Groups and Teams Essay

Many organizations require their employees to work in teams but offer them no specific training. Research who offers such training in South Africa and what it aims to achieve. Use at least 3 sources and explain what they offer.[15] Planning and competency is deciding the tasks that need to be done, determining how to do them, allocating resources to those tasks, and then monitoring progress to ensure that they are done. The three sources which offer team building in South Africa are High Africa, Dream Team Catalyst and Movers and Shakers. These three sources aim to improve communication, co-operation, leadership skills and motivation. High Africa which is situated in Worcester, Cape Town. They offer corporate team building activities, packed with activities to increase confidence and trust within a group as well as a venue for conferences to be held. Participants learn to work in a group and improve communication and co-operation. These can be improved through a variety of stimulating activities that participants are involved in. All the activities that are done at High Africa ensure that participants have to communicate and depend on each other in order to succeed in the activity. As companies started demanding more value and measureable results the team building organisation, Dream Team Catalyst saw an opportunity to meet these companies demands and partnered up with Catalyst Global and Hercules Trophy to ensure that they are able to offer their clients the best team building solutions available worldwide. The approach of Dream Team is to offer structured interventions that address specific needs and achieve measurable outcomes as well as high energy events that will simply delight and astound even the most jaded participants. DreamTeam believes it is all about the people, the facilitators and participants. Their events have a unique style. Teambuilding Events, Conferences, Training Programmes, Incentives, Celebrations & Fun Days all take on a fresh look and feel when we are involved. Movers and Shakers have more than 15 years experience in organizational development teambuilding interventions and the training arena. Their motivational activities & exercises and team building programs & events make an unbelievable difference to your company or organization. Movers and Shakers are the international non-stop shop based in South Africa for motivation and team building. They are passionate about raising people to new heights in performance and motivation through our team building events, motivational activities and corporate team building exercises. A company relies immensely on people, they should be focused on continuously grown and empowered, and have the appropriate team building strategies in order for them to excel. The key function of any leader is to rise up other leaders. Any teambuilding ideas have to be effective, different and stimulating. 2) There is a trend to introduce teams into the workplace. Explain why this is the case. Describe the skills required in individuals to be effective in teams. Do you think all jobs should be designed around teams? [10] Strategic action competency is, understanding the overall mission and values of the company and ensuring that your actions and those of the people you manage are aligned with the company’s mission and values. It is a key managerial skill for top level and middle level management. A managerial competency in general is a set of knowledge, skills and behaviors that allows a manager to perform his duties effectively and at low costs. Strategic action competency is one of six core competencies necessary to be a good manager. The other five are communication competency, planning and administration competency, teamwork competency, multicultural competency and self-management competency. Teams have become increasingly popular in the workplace. A team-oriented organisational structure means companies rely on small work groups or teams to manage various products or tasks. Work teams offer some benefits because of the cooperation of several employees, but challenges also exist when work teams replace more individualized work. Some of the few things which team work encourage are better solutions and betterproduction. Better solutions are the main reason why companies opt for team work. Team work also results in better quality work and a more thorough and more creative solutions to problems or situations. People in a group that are from different backgrounds and perspectives working together, they tend to derive the best solution possible. Team members working together enhance benefits of the best solution by continuing to work together to enact it. Better production – along with better quality, well-managed workplace teams often produce more results as well. Members in a team can hold each other accountable and drive each other to more efficient work. By setting individual goals to go along with team goals, the employees within work teams can create some friendly competition and use the peer-pressure influence to keep each other motivated to reach goals. Effective team members need the following basic skills: * Communication and Negotiation – Team members need the ability to state ideas or questions clearly, listen to others attentively, and to resolve disagreements in a non-confrontational manner. * Analytic and Creative Skills – Team members need to evaluate information and propose creative solutions. * Organisation – The team needs to be able to track and complete all its tasks on time. Tensions can often arise if deadlines are missed * Listening – Employees need to listen to each other’s ideas. * Questioning – Employees need to ask each other questions, to ensure clear lines of communication. * Persuading – Employees will try convincing each other which alternative to choose. * Respecting – Employees will respect each other’s opinions. * Helping – The employees will help each other n work as a team. * Sharing – Employees need to share their ideas with each other, in order to choose the best idea. * Participating – Employees need to participate in activities and discussions. Jobs should be designed around teams because groups are the ideal building blocking for an organisation. There are at least six reasons for designing all jobs around groups. First, small groups are good for people. They can satisfy social needs and they can provide support for employees in times of stress and crisis. Second, groups are good problem solving tools. They are better than individuals at creativity and innovation. Third, in a wide variety of decision situations, groups make better decisions than individuals do. Fourth, groups are very effective tools for implementation Groups gain commitment from their members so that group decisions are likely to be successfully carried out. Fifth, groups can control and discipline individual members in ways that are often extremely difficult. Group norms are powerful control devices. Sixth, groups are a means by which large organisations can fend off many of the negative effects of increased size. Groups help to prevent communication lines from growing too long, the hierarchy from growing too steep, and the individual from getting lost in the crowd. 