To what extent does team work lead to empowerment?
The term team work is often times viewed by others as a group of persons working towards achieving a common goal. This view is often echoed by employers who view team work as a group of employees working towards achieving organisational goals which would equate to increased revenues for the organisation. Empowerment on the other hand has been viewed as bestowing some level of autonomy on employees in an effort to build their self esteem whilst transferring some level of responsibility towards problem solving or trouble shooting. However, for the purpose of this assignment, team work will be viewed in relation to management control and intensification of work.
Organisations are increasingly becoming technologically driven resulting in the adaptation of new systems. This has given rise to a shift in focus on employees and strategies which can be employed to achieve maximum work output from employees. According to CLMS, 2006:M2:U4:5, team working entails giving small groups of workers a degree of autonomy over the organisation of work, or over elements of day-to-day management , or both.
The assignment will seek to explore the extent to which team work leads to empowerment. An organisation can only achieve its fullest potential if its’ employees are motivated towards doing so. Team work is an excellent s strategy which can be adopted in today’s labour market; however, this strategy can be more effective if its employees are empowered to make decisions. CLMS 2006M1:U4:6 describe empowerment as being associated with some redistribution of power. It can be argued that teamwork leads to autonomy to make decisions (excluding some corporate level decisions). This not only s...
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...ation of workforce expertise (Hyman and Mason, 1995; Walton, 1985) as cited in CLMS, 2006. It can also be argued that Total Quality Management may empower employees by delegating functions that were previously the preserve of more senior organisational members and as a result institutionalise participation on a permanent basis ( Hill 1991, p. 541) cited in CLMS M2:U4:43)
...”there is also a profoundly negative force which has driven the empowerment initiatives. In the 1980s and 1990s rationalisation and downsizing were very much the order of the day. In this context, empowerment became a business necessity as the destaffed and delayered organisation could no longer function as before. In this set of circumstances, empowerment was inevitable as tasks had to be allocated to the survivors in the new organisation” (CLMS 2006 M2:U4:43-44).
The concept of empowering within an organization is vital to its survival. Within my organization I would say that empowering would be at three. This is more than likely a temporary situation, as we are experiencing dramatic change and uncertainty during the merger and restructuring. After the dust settles, and a sense of normalcy returns, I believe as an organization, we will be once again at a level four. Creating a sense of ownership and voice, one needs to feel autonomous, valued, and in control of their surroundings (Keys, 2009). In a world of continued chaos and change, the strongest and lasting ideas most often come from the ground up (Laureate Education, 2010a). It is the clinical staff and future leaders that are the foundation of an organization. Through transformational leadership we support and encourage the followers to think outside the box, to exceed the standards, and to work collectively to achieve a common goal (Grossman & Valiga, 2009b). Leaders need to encourage staff to become active participants within their surroundings, self empowerment, and to be accountable. This is achieved by actively participating on com...
In today’s environment of companies doing business in a global economy, teamwork is essential. “Employees working in effective teams help increase productivity, employee involvement, and contribution, while reducing costs and flattening organizational structure (Adams, 2003). In contrast, ineffective teams can cause increased costs, waste valuable time, and contribute to losses in market share (Ross, Jones, & Adams, 2008)” quotes Jean McAtavey and Irena Nikolovska in an article in Human Resource Development Quarterly. Today, teamwork is found in virtually all workplaces.
In social work there are many theories that are very beneficial. I think that empowerment theories are something you must know about. First, I will list some reasons why these theories are special. Then, we will explore the history of it. Thirdly, the key concepts will give us an open insight on what we are really talking about. Fourthly, we will focus on the term critical consciousness. Next is defining the empowerment concepts in a social context. Finally there will be information on the social work empowerment theories more in depth.
Empowerment is another feature of post bureaucracy. It represents organizations awarding power and authority to those lower in the organizational hierarchy (Knights & Willmott, 2007). To some extent empowerment could be beneficial to a organization because empowerment would allow the workers to work...
Unfortunately, being inspiring to employees is not enough. These situations occur when employees face challenges in accomplishing goals. In such situations, a leader needs to exercise power and influence to push forth the desired goals. While the course identified five sources of power, I believe only three should be considered for an effective leader. The first is legitimate power (6), which is often considered the first source of power in the organizations I have worked in. The source of power comes...
Delegation is the method of giving decision-making authority to lower-level employees. For the process to be successful, a worker must be able to obtain the resources and cooperation needed for successful completion of the delegated task. Empowerment of the workforce and task delegation is closely interrelated. Empowerment occurs when upper-level employees share power with lower-level employees. This involves providing the training, tools and management support that employees need to accomplish a task. Thus, the employee has both the authority and the means to accomplish the work. Even though authority can be delegated, responsibility cannot; the person who delegates a task is held responsible for its success in the end. Thus the assigned worker is liable for meeting the goals and objectives of the assignment (Camp 2006).
