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WORKPLACE TEAMS.

Their use as a means of organizing work. Several kinds of teams: work, task, management. Using teams to achieve organizational goals. Methods of team building. Different approaches and methods based on type of team involved. Types of team conflict. Ways of successfully managing team conflict. Management strategies.

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Teams
Creation, Building & Conflict Resolution

Teams
Creation, Building & Conflict Resolution
INTRODUCTION
The need to cut costs, improve performance, and remain competitive are ones that have evolved the workplace environment from an atomized one to one in which teams are now the norm. Teams are a way of organizing work and tasks that many organizations utilize. There are several varieties of teams,

Management teams still have tasksto perform and they must help integrate the different work units and workthroughout the organization. Task teams are of a different nature than daily operations workunits in that they are typically formed and applied to resolve a specificproblem or challenge. One of the reasons why it is so difficult to develop managementteams is because of the often vague but significant role they play in theorganization. Akin to Freud or Erickson's stages of humandevelopment, unless teams can resolve the tasks of each stage successfullythey will fail to perform at an optimal level. Too often employees view conflict as a negative. Each termsserves a different function and is applied to different organizationalgoals. (Feb 2 ). Thompson (et al, 2 ) argues that thereason for this is simply the fact that management teams heave the "leastobvious" purpose of all three teams (23). As Caudron(2 ) writes: "What a lot of people do to manage conflict may actuallypush it underground, making it worse. As Caudron (2 ) argues, managers can model the valueof conflict by showing a positive attitude with respect to learning fromothers and by experimenting with the following approaches:Publicly praise employees who are willing to suggest new and differentapproaches.Celebrate the success of counterintuitive decision by telling stories aboutsuch successes.Model the kind of behavior that shows a comfort level with conflict. This is a particularlyuseful management tool for building collaboration because it forces peopleout of their comfort zones. To minimize the potentially negative impact of poorconflict management on team performance, team-building methods are oftenused to help teams manage conflict and build unity. Very often management teams are responsible for creating anorganization's vision, or are responsible for creating new strategies andmaking significant changes via implementation of them. (8)CONCLUSION While there are many issues related to developing successful teamsthat this research has not lighted upon (setting clear tasks, goodcommunication, etc.), the issue of team conflict and its successfulresolution remains of paramount importance in building effective teams. As Blau (2 2) notes, "Team activities centeron focusing people into new situations. Some forms of conflict are good for group progress andorganizational goals, while other forms of conflict have a negative impacton each. As Blau (2 2) argues, "One of the definingcharacteristics of a team is that you have to be interdependent, but that'srarely true of workplace teams. According toThompson (2 ): "In the transformation phase, the team uses taskinformation and participant cohesion to move itself into innovation andcreative problem solving" (56). Often conflict is viewed as a negative because management does notfully understand that it arises as a natural function of human interaction. Team building methods are often usedto promote greater unity, understanding, and cooperation among groupmembers. Therefore, as Thompson(et al, 2 ) notes, "the critical first step in developing teams is tounderstand the impact of the team on organization" (2 ). While much has been written about the benefits of usingteams to achieve organizational goals, the reality is that teams are seldomas effective as promised. Thompson (etal, 2 ) lists four design issues that must be addressed in order to buildsuccessful task teams:Power level and mix of people in the team.Disposition of members toward problem solving and collaboration.The amount of time allowed to address the issue.Specificity of the task. Instead of focusing on the task at hand, members are preoccupiedwith reducing threats, increasing power, and trying to build cohesion(Thompson, et al, 2 ). Team design decision must be driven bymembership, skill development, stability needs, and overall implicationsfor the use of teams in the organization (Thompson, et al, 18). This enables team and organizational goals to be achievedin a creative, innovative, and efficient manner. These goals arevery real yet often difficult to define before they begin to develop.Therefore, such challenges exist when trying to put together a successfulmanagement team.TEAM BUILDING Many empowered teams are expected to handle and resolve conflict ontheir own. When this occurs, groupprogress is stalled and organizational goals