Teamwork In Planning Essay

1734 Words4 Pages

Introduction

A contemporary planning practice focuses on important developments and results that will improve the livability of towns and cities in its global context. However, it is unclear what procedure develops a thriving planning practice. Through the analysis of selected topics, it will be made clear that in order to overcome planning goals and to create a successful contemporary planning practice, teamwork is needed. This is supported as “a team has a common goal or purpose where team members can develop effective, mutual relationships to achieve team goals” (Harris & Harris, 1996). To re-iterate that teamwork in planning is important; this essay will outline the importance of teams in planning, the features of effective teams, strategies to overcome conflict and the stages of an effective team. This essay will also link to relevant case studies.
Why teams are important in planning

In the contemporary planning practice, collaborative planning is critical within three areas. These three areas are multi-stakeholder planning processes, multi-disciplinary issues and the inter-disciplinary practice of plan making (Johnson, 2013). In the modern day planning practices, planners aim to improve the quality of life by integrating economically fundable projects, socially viable works, and plans that are environmentally sustainable (Healey, 1998). As planning is a rather large task, teamwork is essentially necessary to achieve every aspect of a sustainable development. Otherwise the demand of workload for planning projects is a riotous task if the development stages amongst a team are not evident. This theory is reinforced by planning theorist and professor of town and country planning, Patsy Healy, as she believes that collabora...

... middle of paper ...

...e contemporary planning practice as they depict an effective team that can achieve many outcomes, every planning practice with their team of planning professionals will go through these stages if the team is successful in their work.

Conclusion

Throughout the analysis of selected topics and case studies, it is evident that in order to run a successful contemporary planning practice that achieves goals and targets, teamwork is essential. An extensive analysis of why teamwork is important in planning, features of an effective team, strategies of overcoming conflict and the stages of an effective team was conducted which demonstrates the relationship contemporary planning practices have with teamwork. The procedure behind successful contemporary planning practices is no longer unclear as it is evident that the driving force behind its success is indeed teamwork.

Open Document