The Characteristics of a Good Team: The Leader and the members
According to Katzenbach and Smith, teams play significant roles to come up with a reputable organization with a continuously improving customer service. Mission and vision is important to give direction to the team, since it is no longer an individual work, but the composition of the team should be well thought of, giving each member specific functionality that effectively contributes to the attainment of the goals set. It depends upon the organization as to which parameters they are going to use in building the structure of the team and in what ways the company can boost the morale and bonding among the team members and the team leader (cited in Rowitz, p.
54).
The characteristics of an effective group rely on the characteristics of the members and the leader. However, one of the considerations in choosing the appropriate members and leader is the type of output, and how the task should run.
Effective team members should have the following attributes:
(1) Must be knowledgeable of the purpose of his existence in the group and the group’s existence;
(2) Must be in good working relationship with co-team members. Short-term goals do not need much of making each of the team members very comfortable with each other. In addition, that short span of time is not sufficient to establish that kind of relationship. Team members designed to work longer with each other automatically establish rapport, not just to make the group survive, but as a normal tendency of the human bond; Yeatts and Hyten (1998) emphasize that team members having this kind of characteristic are inclined into training their co-team members to adapt into the team (p.
274).
(3) Enforces action on disagreements, and confronts them in order to proactively solve the problem;
(4) Should have a good internal communication skill by understanding points raised by each other;
(5) Exhibits inclusive decision making, which allows flow and contribution of ideas within the group, taking into consideration a collective effort in the formulation of the decision;
(6) Gives importance the differences among team members (unity in diversity) and uses them positively to have a more creative plan of action due to different points of view and individual experiences;
(7) Monitors and assesses team performance to give credit/recognition to teams who worked efficiently (Robbins and Finley, pp. 127-128).
On the other hand, the team leader gives direction to the group. Different types of leaders treat the team on manner that they think it is most effective. Classification of leaders is traditional or transformational. According to Luecke (2004), leaders may act as an initiator, model, negotiator, listener, and coach.
As an initiator. The team leader must keep the mission clear to draw the direction of the members to do as the goal sets. The leader may explain to the group small details that the executives or those in the higher positions expect, so that the team still works on track towards the same direction as the company goes (p. 18).
As a model. Leaders themselves may use their own good traits to influence their team members. Good relationships among customers cannot be imposed directly among members. The leader must do this part first, to be a model of tight bond among external companies, and after this, the team members will be encouraged to do so.
As negotiator. Leaders must take into consideration the welfare of its team members. Assigning different task to them might mistakenly distract them from the previous task they have. Time management is important among team members, so proper negotiation should apply to this situation, making proper adjustments to the schedule upon incorporation of the new tasks (p. 19).
As a listener. Taking into consideration the ideas and opinions of team members is crucial in establishing morale and making known to them their importance in the team. The team leader still has to filter points useful to reach the goal.
As a coach. After listening to the suggestions, the leader must identify strong and weak points and give affirmations to the strong contributions and assess weak points about what a member contributed, and give another affirmation to encourage a more effective future participation. Other important aspects like scheduling, making budget proposals, being resourceful and developing skills can also be translated from the leader to the member (p. 21).
The components of an effective group must be effective to make the group effective. Serving the company wholeheartedly for its improvement carries the components unknowingly into developing themselves. A two-way development happens, making the existence of the company and its teams beneficial to each other.
References
Luecke, R. (2004). Managing projects large and small. Retrieved April 26, 2009, from http://books.google.com/books?id=FxflTgwXlCoC&pg=PA21&dq=characteristics+o f+team+leader#PPA21,M1
Robbins, H. and M. Finley. (2000). The New why Teams Don’t Work: What Goes Wrong and how to Make it Right. Retrieved April 26, 2009, from http://books.google.com/books?id=bpiG9bMqwVUC;pg=PA127;dq=characteristics +of+team#PPA127,M1
Rowitz, L. (2003). Public Health Leadership. Retrieved April 26, 200, from http://books.google.com/books?id=6cVnsDigMecC;pg=PA56;dq=characteristics+o f+a+leader+and+member+team#PPA54,M1
Yeatts, D. E. andC. Hyten. (1998). High-performing self-managed work teams. Retrieved April 26, 2009, from http://books.google.com/books?id=c4bhtEPHr6oC;pg=PA307;dq=characteristics+o f+a+leader+and+member+team#PPA274,M1
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