jeopardized. Most interpersonal kindsof conflict are emotionally based. Failure to do so will resultin teams that are not working properly.MANAGING TEAM CONFLICT The successful management of team conflict requires that managementunderstand the inherent and necessary nature of conflict. To engender constructive conflict inorganizations, managers themselves must become comfortable with the generalidea of conflict and then work to create a culture in which conflict isallowed and acknowledged as a necessary part of the business process" (5).Knowing the evolutionary stage of the group is important for successfullymanaging conflict. Getting out of the mould and outof the existing hierarchy that they're used to is crucial" (38). Instead, each method of building a team will have tradeoffs thatmust be considered in light of organizational structure and organizationalgoals. According to Alper (et al, 2 ): "Teams that are confidentthey can deal with their conflicts are likely to work productively; teamsthat doubt their conflict management abilities may become demoralized andineffectual" (625). One of the biggest reasons teams fail to work properly is conflict.However, as Thompson (et al, 2 ) notes, "All conflict is not createdequal" (218). For work teams, quality products and services, high productivity,and customer satisfaction are typically goals that mean choosing the bestbuilding methods from a variety of alternatives. Public Management, 82(2): 5-9.Thompson, L., Aranda, E. ReferencesAlper, S., Tjosvold, A. Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing. In this manner the management teamwill also represent an entity that is more than merely the sum of itsparts.TYPES OF CONFLICT As Caudron (2 ) notes, "Conflict can be a good thing...From theroots of conflict come the fruits of innovation" (5). People Management, 8(11): 38-39.Caudron, S. Itappears that cooperative approaches to resolving conflict not only workbest, but they also represent a method of helping team members becomeeffective at resolving their own conflicts in future. and Law, K. For example, some teams are perfectly suited to handle efficiencyissues, but at times other teams are needed that can handle not onlyefficiency issues but also effectiveness issues. Keeping team conflict alive. Each of the three stages or phases in the group process evolution ispunctuated by a break period. (Autumn 2 ). S. (May 3 , 2 2). Craig Swenson (ed.). Affective conflict is harmful because it misplaces energy from teammembers. Work teams are thetypical work units that perform the day-to-day operations of theorganization. Tools for Teams. Cognitive conflict is akin to debate or rationaldiscourse in which conflict often arises but it produces stimulatedthinking and creativity. Employees that areable to resolve problems and conflicts themselves will be empoweredemployees who can turn the potentially harmful impact of conflict into abeneficial one. The three-stage model of effective team process isevolutionary, encompassing the following three stages: formation,development, and renewal (Thompson, et al, 2 ). While affective conflict negatively impacts decision-making quality, understanding, commitment and acceptance, cognitiveconflict promotes better decision-making, increased understanding, highercommitment and more acceptance in team members (Thompson, et al, 2 ).Therefore, the hidden myth of continual harmony among team members must beeliminated from team member and management thinking in order for teams tosuccessfully deal with conflict in a manner that increases the likelihoodof achieving team and organizational goals. For task teams, team building must consider different issues thanfor work teams. By forcing members to work together and rethink tasks, teambuilding is one way managers promote collaboration. Management must be adept at distinguishing thedifferent types of conflict before taking action. In the organization this can lead to greatercreativity and innovation in groups as members strive to rethink challengesand reach outcomes that are mutually satisfactory. Conflict management, efficacy, and performance in organizational teams. and Robbins, S. Personnel Psychology, 53(3): 625-642.Blau, R. Such beliefs stemfrom the fact that conflict can be beneficial or harmful to theorganization and/or teams. Alper, Tjosvold and Law (2 ) argue that teams, "as theyconfront many issues and divisions, must be able to manage conflict to besuccessful" (625). Part of the reason for recent interest inteam-building is that these teams often aren't working properly" (38). Unlike work teams, task teams are "cross functional"in that "the whole idea of the team is to get as many different ideas abouta given problem or opportunity as possible" (Thompson, et al, 2 , 21).These teams must be carefully crafted since their success depends upon theright mix of members who are willing to collaborate. When employeesthink that conflict is a no-no, they won't voice their objections,concerns, or dissenting opinions-or suggest new ways of doing things" (6).Conflict is often harmful because team members have not been taught how todeal with it in a constructive manner. According to Thompson (et al, 2 ),"Also