreement within the team. However, if such is not the case, then conflict may become a direct cause for team failure instead of a positive influence in achieving optimal outcomes.

RESOLVING CONFLICT IN WORK TEAMS

Conflict resolution is an integral part of effective teams and organizations. Conflict is inevitable but the important takeaway is not necessarily knowing how to eliminate conflict all together, but to eliminate the problems before they begin or be prepared deal with the conflict as it is presented. There are several recommendations that prove effective in managing and resolving group conflict. The leader of the group should develop a strategy for training and preparing team members for group process, in particular, training to proactively manage or avoid conflict. Conflict management and resolution training is a great way for an organization to coach employees on how to prepare for resolving conflict when working in teams. It provides awareness of how conflict may arise and different methods of managing conflict to maximize effectiveness of the team. Such training allows the organization and its members an opportunity to develop strategies to effectively tackle conflict before it even occurs.

If the conflict can be traced to cultural differences between two or more group members, obtaining cultural synergy may be necessary (Adler, 2008). Cultural differences should be embraced, and used to enhance group performance. Ethnocentrism should be discouraged, as it tends to lift up one culture at the expense of another (Northouse, 2010). Open communication is necessary to resolve differences in perception and interpretation. Some sort of compromise between individuals or sub-groups may be necessary in order to move beyond the situation. Commonalities between members of different cultures should be emphasized and differences minimized.

At times facilitators should be designated to assist with managing and resolving group conflict. Implementing the use of a group facilitator can alleviate many problems resulting from conflict because he or she can coach the team(s) through dealing with conflict openly and successfully. This person can facilitate effective communication by intervening in conversation to allow for disagreements to be approached in a methodical and rational manner. Facilitators may also help to resolve conflict in situations where members develop different conceptualizations of a conflict situation or event in the group. For instance, individuals may have unique internal frames of reference which cause them to interpret conversation differently than someone else (Mitchell, 2006). In addition to the implementation of conflict management training and the use of facilitators, other processes exist to aid in the practice of conflict resolution.

In an article written by Dr. Thomas Capozzoli, six processes are discussed that can be used when practicing conflict resolution. The first states that the group should explore the reasons for disagreement and if emotions are still high, continue only after emotions have calmed. Only at this point can groups make decisions rationally based on logic and thoughts verses emotional deterrents to communication. Within the first process, Capozzoli emphasizes the need for active listening and he also discusses the importance of refusing to criticize the perceptions of other group members. The second process deals with recognizing alternative solutions presented by different sides of the group, but only after the disagreement has been fully identified. Third, all the reasons for why each solution is appropriate should be explored. Then negotiations should begin to determine which solution seems most practical. Once the solution has been identified, it should be implemented with each party understanding its responsibilities. Once the fourth process has been completed in resolving conflict, the fifth one states that the group should thoroughly evaluate the chosen solution to ensure that it is most successful in solving the disagreement (Capozzoli, 1995). If the solution does not appear to be adequate in resolving the disagreement, another solution should be evaluated. The final step presented in the conflict resolution process is to continue practicing the conflict resolution process. This will enable team members of the organization to be more equipped when handling future conflicts.

Five generic approaches are mentioned when resolving intergroup conflict: dominating, accommodating, problem solving, avoiding, and compromising. The dominating approach requires that one group holds a balance of power so that it can force its resolution on the other group. This can be a successful approach when differences need to be resolved quickly or when unpopular actions need to be taken such as imposing new policy. The accommodating approach involves one group meeting the needs of another over its own. This can be beneficial when the issue is more important to the other group or when preserving peace is more important than maximizing one's own interest. The third approach, problem solving, involves collaborating and working together to maximize results for all involved. Out of these five intergroup conflict resolutions, problem solving is probably the ideal approach due to the collaboration of parties and the merger of insight, experience, knowledge and perspective. Avoiding conflict, the fourth approach, is only effective when used as a temporary method. Sometimes avoiding the conflict is necessary when other issues are more important, parties need an opportunity to cool down from a heated disagreement, or when additional time is needed to gather more information. Avoiding can be useful as long as it is used for a particular reasoning and not as a permanent solution to the conflict. When utilizing the fifth approach, known as the compromising approach, usually the resolution reached is not ideal for either group but a resolution is achieved through negotiation. Compromise is the middle-of-the-road approach and is a good backup strategy when other approaches fail at resolving conflict (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2005). Each of the five mentioned approaches could prove effective in resolving conflict in teams, depending on the situation.

CONCLUSIONS

Organizational work teams will inevitably encounter conflict whether the conflict exists among the individuals within the work team, or among multiple teams working together. Regardless, a good understanding of how conflict occurs, the consequences of conflict, and how to manage conflict, may allow groups to arrive at better solutions for the team and the overall organization. Learning how to manage and resolve conflict requires training and preparation, active listening, open communication, as well as an understanding of the perceptions, personalities, and behaviors shared among the group. Leading a group requires an understanding of different cultural factors, both internal and external, are also helpful in managing conflict within a group. But most importantly, adopting good practices and approaches to conflict resolution will allow conflict to enhance the behavior of the group members and the work performance of the group.