In any business, teamwork has a
significant contribution towards the success of that business. A team is formed
with a number of individuals who have some specific skills and qualities. These
are used in association with the qualities of other individuals to meet the
target and objectives of any business. Teamwork can be successful only if the teams
members have the ability to synchronise with each other in order arrange the
tasks assigned to them. The different members of a team play different roles
which are complementary to each other. In order to accomplish any task assigned
to a team, the team needs to be effective. The effectiveness of a team depends
on their interrelationship which ultimately depends on the communication
carried out by them. Communication is the most important factor affecting the
team performance. There must be effective communication so that the team is
able to develop a strong relationship with them so that they can work together
in a convenient manner. Moreover, there are some ethics of communication which
need to be followed in a business.
In this essay, the various aspects
related to teamwork and its effectiveness will be studied. The different
terminologies like teamwork, team effectiveness and team performance will be
explained in details. The focus of the study will be to discuss the importance
of communication in teamwork. The
different aspects of communication, as well as the types of communications
which can be used in a business, will also be covered in details. In addition
to this, a clear relationship in between teamwork, communication and ethics
will also be discussed and explained. This study will be able to make the fact
clear that an effective communication is a backbone to the formation of an
efficient team as communication makes the people able to understand the aspects
of any matter.
Team building is the activity used for bringing about people with
different skills and abilities together in order to make them work towards the
attainment of a particular team. It basically deals with aligning the goals,
creating effective relationships at work, reducing the ambiguity in the role of
team members and finding solutions to the problems of the team.
Teamwork refers to the process where
a number of people come together to work in collaboration with each other
towards a common goal. According to Carter et al.
(2016, p.365) teamwork is a critical element of any business because in any
business all the employees need to work with each other in order to achieve the
goals of the organizations. In a team, all the team members have their own
individual set of skills and they try to cooperate with each other by
complementing the skills of each other and working effectively to find the
solution to a specific problem. There are different functions which are carried
out by a team. These functions can be broadly divided into three sections which
are the transition process, action process and interpersonal process. As
written by Chuang
et al. (2016, p.524)
transition processes include the analysis of the mission, specification of the
goal and the formulation of the strategy. The action processes include the
monitoring of the complete process, monitoring of the systems and the team as
well as maintaining proper coordination. The interpersonal process includes
managing the conflicts, motivating the team members and managing the effects of
the actions of the team.
Team effectiveness is basically the
capability of the team to attain a specific goal while working with each other
under the supervision of authorised personnel. All the members of a team are
interdependent on each other and consider the complete team as the single unit
and take a collective responsibility for the results of their tasks. In the
opinion of D’Innocenzo
et al. (2016, p.1970)
effectiveness of a team can be determined on the basis of these factors.
Firstly, the output achieved by the efforts of the team should be able to meet
the parameters which have been set for the success of the given task. This
should also abide by the standards of the organisation they are working for.
Secondly, the team members must be able to work with each other in complete
coordination and they should be able to understand the perspective of one
another so that they can be able to produce better results in the future.
Thirdly, the team must be able to learn things from one another in order to
evolve as a perfect team along with being better individuals.
The collective performance of all
team members is known as the team performance. In order to achieve the desired
goals, it is essential the team performance is optimum level. The team
performance can be measured by comparing the output produced by the team with
the outcome which was expected to be achieved by the team. It is important to
make efforts for increasing the performance of the team so that there can be
enhancements in the quality of their work. In the words of Kim et al. (2016, p.13564) the
performance of a team depends on factors like clarity regarding the
purpose of the team, roles, expected outcomes and the expectations of the
organisation, capability to complete the tasks in an efficient manner, collaboration
within the members of a team so that they can make effective use of
resources, commitment towards the mission of the team in order to achieve
the same, communication practices within the team which includes active
listening and providing feedback, continuous improvement within the
team so that the work process as well team effectiveness can be improved and creativity
in the members to come with innovative ideas.
It is essential to have a proper
communication within the team so that the effort of a team is able to
bring out fruitful results. Healthy communication within a team helps to build
relationships to enable the sharing of ideas within themselves. Effective
communication is very important as it acts a driver to professional
development. Kuehn
(2016, p.12) mentioned that the teams which are able to properly communicate
within themselves are far more effective than the ones who are unable to do so.
Effective communication also increases the time efficiency as well as the
accuracy of the work they produce. This is because an appropriate communication
helps a great deal to achieve clarity in several aspects. This also provides
them with a better understanding of their roles in the team.
Communication can be considered as
an essential element of teamwork.
According to Valls et al. (2016, p.770) communication
is the means which is used for an effective sharing of information within the
team. Communication skills are very
important as they have a direct impact on the team and its performance. In
order to make a communication effective, it is essential that the members of
the team should have an open mind and should be active listeners so that they
can be able to develop an understanding of the goals and objectives. In this
process, the team members are involved in putting forward their ideas and
questions in order to clarify them and no assumptions are made. This adds to
the accuracy of the tasks. Moreover, the training provided to employees can be
effective only if the employees are able to communicate properly.