3) Think about whether you prefer to work on a problem or task individually or as part of a team. Motivate your preferences by appealing to your personality and character. Describe the experience (if any) you should now obtain to develop your teamwork competency and have evidence to convince potential employees that you have developed this competency. [10] I would say I do prefer to work in a team, as the team can always solve problems more efficiently and effectively than working individually. My personality is suitable to be part of a team, as my leadership qualities can be enforced and I can also take part in discussions and feel free to give my opinion when it is needed. A team needed committed team members who are able to work through any challenge and is still able to think logically. It important to not give up even if the group might be struggling or not communicating and it is important to be committed to every task that the team has to execute. My ability to work well with people will give me edge when working in a group, I will be able to listen to their opinions and also give my opinion. A high tolerance level will be of a benefit to the group as there are many group members from different backgrounds and personalities working together, personality clashes happen often in teams and members need to tolerate each other’s personalities and work with people from different backgrounds. I have had many opportunities to work in a team, which all were not pleasant. When working with team members you not familiar with it could be more difficult to get to know them and find common ground. Starting on the project and discussing ideas could be difficult because personalities would start to show and team members have to learn to tolerate each other’spersonalities. Team work can also be very pleasant, working with team members you familiar with can make an immense difference to the outcome of the project. As team members have previously worked together it would be easier for everyone to work together and execute the project. Team members gain team work competency if they worked in a number of teams. Team work competency would be creativity, communication, negotiating skills, helping each other, sharing and listening. Working in a number of teams I would say I have acquired those skills, and I would be able to work in most teams. I also believe that every project needs to be consulted with another person in order to achieve the best results. The team leader needs to consult with his team and gather information, their ideas and point of view of the project. I would have to say that team work is more efficiently and effectively than individual work. Team work allows you to be more creative and it can achieve better results than working on your own. 4) Explain how your teamwork competency is likely to effect employee’s evaluations of your candidacy for a job irrespective of where you work. Visit http://www.pmforum.org. Using the site as a starting point, explore the resources available to project managers. If you were to become a professional project manager, how could you use the resource available to improve your ability to manage a global virtual project management team? List the steps that you could take to prepare for serving as a leader of a virtual global project. [15] Global Awareness Competency is when an organisation carries out its managerial work by drawing on humans, financial, information and material resources from multiple countries. My teamwork competency will affect the employer’s evaluation by looking at he wants from the employee. If he wants someone that will be able to work in a group and is able to work with others then a teamwork competency will be in my favour. Your team competency will greatly affect the type of job you will have to do, if you work well in teams you will be working in teams a lot. If the organisation only works in teams, it makes you a good candidate. Your team competency can also lead to many other positions. Employers value an employee that is motivated, innovative and creative, they must also be able to lead and work well with others. Good communication skills are also a very important skill to have when your employer evaluates you as a candid, it will allow work to run smoothly and the lines of communication will always be open. The ability to listen to others and take instruction is key factors to working in a team, you have to listen to everyone’s ideas and be able to understand what they want you to do when you given a task. Guidelines which apply to virtual work teams: * Whenever possible, use a variety of communication technologies * Pay attention to the quality of the communication transmission keep the team as small as possible – preferably no more than seven to eight people * To the extent possible, take similarities and differences in time zones into account when assembling the team * Encourage the team members to discuss cultural differences * Be sure that someone is responsible for facilitating the communication process * Encourage team members to interact one on one, without feeling obligated to copy every email message to the entire team * Train team members to match their choice of technology to their task * Hold an initial face to face meeting to discuss the team’s purpose and clarify the roles and responsibilities of each team member * Whenever possible, individual team members should visit each other * Schedule periodic face to face meetings Managing Global Virtual Teams is a one of a kind, action-based programme that will show you how to manage geographically scattered and culturally diverse teams and achieve maximum results. Through the use of simulations, frameworks, video-taped exercises, and group coaching you will develop the ability to design and manage a global team in a way that encourages collaboration, improves intra- team communication, builds cohesion and leverages your team’s cultural diversity. Every employee must have work team competency, it will give them that edge when employers evaluate them. It also makes working in a group so much easier and great communication skills are an important aspect. 