Teams in the Workplace and Their Members Roles

Running head: TEAMS IN THE WORKPLACE AND THEIR MEMBERS ROLES

Teams in the workplace and their members roles

Tim Tulowitzky

University of Phoenix

Teams in the workplace and their members roles

The business market has become more worldwide with competition of imports from overseas as well as more competition from home. Publicly traded companies have more pressure on them to turn more of a profit from their shareholders. In today's highly competitive business, workplace teams are needed more than ever. The workplace has become more high tech with computers and highly advanced machinery. Workers of today are better educated, knowledgeable and have a better understanding of the workplace. Companies need more input from workers to help the business solve problems and to be more productive. To have an effective team in the workplace, the team needs to be filled with members that have different intellects, personalities and expertise of their jobs.

There are many different kinds of teams in companies. One of the most important in a company is the company board of directors. This consists mainly of the chief executive officer and vice presidents. They meet to discuss the way the company is to be run, where the company is going, and makes decisions on the company's future.

The next team is the plant managing team. This consists of the plant manager and the different department managers. They meet to bring together the different areas of the plant so that the managers can have better communication, streamline the production system, and solve any intradepartmental problems.

After the plant managing team meets, the department managers have their own meeting with the line supervisors. The department managers then convey any orders from the other teams and ask for feedback like what do we need to do to help achieve the goals set by the upper management teams. They also can discuss what is needed to make sure all the departments are on the same page.

The line supervisors then meet with the production workers and talk about what was said in their meetings. The production workers then can discuss what is expected of them. The team can then talk about ways to get things done, the best way to do them, and what the upper management teams need to do to help.

The benefits of teams can be far ranging. With better communication, one area can see things that other areas cannot, and the communication needs to go up the chain of command as well as down. Teams can increase moral, through which team members can see that they can contribute and make a difference. There is also better problem solving by many different members with diverse work backgrounds working together to come up with solutions to problems.(De Janasz, Dowd, & Schneider, 2002)

What is needed for a team to become successful? The teams need structure to keep on track in the way of team charters, rules, regulations, and most importantly, what the roles are that every member needs to do. The members must feel that they can contribute and make a difference if a team is to work, they must be able to set their own goals and work hard towards them without interference. Trust between the members, leaders, and management is paramount.

There are two main types of teams, Long and short term. The long term team is a sustaining team that mostly deals with the everyday affairs of the company. The Long term teams needs diversity in its members to keep the team on track, accomplish their goals and make sure the team can last. When the team comes up with an idea or problem, they can spin off a small .term team to deal with it A short term teams deals with specific problems and solutions. Because it only lasts for a short period of time, it doesn't need as much diversity, but it does need different skilled members to accomplish what the long term team needs them to do.(De Janasz et al., 2002)

Why do team members need different roles? Most sports teams have all stars games in which the best players in the league get together and play a game. These teams do not always do so well because they have too many excellent players, and are not diverse enough to be effective long term. There is an old saying" too many cooks spoil the broth". ( Smith, 1993)

The biggest reason a team needs different members is that if one person did the job all the time, they would suffer from burn out and wouldn't be as effective. One person doesn't have the different skills and creativity to make the team successful.(Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004)

The team members need clear roles, and members need to be able to interchange roles in case you lose a member or one cannot make the meetings. The team members that are needed to sustain successful long term team include the following. Leung, S. H., Chan, J. W., & Lee, W. B. (2003).

The leader can either be elected or appointed. They need to be a base to which the other members can rely on. The leader can be either the life blood or the death of the team. They need to be able to inspire the rest of the team and help keep the moral up no matter what the case. The leader also needs to know some of all of the aspects of the business.

The secretary keeps the minutes on the team meetings. They need to be good on computers, be able to make the presentations, and makes sure team has a place to meet.

The researcher is one of the team members who investigates and gathers any data for the team.

Every team needs a go between. This person keeps in touch with other teams, learns from them and reports back to team. If need