Effective communication has several
direct and indirect impacts on the teamwork. In the opinion of Walker (2016, p.36)
a proper establishment of the communication channels within a team facilitates
an easy flow of information. This ultimately increases the ability of the
employees to carry out interactions within themselves. The teammates are able
to interact more effectively which provides them with a better understanding of
their job and its performance. They are also able to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of the teammates so that they can make use of them for completing
the tasks. In addition to this, any conflicts arising within can be solved by
communicating with each other. It helps in preventing any misinterpretation of
information, thereby, enhancing the
productivity of a team.
There are different aspects of
communication which have a significant role in making a communication
effective. As per Ludders and McMillan (2017, p.92) these aspects listening,
trusting, focus, Influence and confidence and clarity of a message. In order to carry out an effective
communication, it is important to listen to the one who is speaking for
understanding the perspective of the speech and making use of the same in the
commencement of the task. The leader of a team must be able to deliver his
thoughts to the team in an efficient manner so that the members of the team can
develop a trust in him. The existence of a proper trust within the team helps
in avoiding any misunderstandings. This also helps in identifying any loopholes
within the task and rectification of the same. Delany et al. (2017, p.5) explained that The leader of a team needs
to maintain his focus and control in the situation of crisis so that it does
not give rise to any stress. Focus helps in dealing with difficult situations
which may arise while carrying out any task. Confidence is another important
aspect of communication. The individual engaged in a communication must be
confident to be able to influence the people about the facts he or she is
sharing. Also, the team leader needs to influence the entire team with his speech
which requires an optimum level of confidence in his tone. According to Baker et al. (2016, p.4) the perception
of a message by the receivers greatly depends on the way the message is
delivered. Another important aspect of communication is the message clarity.
The message delivered to the employees must be clear so that it is understood
in the same context as it is delivered. Communication must be persuasive in
nature which means that a person who is communicating must be able to persuade
the people to carry out the desired action. The amount of communication has a
direct impact on team performance. The more is the communication; the better is
the relationship among the team members and the performance of the team.
There are some ethics which are essential
for carrying out the communication within an organisation. Apart from carrying
out effective communication, it is also important the ethics are maintained
while communicating. Any point or a fact must be conveyed to the people without
having offended the audience. Ghaferi and Dimick (2016, p.50) mentioned that the
words and gestures should be judiciously used so that it does not hurt the
sentiments of any individual. Maintaining relationship with the audience is
another important ethical approach which needs to be followed without fail. It
is important that the people listening to the speaker feel comfortable during
the interaction. This can be done by making use of proper gestures by the
speaker. Moreover, it needs to be considered that all essential data and
information are conveyed to the audience and the crucial information should not
be hidden. The information provided to the team members must be true and
appropriate and the approach to explain these facts should be a friendly one. A
communication can be called as ethical if the facts are conveyed accurately and
honestly. The team must be provided with proper reasons of doing the task they
are assigned with. This helps them to be clear in their approach and work
effectively towards success. In a case of a failure to do this, the message may
be misunderstood and misinterpreted which may prove to be a barrier to the
achievement of the goals. As per Logan (2016, p.50)
communication not only has importance for an individual but also for the
organisation as a whole. As it has been earlier established, communication has
a vital role in teamwork; therefore it is essential that all members are aware
of the ethics of communication.
According to Brewer and Holmes (2016, p.296) there
are different types of communication which can be used in an organisation.
These are interpersonal, oral and written. Interpersonal communication refers
to the communication within the group where they can interact with each other
and be engaged in discussions with minimum restrictions. Written communication
can be carried out with the help of different tools like emails, letters and
memos. Oral communication is the communication which is done by verbally
talking to each other. It is essential to make a proper choice of the communication
type on the basis of need and scope of communication. All these types of
communications require some specific skills which need to be possessed by
people of the team. Also, in a business, a proper sequence needs to be followed
for communicating. There are some protocols which need to be followed and
different communication types are used for communicating at different
levels. As per Baker et
al. (2016, p.4) use of ethical communication process helps in the
overall improvement of the system by enabling transparency which helps in
making healthy relationships with employees, stakeholders as well as other
authorities associated with a business. An adequate level of transparency also
facilitates an open discussion where the teammates can discuss various issues
and find appropriate solutions to those. This is possible because transparency
removes all kinds of fear within a team.
In this study, it has been
established that teamwork is basically a sense of unity where different
individuals come together as a single unit and provide their own contributions
to the task assigned to them. Team performance is the summation of the
performance of each of the members which make it necessary that all the members
perform at an optimum level. The members of a team provide support to each
other and help each other in identifying their weakness and overcoming the
same. This helps them in increasing their effectiveness. It has also been found
that there are several types of communication like interpersonal, oral and
written communication and these are used in a business as per the requirements
of the situation. There are some ethics which must be followed while
communicating within an organisation. A major attention has been paid to the
understanding the importance of communication for working in a team. A team
which is not able to communicate properly will not be able to achieve its goals
because there will not be a proper understanding of themselves.
In order to make a team work
effective, training can be provided to them by making effective use of
communication techniques. The role of the team members should be clear to them
before the commencement of any task so that they can perform as per the
expectations. The communication within a
team must be enhanced in order to increase the efficiency of the team as a
whole. The importance of communication needs to be understood by the team in
order to be effective. Hence it can be concluded that teamwork, communications
and ethics are interrelated with each other as an effective team needs to have
proper communication and ethics need to be followed for effective
communication.
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