Managing Team and Leadership Theory

Question: Discuss about the Managing Team and Leadership Theory. Answer: Introduction Management is the process of coordinating the essential activities of the business with an aim of achieving the certain objectives. According to Dewett, T. and Williams, S.D., 2007, management is a broad area in an organization that revolves all factors and operational concepts. Team management is a component of management, it is defined as the ability of an individual manager to administer as well as coordinating group of individual to perform the specific task within the organization. Team management is a strategic management tool that involves teamwork, objective setting, communication and the performance appraisals. The key assumption of team management in an organization is to have the capability of identifying certain problems and resolving conflict within a team. The different organization has distinctive team management aspect depending on their specialization, where teams in every organization are formed to resolve the problem which relates to the organization activities. The organizational management has to encourage their employees to form teams that could be used to resolves different issues affecting the operations of the company. Team management is divided into different categories depending on the assumptions and management concepts in relation to employee performance. Continuous improvement team, cross functional team, problem-solving team, self-managed teams, top management team virtual team and working team are the main categories of team managements. The main purpose of creating and encouraging teams in organization is to give advice, projecting, to increase production and to implement the action plan (Lichodzijewski, and Heywood, 2008). Type of team that exist within the Virgin groups of companies Richard Branson is a successful entrepreneur whose success is defined by his leadership and management skills. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Virgin group companies, these companies have achieved their goals and objectives through the creation of the working group of individuals (Meredith Belbin, 2011). Problem-solving team The problem-solving team is a strategic management technique that exists within the Virgin Group Company. It is defined as the group of employees who form a team with the purpose of solving task within an organization, these employees from a team whose main function is to project on the problem affecting the company and create possible solution (Lichodzijewski, and Heywood, 2008). Continuous improvement teams This is also the available team at the Virgin Group Company; it is explained as a team which is formed by the employees who are perceived to be successful in their performances. According to the study, employees at the Virgin Group Company tend to keep critical transformational work while they work in their respective companies (Aaker, and Joachimsthaler, 2012) Self-Manage team The self-manage team is described as the kind of team where employee in a team is working without any direct supervision. Virgin Group Company have self-manage team whose members understand his or her mandate. The employees at the Virgin Group Company are improving their skill because they enjoy the kind of interaction they have among themselves. They are also motivated because they have freedom to move from one section to the other, this gives them an opportunity of improving their performance as individual employees (Hepworth, Rooney, Rooney, G.D. and Strom-Gottfried, 2016). Stages of development and task roles, and how they affect Virgin Group Company The stages of development and defining the task of a group are critical and they require the corporation both the management and the employees, a team cannot be functional without the support from the management. The management of an organizational need to acknowledge roles to be played by group since they can be colliding with their management function. At Virgin Group Company, these stages seem to influence the company activities in relation to their outcomes (Lichodzijewski, and Heywood, 2008).. Forming Forming is the first stage of team development, this is a stage where the members of a team rely on the immediate behavior of the group leaders, in this stage the group members have the desire of being accepted in their teams. Based on the Virgin Group Company , Richard Branson is a top management personnel who encouraged his employees to form groups, the culture he introduce to the companies through his leadership style and management skill exhibited how team members accept themselves, how their leaders are effective while leading the group (Meredith Belbin, 2011). Storming It is the second stage of group development, it is a step which is characterized by the competitions as well as conflicts between personal relations of group members. During this stage, team members attempt to organize task and create a solution in relation to their personal dimensions. Virgin Group Company is like any other organization, the success of achieving the desired objectives is created by allowing the employees to develop the solutions to specific task in relation to their personal dimensions (Finkelstein, Hambrick, and Cannella, 2009). Norming This is a stage where the group is acknowledging the contribution, community building, and maintenance as well as solving of group issues, therefore, the stage is characterized by cohesion. When the members of a group develop trust within their personal levels, they tend to have cohesive relationship which allows the group to grow stronger. Virgin group companies are positively influenced at this stage since all employee seem to work towards same goals of achieving the organization's missions and visions, they work together and provide the solution to the specific task (Meredith Belbin, 2011). Performing Changes are also experienced in the group, where the members work independently or as whole unit towards providing the solution to the task assign. The roles and the authorities of group members dynamically adjust with the changing needs of the group. At Virgin Group Company, changing needs of individual towards various task affect the activities of a team, and thus influencing the operations of the organization (Finkelstein, Hambrick, and Cannella, 2009), Adjourning This is the last stage of group development where the leader of a group recognize the participation and contribution of all members, the acknowledgments and contribution of a group are done before the group is dissolved. The group is adjourned after providing the solution to specific problem assigned to it by the management (Finkelstein, Hambrick, and Cannella, 2009). Characteristic of a group and they are aligned with behavior and performance The key feature of a group entails the following, interest of achieving a common goal, a group is formed by more two persons, define structure that defines the relationship of the group members and collective identity, this implies that is group is identified based on the task assigned to provide solutions. These characteristics of a group in an organization are the key component that defines the behavior of group members as well as portrays their performance (Randel, and Jaussi, 2003). The cohesiveness of the group members reflects on the identity of a group, it shows how the group is united towards achieving specific task. Conflict, on the other hand, implies the negative behavior between members of a group, conflict arises when group leaders fail to acknowledge the contribution of an individual. The performance of a group is defined by the commitment of group members towards achieving the same sets of group objective. How social interaction support group activities Social interactions form an integral part of the Virgin group of company activities. Interactions help in enhancing the good relationship between the employees and the management. Allowing the employees to have social interaction within their workplace is a silent motivational approach, where employee enjoys the freedom give to them by the management it allows them to have internal competition among themselves and thus leading to improving the performance of the company. Social interaction within Virgin Group Company allows the employees to share their ideas, where these ideas are used to improve their performance (Finkelstein, Hambrick, and Cannella, 2009). Conclusion Managing team is a strategic management tool which involve the ability of the management o administer and ordinate a group of staff members to perform specific task. Virgin Group of Company is one of the multinational company which defines it success by embracing the importance of encouraging the group formation within the organization. The formation of group within an organization is a substantial approach towards achieving the mission and visions that are set to be achieved. The features of a group in an organization tend to influence the performance of individual as well as the general organization, group are formed within an organization depending on the type of the organization as well as the task to be solves. However, social interaction is a key element of success to the organization, it is a form of motivation as well as allows the staff members to exchange and share ideas. References Finkelstein, S., Hambrick, D.C. and Cannella, A.A., 2009. Strategic leadership: Theory and research on executives, top management teams, and boards. Oxford University Press, USA. Hepworth, D.H., Rooney, R.H., Rooney, G.D. and Strom-Gottfried, K., 2016. Empowerment Series: Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills. Nelson Education Randel, A.E. and Jaussi, K.S., 2003. Functional background identity, diversity, and individual performance in cross-functional teams. Academy of Management Journal, 46(6), pp.763-774 Dewett, T. and Williams, S.D., 2007. 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