known as A-type conflict or affective conflict, it is rooted inanger, personal friction, personality clashes, ego, and tension" (218).This kind of conflict is often harmful to team and organizational goals.Cognitive conflict, in contrast, is typically beneficial to team andorganizational goals. Playing the game. The three types of teams mayshare some team building techniques in common, such as forcing members outof their comfort zone, but their distinct natures often require disparateteam building approaches. Cognitive conflict removes the personal aspect inherent in affectiveconflict. Teams Creation, Building & Conflict Resolution Teams Creation, Building & Conflict ResolutionINTRODUCTION The need to cut costs, improve performance, and remain competitiveare ones that have evolved the workplace environment from an atomized oneto one in which teams are now the norm. P. These teams are usually goal and objective oriented or, asThompson (et al, 2 ) notes, "fairly well-defined 'work to be done'" (23). (2 ). Different powerlevels and mixes, different mindsets and worldviews, and time deadlinesdependent upon the amount of "required thinking outside the box" are allimportant considerations when forming task groups (Thompson, et al, 2 ,21). Toachieve this management teams must be built on the premise that integrationof work and work units is critical to overall organizational success.Management teams must be built from members who understand that they arenot their department but an integrated component of the overallorganizational hierarchy and structure. In other words, there is a given purpose for thedesign of task teams. Team members must leave theirfunctional identities at the door and deal with the organization as a wholeif they are to develop into a team" (23). When these breaks occur the team often failsto progress until it breaks through the current phases and enters the nextand more demanding one. Since empowered and successful teams are typically capable ofresolving their own conflict and challenges, one of the most importantstrategies management can use to ensure they continue to do so is topromote the right atmosphere. Without the right atmosphere that supportsconflict and its resolution as a healthy, inherent, and beneficial aspectof interpersonal interaction, team performance is likely to be diminished.One of the most successful methods of creating the right atmosphere is formanagement to model successful conflict and its resolution to promote thevalue of conflict. There are several varieties ofteams, including work, task, and management teams (Thompson, Aranda andRobbins, 2 ). Cognitive conflict does the opposite because itis a form of conflict that helps achieve tasks in a more creative andinnovative manner. Between the development andrenewal phases is a break known as the transition stage. Work teams are the most common form of team. It is during this stage that successfulconflict resolution will be most beneficial to team performance. Management teams are the third type of team and perhaps the mostdifficult to form successfully. However, the main purpose of a managementteam according to Thompson (et al, 2 ) is "to provide synthesis toorganizational goals and activities. As Thompson (et al, 2 ) explains, "Also known as C-typeconflict, it consists of argumentation about the merits of ideas, plans,and projects" (218). This research will review the different kinds of teams,methods of team building, types of team conflict, and ways of successfullymanaging team conflict.TYPES OF TEAMS & FUNCTIONS There are three distinct types of teams within the organization:work teams, task teams, and management teams (Thompson, et al, 2 , 18).Each of these teams has a different set of requirements and issues toconsider when being formed. This does not mean thatdifferent team building methods are right or wrong in comparison to oneanother. Management teams must do realwork together in that the success of such groups often impacts thedevelopment of the entire organization. While thismay produce useful interaction and high performance among management teammembers, as Thompson (et al, 2 ) note, "it does not constitute asubstantive goal that can bring management together as a team" (23). Nevertheless,different team building approaches are more or less effective depending onthe type of team to which they are applied. (21) Many managers argue that communication and information sharing arecritical components of building successful management teams. As Caudron(2 ) notes, "Employees are smart enough to know what managers want and,in most cases, what they want is conformity and obedience. Task teams typically come together to resolve a problem,issue, or challenge facing the organization or one of its departments.Often these teams are poorly built because they bring together so manyrepresentatives of different departments that the teams lacks a common goalor is lacking in a sense of common good for the organization. Teams are a way of organizing workand tasks that many organizations utilize. Promoting collaboration and openness among team members is criticalfor successful conflict resolution.

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