5) In your small group of two members that did this assignment, what were your experiences? Using the model of teamwork functioning, analyze what helped you and what hindered you in doing this assignment. Identify what you need to do differently next time. [15] We expected this assignment to go smoothly, and we would be working well together. This assignment would be very lengthy and we had to meet a lot. We expected each other to do what we were supposed to do and meet the due date. We both worked well together and executed the assignment as planned. The model of work team functioning is a general model of team functioning. The four key components are the external support system, team design, internal team processes and criteria for assessing team’s effectiveness. These four components work interrelated, and considered they provide a full understanding of how well a particular work team functions. The model helps identify work team problems, key contingency factors and provides guidance to managers interested in assessing whether a work team is achieving all of the various outcomes that are possible. 6) External context 7) Societal culture Organisational culture Organisation design Human resources management system 8) Effectiveness criteria * Team * Individual Internal process * Stages of team development * Feelings * Norms Team design * Team size * Team proximity 9) 10) External system The external system comprises outside organisational conditions and an influence exists before and after the team is formed. These influences may consist of societal and organisational culture, organisational design, and the human resources management system. Culture The societal culture in which the work team operates is one of the major external factors. All team members have different cultures and the team needs to be able to work with all the team members and they need to work well together. In collective cultures people are very comfortable working in teams. Organisational design Organisational design also directly influences the formation and functioning of the work team. A lot of the work our group did was from own, on our own time, which could either be a good or bad thing, as there was no one to watch over them. The work also had to be done at different locations where the group was able to meet up for a meeting or to discuss the progress of the assignment. The amount of work the each of us had to do was more than a bigger group, because of this we had to allow for extra time and had to do majority of the work on our own time. Human resources management system Organisations have quickly recognised that practices designed to enhance individual performance can be detrimental to teamwork and have established that new performance management systems are needed. Team based organisations may also change their basic procedures used to assign people to jobs. Some self management work teams have to make their own decisions, in this case employees must be trained to make valid human resources decisions and adhere to legal constraints. In our group there were no major decisions that had to be made, as group worked very well together and there was no member that we needed to take action against. Team design The design choices involved in creating a team are numerous. Factors that need to be taken into consideration are team duration, team goals, and team membership. Two additional design choices are time size and team location. Team size As the number of team members increases, the internal decision making process changes. We are only two in a group so the workload would be more and we would have to make decisions that would the suite a group with two members. If we had another group member our workload would be less and our decisions would have been different. The size of a also affect the quality of work a team produces, the optimal amount of members per group is 12 depending on the task at hand. It is known that smaller groups always seem to outdo the bigger groups. Members in larger groups have difficulty communicating directly to each other, as in a smaller group there is more face to face interaction. As a result of this smaller groups have less trouble with getting their message across and there are less communication barriers or miscommunication. If the task at hand is one that needs creativity and innovation it is best that the team is smaller, this allows for not too many opinions getting in the way and clear thinking can take place. Team location (team proximity) Team proximity refers to the location of a team’s members. Two aspects of proximity are relevant when designing a team are the team’s proximity to other work teams and the members of the organisation, and team members proximity to each other. When many teams are working on a single project, team members benefit from being near to each other. This helps team members if they need advice on a specific area and it allows for the competition to be tighter among the members. Members from different teams can meet and discuss their developments with each other. Problem solving occurs when it is readily needed; members can ask each other for ideas, tips, or hints on a specific problem. We worked very closely with the other groups and consulted with them regularly, this allowed us to ensure that we on the right track with the project. Is also helped to clear any, misunderstandings were dealt with immediately and we also got to hear how other groups went about doing their project. Virtual work teams A virtual work team is simply one that meets and does its tasks without everyone being physically present in the same place or at the same time. Virtual work teams can be functional, problem solving, multidisciplinary or self managing. New communications are allowing virtual workplaces to extend the reach of organisations fare beyond their traditional physical and cultural barriers. Our team has become a virtual work team at times where we cannot physically be at the same place at the same time. Technology helped us to finish our project when we acted at a virtual work team. We could learn a lot from this project and how to deal with a team, the project did however meet our expectations but the leadership could have been better. On our next project we will have to make a few changes in the way we went about doing the assignments. We would have to assign work to the team members more effectively, have regular meetings and, motivate each other to meet deadlines. 