Business Site
Summarising Chapter 14 from Inside Business
What is this?
This website is to summarise part of Chapter 14 - Managing Change, from the book Inside Business. If you want to see the other summarises of the chapter, scroll down below!
Stages in the Formation Of a Team
Teams go through the following four stages:
| Stage # | Stage | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Forming | The team members come together for the first time. There may be a lack of trust between the members. The team leader tries to build relationships and outlines the overall goal of the team, e.g. to complete a project. |
| 2. | Storming | Conflict can arise at this stage, as the members have different opinions. There may be personality clashes within the group. |
| 3. | Norming | There is greater trust between the team members and they develop ground rules, i.e. rules regarding behaviour and work standards. These ground rules enable the team to function effectively. |
| 4. | Performing | The team focus on achieving the team goal. They trust each other and work hard to make decisions and solve problems quickly and effectively. |
What is the hardest stage in forming a team?
In my opinion, the hardest stage in forming a team is Storming. While the process of trying to find the right people for the team can be a long, overdue and difficult process by itself, I believe the process of having to force those people to work together is way more difficult.
Other Lessons
Here is all the previous lesson summaries I have made on Chapter 14.
Chapter 15
Benefits of Teamwork
There are many benefits from working together in a team. This includes:
Greater employee motivation: Employees are often motivated when they work as part of a team. This can help a business recruit and retain high-quality staff.
Improved communication skills: Teamwork can improve employees' communication and interpersonal skills, as they deal with the different personalities of team members.
Better decision-making: Team members have knowledge and experience which can help the team to make better business decisions.
Faster task completion: Team members are assigned specific roles in the team, often based on their own skills and experience. This can result in faster task completion.
What is the biggest benefit of Teamwork?
In my opinion, I believe the biggest benefit of working in a team is improved communication skills. I believe that communication skills between the people in the workforce is incredibly important within a business. Without good communication and interpersonal skills between the employees and staff in the business, industrial conflict is highly likely to occur and work is unable to be done, thus the business failing.
Terrible communication skills could also lead to employees leaving their job.
Total Quality Management
Total quality management (TQM) is a commitment by management and employees to continuously promote and encourage quality in all aspects of a firm's operations. All employees work together to create high-quality goods and services for consumers. Many business firms focus on this to ensure that they can adapt to the ever-changing dynamic business environment.
The principles of TQM include:
Focus on consumers: The business conducts market research to identify consumer needs. It can then provide the goods and services that consumers want to buy.
Continuous improvement: Every person in the firm aims to constantly improve the quality of the goods and services provided by the firm. They aspire to provide defect-free goods and services.
Employee empowerment: Employees make decisions on behalf of the business to ensure that customers always get the best-quality goods and services.
Quality assurance: The business focuses on incorporating quality in all stages of the design process. Businesses may be awarded an ISO to recognise quality assurance.
Teamwork: Employees work in teams to find ways to improve quality in the firm.
Would I like to work for a company that engages in TQM?
In my opinion, I would like to work for a company that engages in TQM. Total Quality Management as a concept allows for increased sales, as the business' develops its reputation for providing high-quality goods and services, attracting new customers to the business and increase sales. Employees are more motivated to work harder and improve quality standards, increasing employee productivity.
This, and many other benefits, entices me as it would allow for better teamwork skills and increases productivity and motivation in the workforce.