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Team Management
Abstract
Team management does the best it can to develop a positive environment, a better way of
communication, and encouraging self-development. Team management also does the best it can
with problem-solving and working closely together for the betterment of the team. Team
management is very important and carries a heavy load when it comes to how effective and
efficient an organization can be. I plan to do my best with researching and examining the
strengths and weaknesses of team management. In the reading, it touched on the balancing act of
conformity and deviation coupled with the examination of relationships and goal-setting. I plan
to discuss goal-setting from a team management lens to magnify innovative ways and ideas.
Lastly, I will incorporate biblical principles and concepts from the biblical blueprint on decision-
making and team management. Managers have the ability to help employees understand and
visualize the main goals and objectives of what the corporation wants. A good manager also has
the ability to help employees find a happy medium between conformity and deviation..
Keywords: Team, goals, team management, teamwork, conformity, and deviance
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Team Management
Introduction
Managers will use teams to "improve performance, boost customer response, drive innovation,
and inspire staff" (George et al., 2020, p.358). It is always in the best interest of management to
use innovative ideas, concepts, and techniques to form a successful team to accomplish the goals
at hand. Communication, motivation, planning, analyzing, and collaboration from everyone will
make things better when a manager is managing the progress and the success of a team.
Managing a team in the workplace is very close to coaching a sports team. The coach must
implement plays and sometimes even strategies just like a manager would with his/ her team at
work.
Managers are also supposed to lead by example by showing his/her team how to be a good team
members and carry out the tasks given to him/her by the higher-ups. Managers must always
keep order by making sure all rules and guidelines are being followed. Managers, when not
disciplining, must not show favoritism. Favoritism has a way of breaking up a team and can
cause the environment to become unhealthy. Managers are put in place to balance compliance
and deviation while leading by example. Managers must always uphold the organization's
standards to help formulate the optimum result.
Balancing Conformity and Deviance
Description of the Concept
According to Jones (2019), there are three reasons why group members conform. One of the
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Team Management
three reasons for conformity is to avoid punishment, imitate people they like and want to do what
is right, and buy into what the company is selling (Jones,2019, p. 367). Deviance happens when
someone goes against the norms and or sees fault. Deviance can also be used to help restore
abnormal norms for the better.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Conformity is the starting point that is needed to start debates and come to conclusions on
situation. For an example, a new president coming into a company and goes over the companies
policies and evaluate staff, this will allow him/her to conform or deviate from the norms. Some
strengths with modeling conformity will help with being received by the group and this will also
help with comradery. The downside to conformity is when things get so routine, groups will
start to deviate or the reward system will no longer be seen as a reward. Conformity could also
lead to a rebellious staff that will cause division amongst the teams (Deperez et al., 2019).
Strengths with deviance can seem to be a negative thing but deviance can find flaws, motivate,
empower and help improve outcomes that will help grow an organization for the better.
Deviance could serve as a form of checks and balance to an organization to keep things in line.
Rebellious attitude, low performance, mismanagement of attitudes all stems from deviant team
members going against the norms. There are so many reasons why team management is very
important and when it comes to the balancing act, team management should balance out too
much or too little of deviant or conformity team members in a healthy way. In John 6:64 the
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Team Management
bible talks about how Jesus knew someone would betray him because they did not truly believe.
This is a prime example of deviation from what the norm was at that time. Judas deviated
because he wanted more and greed took him by the hand. In Matthew 26:14-16, the bible talked
about how Judas went as far as going to the chief priests to sell Jesus or betray him for 30 pieces
of silver. Inside of a company or even a country, this is a case of not conforming to the
deviations from what the country had conformed to. Jesus was the deviation from what was
wicked and he did his best to reset the norms.
Goal Setting and Relational Management
Description of the Concept
According to Jones (2019), A goal is what a person is trying to accomplish through his or her
efforts and behaviors. Jones (2019) talks about how Ed Locke and Gary Latham has been the
leading researchers for the goal-setting theory for a long time. Jones (2019) also cited Donovan
& Radosevich, (1998) about how goal-setting stimulates a motivation and a type of performance,
and how the goals must be specific and difficult.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Goal setting has its strengths and weaknesses, and one strength is that goal setting can cause
team members to want to be more involved with their job. The more difficult the goal, the more
team members will put in the work to accomplish the goal (Jones, 2019). Goal setting will help
put the focus in the right direction. Goal setting can also cause a team member to become more
persistent with the goal at hand (Jones, 2019). Some weakness with goal setting is that if a goal
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Team Management
is set too high, team members may become overwhelmed or demotivated to try and accomplish
it. If a person is forced to learn or educate themselves on how to accomplish a difficult goal, this
may cause team members not to want to go through with the goal. Once a person has learned the
task at hand, it could cause the team members not to want to go through with the task. Proverbs
21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes
only to poverty.” The verse in Proverbs made me think about goal setting, and I thought this was
a motivational verse. Abigail, in 1 Samuel 25: 14-39 husband was faced with death and did not
know it; Abigail’s goal was to save the lives of everyone from dying on the day King David
came to kill everyone because of what Abigail’s husband said to King David’s men. As stated
by Lock & Latham, goal setting can grow productivity and set norms.
Conclusion
Like the United States with checks and balances, conformity and deviation would be that for
managers within team member management. Conformity will show who is working and who is
not or show what type of work they are doing or not doing. When doing the best to replace things
that are going wrong in the company, deviation could be the go-to in order to restore order.
Deviation will help with conformity George and Jones (2019 just like Jesus tried to do when
Judas betrayed Jesus. Jesus was the deviation of what was going on in the world, and he did his
best to change the dysfunction that was at hand.
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Team Management
Reference:
DHprez, G.R.M., Battistelli, A. and Antino, M., 2019. Norm and Deviance-Seeking Personal
Orientation Scale (NDPOS) Adapted to the Organisational Context. Psychologica Belgica, 59(1).
393–415. http://doi.org/10.5334/pb.462
Donovan, J. J., & Radosevich, D. J. (1998). The moderating role of goal commitment on the goal
difficulty–performance relationship: A Meta-analytic review and critical reanalysis.JJournal of
Applied Psychology,J83(2), 308–315. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.83.2.308J
George, G.R.J. J. (2020).JEssentials of Contemporary ManagementJ(9th ed.). McGraw-Hill
Higher Education (US).Jhttps://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781260681420
Heerdink, M. W., van Kleef, G. A., Homan, A. C., & Fischer, A. H. (2013). On the social
influence of emotions in groups: Interpersonal effects of anger and happiness on conformity
versus deviance.JJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(2), 262–
284. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033362
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Ibid., J. J. Donovan and D. J. Radosevich, “The Moderating Role of Goal Commitment on the
Goal Difficulty–Performance Relationship: A Meta-Analytic Review and Critical Analysis,”
Journal of Applied Psychology 83 (1998), 308–15; M. E. Tubbs, “Goal Setting: A Meta Analytic
Examination of the Empirical Evidence,” Journal of Applied Psychology 71 (1986), 474–83.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2019). The development of goal-setting theory: A half-century
retrospective. Motivation Science. 5(2). 93-105.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1037/mot0000127
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