6) How was the level of communication of your group members? Were instructions clearly given and understood? Was there any form of miscommunication between you and your group members and your lecturer? Were individual tasks given and completed on time? [10] Communication is a very important aspect of a team, good communication is the key to your team members working well together and projects getting the results your hopes you would achieve. Our level of communication in the group was very good, we understood what we had to do and all work was executed as per planned. If there were any problems that needed to be handled they were dealt with, without delay, team members gave their opinion on certain issues and everyone had a fair chance to say what they wanted to, if something was not understood it was brought to the team members attention and questions were asked if team members were not clear about instructions. Each team member was given work that needed to be completed and when the work was assigned to them, they were given clear instruction on what needs to be done. Team members made sure that there was no miscommunication amongst each other. The lecturer thoroughly explained the assignment which was easy enough for all team members to understand. Work was assigned to each team member and they were given a deadline, not all deadlines were met as we still had to do last minute finalising. The project was done at a later date than expected and it put back the whole schedule. Team members who did not meet the deadline, were given a final deadline that had to be met, which was the final cut off date. In the end the project met the overall due date and the team worked well together. Our team worked very well together there were no communication problems and everyone completed their tasks. The lines of communication were always open which made it a very pleasant team to work with and the assignment was executed successful. * SECTION B 1) What are the advantages and disadvantages of organizing employees into work teams? Explain these advantages and disadvantages. [9] It is proven that performing a task in teams can achieve outcomes that could not be achieved by the same number of individuals working in isolation. There is that sense of support from your team members which encourage others to work more effectively and efficiently. The reason for organizations’ having employees work in teams are as follows: * To improve on-time delivery of results * To improve customer-employee relations * To assist improvement on products and services * Essential for career and management-employee growth * Improve understanding of the organization * Reduce costs and improve efficiency * Improve quality * Increase the commitment, ownership and motivation of employee The advantages of working in teams are as follows: * Creativity increases – Each individual has their own knowledge, personal attributes and skill. By using these different traits of each individual team member, more ideas for a task can be generated; making more solutions available for better results. * Speed – Team work allows a task to be completed quicker and more effectively as well as efficiently; work can move forward in parallel with the ultimate goal being achieved much faster than the task being done by one individual. As the saying goes â€Å"many hands, make light work†. * Effect on worker morale – Being able to work in a team allows for a close relationship between individuals, increasing good relationships in the working environment. It also helps people’s self-esteem, having the knowledge that they contributed towards the task and achieving self-satisfaction. * Effect on individual and shared responsibility – All team members should always feel obliged to deliver to their best ability. Each member knows that they have a responsibility for a specific task and that the team depends on them to deliver work of good quality. * Self-awareness to reach full potential – Your profile is developed and gives you a better understanding of the strengths you can contribute to a team. * Balance – Each member may have a specific area in which they excel and by utilizing these strengths, the team will be able to cover the key team role functions, the team will remain effective and there will be no friction of role duplication. * Increased productivity * Improved service * Shared vision – There is a common goal, so team members will thrive in achieving it. It keeps everyone moving forward. The disadvantages thereof are: * Struggling with teams – Some people prefer working in teams while others loathe even the thought of it. If your team members rebel in respecting your authority or any effort to form cooperative working units, team work will not be an effective solution for your organization. Therefore, it is important to assess your employees’ feelings towards teamwork before dividing them into teams. * Decrease in creativity – The â€Å"Group Think† tendency may occur. If one team member voices their opinion, while the other has another opinion in mind but opts to go with the majority of the other members to avoid conflict or tension. Novel ideas could be missed out on. * Free-riding – This is a very frequent term not only used in primary or tertiary education but it occurs in organizations as well. Team member refuse to be productive, flying under the radar to avoid work. This also leads to a decrease in productivity within the entire team. * Conflict may develop – In most teams, there are likely to be dominating overbearing or reluctant participants, resulting in disagreements between members therefore it is vital to monitor the performance of teams. * Present evaluation and reward challenges – It is rather difficult to assess the team effort of each individual group member therefore workers are usually asked to complete group member evaluations which assesses each member’s helpfulness and productivity in the task being completed. Though this