A work team will be defined for the purposes of this paper by a definition borrowed from Bateman and Snell (2004). A team is formed of people (usually a small number) with complementary skills who trust one another and are committed to a common purpose, common performance goals, and a common approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Teams generally see themselves and are seen by others as a social entity, which is interdependent because of the tasks performed as members of a group.
Teamwork is becoming more important in the work place, because of the leaders and the fact that it allows full participation with all employees. In order to complete several different tasks, managers and supervisors usually perform teams and assign different tasks to complete one major assignment. Team work starts at the top (Smikle, 2009). When supervisors or managers are willing to administer teamwork, they are enabling the employees to follow. Managers or supervisors set good examples when they delegate tasks, but more importantly express to the employees how teamwork is productive. Employees work by example, more so now than by demands.
Teamwork is one of the important component that is required in any types of business organization . Team is defines as “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to the common purpose, performance goal, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”(katzenbach and Smith 1993) . Teamwork offer numbers of advantages like in teamwork work are completed earlier because large task are divided into smaller projects and then it find out an individual who is best for doing the jobs. Tasks that are smaller in size also need less time and brainpower then the work is less sporting to the people who are working. Teamwork also helps in combing the unique skills of people and makes them work efficiently. In a teamwork strength of different people are combined for the benefit of entire team and to produce better product and teamwork also help in building the unity among the group member .In a teamwork relationship play an important role because it helps people to communicate properly with one another whereas friendship helps in creating a job satisfaction. Support system is also important because if support system will be stronger than people will be comfortably depend on each other. These are the advantage of the teamwork but in teamwork there are also disadvantage like in teamwork there is an uneven participation of the members because they depend on other for doing the majority of work this can lead to hatred in the workplace. In a teamwork everyone is not team player, as they cannot perform well while team is working because they want to do there own so they might face problems to get fitted in a certain work culture, which will result in displeasure. In teamwork there is less creativity among th...
The teamwork is usually defined as the process of working together in a group to achieve a common goal. These days working in groups is inevitable. Whether it is a school assignment or working in a clinical settings, we have to work in groups to accomplish a task. We cannot expect to work in isolation all the times. (Stonehouse, 2011)
Teamwork is one of the important component that is required in any types of business organization . Team is defines as “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to the common purpose, performance goal, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”(katzenbach and Smith 1993) . Teamwork offer numbers of advantages like in teamwork work are completed earlier because large task are divided into smaller projects and then it find out an individual who is best for doing the jobs. Tasks that are smaller in size also need less time and brainpower then the work is less sporting to the people who are working. Teamwork also helps in combing the unique skills of people and makes them work efficiently. In a teamwork strength of different people are combined for the benefit of entire team and to produce better product and teamwork also help in building the unity among the group member .In a teamwork relationship play an important role because it helps people to communicate properly with one another whereas friendship helps in creating a job satisfaction. Support system is also important because if support system will be stronger than people will be comfortably depend on each other. These are the advantage of the teamwork but in teamwork there are also disadvantage like in teamwork there is an uneven participation of the members because they depend on other for doing the majority of work this can lead to hatred in the workplace. In a teamwork everyone is not team player, as they cannot perform well while team is working because they want to do their own so they might face problems to get fitted in a certain work culture, which will result in displeasure. In teamwork there is less creativity among th...
Employee empowerment can be a powerful tool. The leadership style can increase efficiency and effectiveness inside an organization. Empowerment can also increase productivity and allow managers more tim...
Working in teams provides an opportunity for individuals to come together and establish a rapport towards others within a group. Teamwork is classified as people with different strengths and skills who work together to achieve a common goal. When a team works well, specific objectives are fulfilled and satisfied. Teamwork plays a crucial role in implementing and fulfilling a common goal in a team project. Each member plays a role and takes on different responsibilities combined together. In different stages of teamwork, conflicts and arguments may occur for as members have different standpoints which need to be harmonized within the team. The key to having an effective teamwork is to explore each member's unique abilities to motivate them.
Belbin, M. (2007) Managing through empowerment: Getting the most out of teamwork Day, The Daily Telegraph, 11, p.004
Many businesses place an emphasis on the importance of teamwork. A good team consists of people with different skills, abilities and characters. A successful team is able to blend these differences together to enable the organisation to achieve its desired objectives.