1.1 Explain the features of effective team performance.
Effective teams work together and work towards common goals and objectives. A team is a group of people who work together and communicate because they have interest in common. The members in a team need to be able to communicate and collaborate to function effectively. Pearson and Spencer (1997) suggest that teams are formed because of a belief that having people work on shared goals interdependently will lead to synergy.
Effective teams display certain features and the following are eight characteristics identified by Larson and LaFasto (1989) in their book Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong.1. The team must have a clear goal.2. The team must have a results-driven structure.
3. The team must have competent team members.4. The team must have unified commitment.5. The team must have a collaborative climate.6. The team must have high standards that are understood by all.
7. The team must receive external support and encouragement.8. The team must have principled leadership.My position means that I will be leading team that I take part and I have the responsibility of motivating and inspiring them to achieve and to be effective on what they are performing. One of my favourite quote that inspire me is once said by Casey Stengel, a famous baseball coach:”Finding good players is easy.
Getting them to play as a team is another story.”Maintaining the focus and the challenge of my team can help with keeping them keen and motivated. Teams also need to see their objectives achieved. A successful leader should have a contribution to the growth and development of the team as a whole, the members of the team and me as individual. Creating an effective team is about people first and then the work is the visible result of what the team has achieved