method is not as reliable, as some members may demote others for reasons which are not related to the task. 2) Describe the stages of group development. Which stage is the most crucial? [15] The development of work teams is illustrated below: This development of work teams model shows the maturity on the vertical axis ranging from low to high, also known as ineffective and inefficient, versus the continuum of time together on the horizontal axis ranging from start (first encounter) to end (adjournment). There is no specific time period in which a team progresses from stage one to the following. The team can be discontinued at any time by the authority that created it, however the speed of team development reflects the team’s deadlines. If there is a deadline for a task, the team will feel more pressure to perform, setting aside their personal differences and working together in order to complete that task. This model also shows how a team can move back to a previous stage if the possibility of the team’s end arises – this is called recycling. This may result from a loss in members, rotations, promotions or retirements, thus the repetition of the previous stage to be surpassed once again. There are 5 stages, namely: * The Forming Stage: This stage focuses on orientation of the team’s goals and procedures as each team member is anxious about what each member is supposed to do while others may be excited. During this stage team members are usually positive and polite, some concerned about who will dominate team discussions; others may feel intimidated and not participate as freely as the others. This stage is fairly short and may only last until after the first meeting or discussion. Leadership roles need to be discussed and getting acquainted with fellow member will facilitate team development. If team members still feel uncomfortable within the group, team-building exercises would be recommended to ease the tension and establish a comfort zone, allowing the team to progress to the next stage. * The Storming Stage: Competitiveness and strained behaviours begin to emerge during this phase. This stage may involve resistance and impatience if progress is not made with a task; the authority of one team member may be challenged as others jockey for their position. As a leader, they have to take the pressure that their team members are under into consideration; they may even be uncomfortable with the approach being used for the task. A few members will even begin to force an agenda without regard for the needs of other members, or isolate themselves from group discussions. During this stage, conflict may arise but it is the group’s duty to resolve it through conflict resolutions. This is the stage where many teams fail. * The Norming Stage: Team members become positive about the team as well as the position of the team leader during this stage – where a hierarchy is established. Others may show leadership in other areas while respecting the leader’s authority. The mindset during this stage is â€Å"We are in this together, like it or not. Let’s make the most of it.† A sense of belonging and commitment starts to develop within the group; members communicating freely, cooperating, and accepting mutual respect. Rules of behaviour are enforced by team members and one will notice how towards the end of this stage, there is a sense of enjoyment about being involved. At the end of this stage the oneness syndrome may emerge, which results in needed task-related conflict not being optimally resolved, in turn causing the quality or quantity of performance to slip. * The Performing Stage: Hard work leads directly to progress towards the shared vision of the team’s goal but some teams never reach their full potential, regardless of how long they have been together. By this stage, team members have usually come to trust and accept one another, where diversity, opinions and viewpoints are encouraged and supported; making room for â€Å"wild† ideas without the feeling of being inferior to others. Feedback and listening adds to the team members being focused on and reinforce a sense of clear and shared goals. Leadership can also be shifted from member to member depending on the problem which needs to be resolved. The team now accepts each other’s differences and disagreements and works on them cooperatively and willingly, where internal politics is avoided when trying to solve an important issue. The following characteristics will lead to a high level of team performance: * Energy is spent on completing tasks and building interpersonal ties * Developing procedures for making decisions (including leadership) * Trust and openness among one another * Ask and offer help from one another * Sense of belonging and freedom within the team * Accept and deal with conflict * Members know how to assess and deal with their own functioning If one or more of these characteristics are absent, the team will be likely to prevail ineffective. The forming stage of any team is important as the team members get to acquaint them therein, exchange personal information with others and it is also an opportunity to observe how each member works individually and how they respond to pressure. The most crucial stage of Tuckman’s stages of development however, is the storming stage as it is necessary for the growth of the team. For team members who are averse to conflict may find this stage unpleasant, contentious and painful. Tolerance is a must and should be emphasized, because without it the team will fail. This phase can be destructive to the team and lower motivation if things get out of control and some teams do not even pass this stage. * The Adjournment Stage: Teams usually assembled for a long period of time, go through the adjournment stage. This stage involves the termination of task behaviours and disengaging from work relationships. A planned conclusion usually includes recognition for participation, achievement and an opportunity for team members to say their farewells. This can also create some apprehension. The termination of a team is a regressive movement from giving up control to the team to giving up inclusion in the team. It focuses on wrapping up activities and can happen at any time as it is not planned and could even be abrupt. However, change in members could result in recycling instead of adjournment. The most crucial stage of group development is the storming stage. Most people understand this stage as thestage where conflict arises and how to avoid it. Conflict is impossible to avoid but team members should handle and channel that conflict into effective individual and team development. The approach to conflict is crucial in successful team building and it would be advisable to enlighten the team about everyone not always going to agree all the time – it is normal, necessary and part of team development. During this stage, most members will rebel and even leave the team due to these misunderstandings and this is the mostly likely stage that most teams to do not progress through. 3) Raj Kashdish describes his workplace as â€Å"friendly, just great. All the people get along together, and we play bowls and action cricket after work†. Quality records show that Kashdish’s team produces high-quality results but the team’s cost are high and the output of work is low. Is this an effective work team? Explain your response. [10] There are specific criteria called effectiveness criteria which measures the outcomes achieved by team members and the team as a whole. Some teams may be effective in some aspects but ineffective in others. If a team takes longer than expected to make a decision, on speed and cost criteria, they may seem ineffective but if the decision is creative and achieves customer satisfaction the team will regarded as effective. This can be an effective work team with regard to individual effectiveness as relationships between individuals are heightened due to Kashdish’s team doing other activities other than work together; but it could also be regarded as team building. Their decisions and work are costly in terms of speed but effective in terms of customer satisfaction. Even though this team produces high-quality results, their costs and outputs are still low. They are not effective in terms of team effectiveness but more so individual effectiveness. 4) What are the primary differences between functional work teams and multi-disciplinary jn work teams? Outline these differences. [8] * Functional Work Teams – This type of team includes members from a single department, such as marketing, finance or human resources, who in cooperation solve issues pertaining to their area of expertise and responsibility. Their goals could be to minimize costs or to ensure continuous supplies. For goals to be achieved, team members need to constantly coordinate activities, sharing information on price changes and products. * Multi-disciplinary Work Teams – Depending on its goals or tasks, this type of work team can be temporary or permanent and consists of 5 to 30 employees from various functional areas and organizational levels with the same goal-oriented tasks, such as designing and introducing process reforms and technology. For example, your team consists of a civil engineer, an architect, a mechanical engineer and a quantity surveyor for the planning of the construction of a pump house on a major irrigation scheme. A caesarean section to deliver a baby also requires a multi-disciplinary team. A product development team will exist for the period of time which is required for the product to be brought to the market, varying from months to years. For example, Microsoft brings together multi-disciplinary teams consisting of experts with a variety of knowledge and backgrounds to generate ideas, which may include representatives from marketing and eventual end-users in order for the products to appeal to the customers. This type of work team provides competitive advantages such as speed aand creativity, if properly formed and managed. 5) What are the differences between problem-solving work teams and self-managing work teams? Describe these differences. [10] * Problem-solving Work Teams – This type of work team is usually made up of 5 to 20 employees, all from different areas of a department who consider how something would or can be done better. A meeting would take place for one or two hours every week on a continuous basis for discussion of ways which can improve quality, safety, productivity, morale – or they might meet intensively for the first week or so and disband thereafter. There are two forms of problem-solving work teams, namely: Task forces and quality circles. Task forces are the most common type of this work team. For example, a marketing group conducting a feasibility study of a product. A quality circle is a team which meets regularly to identify and analyze the different types of workplace problems and propose solutions. * Self-managing Work Teams – It consists of 5-15 employees who work together on a daily basis to make an entire product or render an entire service. They may all be from a single functional area, but more so they are multi-disciplinary. Various managerial tasks are performed by these teams such as rotating job tasks and assignments, ordering materials or deciding on team leadership. To sum things up, what needs to be done and how to do it are decided by them. They are sometimes called high performance teams as they are composed of highly skilled individuals fully capable of accomplishing major tasks, such as an emergency trauma unit. These individuals submerge their egos and fully commit to the team and its goals. 6) You have an opportunity to take a job as new team leader in an organization. Before you accept the offer, you want to assess whether the organization is likely to provide a supportive environment for the team. What are the questions you would ask about the organization to determine whether the environment is supportive? [15] * Can you tell me about the executive’s management style? * Can you describe the work environment in the workplace? * What do you consider to be your organization’s strengths and weaknesses? * What is the state of the equipment being used within the workplace? * What is the particular ambience the employees exude when at work? * Is there any prejudice, stereotyping or discrimination in the workplace? * If any, what are your conflict resolutions which are used when there is conflict between employees? * Are the organization’s supervisors and managers equipped with leadership and diversity training? * Is the working environment safe? * What are the incentives being offered to the employees, if there are any? * Are there processes and procedures used for violations of the employment acts? * Do employees have access to rich information and resources? * Are there appropriate procedures for safety, operation and security?